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Frost dates in Morocco

14 places in Morocco, each with a last and first frost worked out from its own daily temperature record rather than from a regional average. Median dates are listed below; follow a town for the full distribution, the early and late years behind it, and a planting calendar built from them.

Earliest last frost

28 Jan

At Marrakesh, the first place here safe to plant out.

Latest last frost

11 Mar

At Oujda. Spring arrives 42 days later there than at Marrakesh.

Growing season

272–325 d

Frost-free days: shortest at Oujda, longest at Marrakesh.

Hardiness zones

9b–12a

USDA-equivalent, from the mean annual coldest night. How these are worked out.

Why frost dates vary across Morocco

A national figure would be no use to anyone here. The growing season runs from 272 frost-free days at Oujda to 325 at Marrakesh — a difference of 53 days, which is the difference between one tomato crop and none. That is why every date on this site is calculated for one place at a time.

Latitude does the rest. This list reaches from Agadir in the south to Tangier in the north, 5.3° of latitude apart. Distance from the sea matters too: coastal towns hold summer warmth into autumn and frost later, while an inland town at the same latitude can lose its season weeks earlier.

9 of the places here record no reliable air frost at all, so their rows read “none”. That does not mean nothing limits planting — heat, the wet season and day length take over as the constraint — and the crop pages say so where it applies.

How to read the table

Last frost is the median date of the final spring frost: in half of the years on record the last frost fell before it, in half after. First frost is the median date of the first autumn frost, and season is the number of frost-free days between them. All three are measured at the 0 °C air-temperature threshold.

A median is a planning date, not a guarantee. Plant tender crops on it and you accept roughly a one-in-two chance of a later frost in any given year. Each town page shows the cautious date — safe in nine years out of ten — alongside it, together with the earliest and latest frost the record holds. Read how the figures are calculated.

Every place in Morocco

Listed by population, because that is how most people find their own town.

Median last and first air frost at 0 °C, with the frost-free season in days and the USDA-equivalent hardiness zone. Places with no reliable frost in the record show “none”.
Place Region Last frost First frost Season Zone
Casablanca Casablanca-Settat none none 11a
Rabat Rabat-Salé-Kénitra none none 11b
Fes Fes-Meknes 3 Feb 17 Dec 317 d 10a
Tangier Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima none none 11b
Marrakesh Marrakesh-Safi 28 Jan 19 Dec 325 d 10a
Salé Rabat-Salé-Kénitra none none 11b
Agadir Souss-Massa none none 11a
Meknes Fes-Meknes 2 Feb 23 Dec 324 d 10a
Oujda Oriental 11 Mar 8 Dec 272 d 9b
Kenitra Rabat-Salé-Kénitra none none 12a
Tétouan Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima 4 Feb none 10b
Al Hoceïma Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima none none 12a
Temara Rabat-Salé-Kénitra none none 11b
Safi Marrakesh-Safi none none 12a

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