I finally had a real frost! Can't say I was eager for it, but the average first frost date in my ZIP code is Oct 26.
The 90% frost date is Nov 14.
In fact, the 90% date of getting down to 28 F is Dec 20!

And here it is already Jan 3 - nine weeks late. We had four nights in a row that got down to 32, including one that went down to 28.

I may have missed some evening when it dipped below 32 briefly but warmed up before 9am ... but some Bok Choy seedlings I had in a tray on the back deck didn't shrivel until just now.

"The Weather Channel" website has some good pages for gardeners. There's a "30 day" page that gives observed, average and predicted temps and precip for the current month and prior month. I wish tjhey went farther baqck, o9r that the NOAA site was easier to use!

http://www.weather.com/forecas...
(Click "Fitness Guide" in the left-hand column, then enter ZIP and "Go". Then select "Monthly" )

Or, this link will take you there directly, but you'll have to page down to the bottom and change the ZIP code.
http://www.weather.com/outlook...

Under "Agricultural Forecast", the Weather Channel has a really great degree-day calculator that uses your ZIP code's observed temperatures for dates in the past, and average temperatures for dates in the future. And you can choose your own base temperature from which to calculate the "degree days".

http://www.weather.com/outdoor...

What a difference a couple miles can make. I'm probably 30 miles north of you, and had my killing frost in mid-November. This was late for me, it's usually around Halloween. December was fairly mild, but this past week we've been frozen pretty solid most mornings, with temps well below 30.

The starlings arrived yesterday, not my favorite bird.

North ... but not far inland?

If Cedarhome is part of Stanhope, you're not far from the water. I thought much of my mild climate came from being less than 2 miles from Possesion So9und, and having negligible elevation.

Cedarhome is between Stanwood (mouth of the Stilly River at Port Susan) and the freeway, a bit north. I think our elevation is about 200 feet, give or take. We're surrounded by Christmas tree farms, and our woods includes cedar, spruce, hemlock, cottonwood, and alder. We also have a healthy stand of quaking aspen which I guess was planted by the original farmhouse below us.

I'm about 100 feet lower elevation, but I don't think that alone gave me such a late frost date compared to yours.

Wind patterns?
Urban pollution greenhouse gasses?

Yeah, weird. I loosely track frost dates on the blog portion of DG and have had at least 10 frosty mornings. I'm more interested in first and last frost and don't worry so much about tracking each and every one in between. We also had 3 days of mixed rain/snow in December, but it never got cold enough to turn to actual snow. I think I'm more prone to snow in Feb or Mar, though, so that still may be coming.

>> I think I'm more prone to snow in Feb or Mar, though, so that still may be coming.

]Wow, we DO have different mini-climates! Looking at the "Sunset" zone map, I'm Zone 5 (marine influence around Peuget Sound) and you might be Zone 4 (cold-winter area of the north coast). I don't think you're Zone 1a (cold mountain and intermountain area).

I'm probably exaggerating, but it SEEMS as if my actual last frost date could be anywhere from February through April. I'm probably over-reacting to occasional warm spells in January and February, but May still feels chilly and June can be cool.

Back on the East Coast, there seemed to be a discrete transition from winter to warm weather lasting only 3-6 weeks. Big, unseasonal spring cold spells and winter warm spells were surprises, not the rule.

Now, here, I never have what I think of as "Summer" or "warm" weather at all, but spring and winter take turns all the way from December through May!

I guess 5-6 years isn't long enough to get used to a Mediterranean climate after throwing away my snow shovels.

I'm same as you - USDA Zone 8a and Sunset Zone 5, although I don't pay much attention to zone numbers. I'm temperate enough for most plants other than tropicals, which I've never had a hankering for. Shows how much difference there is within each zone I guess. I'm not as good tracking last frost, but I think it's usually in April.

I looked through my "Earth Signs" file, and we had snow as late as March 28 a few years back. My first true sign of spring is the full chorus of peepers, anytime from mid February through late March.

Hmm, there is even a wide range within Sunset Zone 5 - at least for first frost date. I also have average last frost in early April.

But then, all of PNW winter for me seems like just a few weeks of "real winter" scattered throughout 4-5 months of late fall and early spring.

With the damp cold it always feels colder to me than actual temp...I usually can't plant (due to frost warnings) until mid/late April it sounds like we all have the same weather, just variations (or BH you seem a degree or 2 colder) The main thing I like about PNW weather is not needing an air conditioner almost ever

I'm a bit further north, and my plants are about a week or so behind those in the Seattle area. So, a bit colder. I totally appreciate not needing air conditioning. We have a daylight basement which always stays cool, good get-away spot. We also have a small boat and usually just get out on the water on those few days it is unbearable. I hear one can adjust to extremely high temps, but I have no desire to test out that particular theory.

Whenever I go back to Detroit in the summer, I'm so acclimated to Seattle, its miserable - the humidity and heat!

Going to be a cold one tonight!!

The stars are gorgeous.

The mountains had a show to night. Crisp and cold!!!

All of you would be so amused by my local TV stations. For the last few days, no matter what has been going on in the nation and the world, the top story every night has been a frost warning. Budget issues, gun control, and superstorm aid packages are being hotly debated in Washington, social unrest has peaked in Syria and is on the rise in Mali, and local cutbacks of public services have led to a soaring crime rate, but the top story every night is that the temperature will dip below 32 degrees.

32 degrees oh my!! That is a big story. When it snows here they report every flake. or a wind storm that never is.

>> but the top story every night is that the temperature will dip below 32 degrees.

BRRR! Danger, danger, Will Robinson!

I visited San Diego once, and there was a very, very slight drizzle. Mothers put their kids in big plastic bags with holes for head and arms. Kinky. A clerk dared to cross the street to get lunch. He bravely announced his intention as if crossing the English Channel.

I guess they though tit was Venus and the rain was sulfuric acid, hot enough to melt lead. Don't they have a rainy season in San Diego?

San Diego doesn't have seasonal changes at all. I think the temperature's 78 degrees every day.