Climate Zones for 48 States of Continental U.S., Hawaii, Southern Canada and Mexico
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Most of the Caribbean Islands (not shown) are in zone 10 and 11 with some mountainous areas such as on Hispaniola in zone 9.
These zones indicate an average approximation of annual minimum (low) temperatures. Extreme fluctuations from this norm are likely to occur in any zone on occasions. These zones represent average temperature lows only and do not take into consideration such factors as humidity/annual precipitation. Example - zones 8 and 9 in California are much dryer that the same zones in Florida, which would have as much bearing on the type of plants to grow as would temperatures. Daytime temperatures are not considered either. Example - daytime temperatures during the summer in zone 8 in Oregon and Washington State are not likely to have the same heat as experienced during the summer in zone 8 of Texas. Only the temperature lows during the winter nights are likely to have anything in common.
When growing plants outdoors or when you need to know when to bring plants indoors for the winter, you will need to find out what a particular species' tolerances are - how low of a night-time temperature they can tolerate.
Plants are generally categorized as "winter hardy through zone___". Factors such as elevation, exposure to wind or proximity to oceans should also be considered when selecting plants for your climate zone.
The zones change within very short distances in the west due
to rapid increase in altitude from the coast toward the east.
These "micro" climate zones may have very different
tolerances for plants within only a few miles.
