Agriculture climate layer

Global USDA Hardiness Zone Map

Explore global plant hardiness zones derived from Mean Annual Minimum Temperature during 2011–2025. The zones provide a consistent first-pass comparison of winter cold severity.

Explore Interactive Map General methodology
Source
ERA5-Land
Climate period
2011–2025 climatological classification
Representation
USDA zones 1a–13b

What this map shows

Each grid cell is assigned to one of 26 half-zones from 1a to 13b according to its Mean Annual Minimum Temperature—the mean of each year’s coldest modeled temperature.

Hardiness zones describe one dimension of climate: recurring winter cold. They do not measure summer heat, frost timing, soil conditions, moisture, or whether a particular plant will thrive.

How it is calculated

MetriClima first calculates Mean Annual Minimum Temperature for 2011–2025, then classifies that value into USDA hardiness half-zones.

Each half-zone spans approximately 2.78 °C. Colder zones have lower numbers; the “a” half is colder than the “b” half within the same numbered zone.

Data source

MetriClima processes ERA5-Land surface data on the 0.1° latitude–longitude download grid. The physical spacing of this geographic grid varies with latitude. ERA5-Land is a land-surface reanalysis dataset providing consistent hourly climate variables.

MetriClima applies USDA hardiness-zone temperature thresholds globally to Mean Annual Minimum Temperature derived from ERA5-Land. This is not an official USDA map or a reproduction of a national hardiness-zone product.

Provider
Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), produced by ECMWF

Climate period and representation

2011–2025 climatological classification

Zones are derived from 15 annual minima from 2011 through 2025. The resulting classification may differ from products based on 30-year climatologies, station observations, different reference periods, or different interpolation methods.

USDA zones 1a–13b

Each half-zone represents a 2.78 °C band of Mean Annual Minimum Temperature. The legend also provides the equivalent Fahrenheit range.

How to interpret the map

Use a zone as a broad cold-tolerance screen. A plant rated as hardy to a given USDA zone is generally expected to tolerate winter minimum temperatures within that zone's range, but survival still depends on cultivar, exposure, soil drainage, snow cover, event duration, and other local factors.

Zone boundaries are not sharp ecological borders. Nearby gardens can behave differently because of elevation, cold-air drainage, buildings, and urban heat.

Applications

  • Initial perennial plant and cultivar selection
  • Comparing winter-cold regimes between regions
  • Planning horticulture, orchards, vineyards, and landscape planting
  • Communicating Mean Annual Minimum Temperature through a familiar classification

Limitations

  • The classification addresses cold tolerance only and does not guarantee plant suitability or survival.
  • The 2011–2025 period is shorter than the 30-year periods commonly used for official hardiness-zone maps, and MetriClima uses gridded reanalysis rather than station observations.
  • Microclimates, cold duration, freeze–thaw cycles, wind exposure, and snow insulation are not encoded in the zone.

Explore this map by country

Open USDA Hardiness Zones for a country to start the same interactive map focused on that geography.

Africa (54)
Asia (50)
Australia (14)
Europe (47)
North America (24)
South America (12)