Berkeley, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Berkeley's normal year runs from 43°F December nights to 76°F September afternoons, with 26.1 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.7°C, December lows of 6°C, September highs of 25°C, 663 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationBerkeley
- Station IDUSC00040693
- Location37.87°N 122.26°W
- Elevation310 ft (95 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population121,749
On October 23, the normal high in Berkeley is 72°F and the normal low 51°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 14%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Berkeley.
- Jan 59° 43°
- Feb 62° 45°
- Mar 65° 46°
- Apr 67° 47°
- May 70° 49°
- Jun 74° 52°
- Jul 74° 53°
- Aug 75° 54°
- Sep 76° 54°
- Oct 73° 52°
- Nov 65° 47°
- Dec 59° 43°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Berkeley each month?
September is the warmest month, with normal highs of 76°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 43°F. The most precipitation falls in December (5.32 in), the least in July (0.01 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59°F | 43°F | 51.1°F | 4.84 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 62°F | 45°F | 53.0°F | 5.12 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 65°F | 46°F | 55.2°F | 3.84 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 47°F | 57.0°F | 1.83 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 70°F | 49°F | 59.7°F | 0.80 | 3 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 74°F | 52°F | 62.9°F | 0.26 | 1 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 50 min |
| July | 74°F | 53°F | 63.7°F | 0.01 | <1 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 75°F | 54°F | 64.4°F | 0.05 | 1 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 76°F | 54°F | 64.9°F | 0.12 | 1 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 52°F | 62.5°F | 1.19 | 3 | 1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 65°F | 47°F | 56.1°F | 2.74 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 59°F | 43°F | 50.9°F | 5.32 | 11 | <1 | <1 | 9 h 30 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 49°F | 58.5°F | 26.12 | 67 | 6 | 1 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | 6°C | 10.6°C | 123 mm |
| February | 16°C | 7°C | 11.7°C | 130 mm |
| March | 18°C | 8°C | 12.9°C | 98 mm |
| April | 20°C | 8°C | 13.9°C | 46 mm |
| May | 21°C | 10°C | 15.4°C | 20 mm |
| June | 23°C | 11°C | 17.2°C | 7 mm |
| July | 23°C | 12°C | 17.6°C | 0 mm |
| August | 24°C | 12°C | 18.0°C | 1 mm |
| September | 25°C | 12°C | 18.3°C | 3 mm |
| October | 23°C | 11°C | 16.9°C | 30 mm |
| November | 18°C | 8°C | 13.4°C | 70 mm |
| December | 15°C | 6°C | 10.5°C | 135 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00040693; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Berkeley?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November. Of those, July has the fewest days with rain (0).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00040693.
When is the last frost in Berkeley?
A night at 32°F or colder comes in only 27% of years in Berkeley (NOAA). NOAA's median date of the last spring frost is January 3 and of the first autumn frost January 1.
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 365 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 365 days.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Berkeley in zone 10a across its 9 ZIP code areas (10a in 94710, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Berkeley's NOAA station is in zone 10a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 33°F (21 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in California · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USC00040693; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
What hardiness zone is each Berkeley ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Berkeley's 9 ZIP code areas are all in zone 10a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Berkeley?
In a normal year in Berkeley, 6 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 1 night falls to 32°F or colder and 67 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 1a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 67a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 107°F, on June 15, 2000; the lowest is 24°F, on December 22, 1990.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1983, with 48.42 in; the snowiest season is 1921–22, with 6.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00040693; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00040693. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Berkeley?
Over a year 80% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Berkeley, 4.7 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (84%) and December the cloudiest (74%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 125th (with 50 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 2.5 |
| February | 77% | 3.4 |
| March | 79% | 4.6 |
| April | 82% | 6.0 |
| May | 81% | 6.7 |
| June | 84% | 7.3 |
| July | 78% | 6.5 |
| August | 77% | 5.8 |
| September | 82% | 5.1 |
| October | 83% | 4.0 |
| November | 81% | 2.8 |
| December | 74% | 2.1 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Berkeley need?
A normal year in Berkeley brings 2,579 heating degree days, 52% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 202 cooling degree days, 78% fewer than the median (908). Four months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,213 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 431 | 0 |
| February | 335 | 0 |
| March | 304 | 2 |
| April | 246 | 6 |
| May | 177 | 13 |
| June | 91 | 28 |
| July | 65 | 25 |
| August | 53 | 36 |
| September | 56 | 55 |
| October | 111 | 34 |
| November | 272 | 3 |
| December | 437 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,579 | 202 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00040693. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Berkeley been warmer than normal lately?
Over 83 complete years from 1888 to 2018, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.3°F per century (+0.13°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Berkeley's climate compare?
Berkeley is warmer than 68 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 162. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.5°F is warmer than 70%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Berkeley is Csb: temperate, dry-summer, warm summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Berkeley share this climate record?
6 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- El Cerrito, CA26,409 people · 4 mi NW
- Orinda, CA19,573 people · 5 mi E
- Albany, CA19,439 people · 3 mi W
- Moraga, CA16,698 people · 8 mi E
- Emeryville, CA13,912 people · 3 mi SW
- Kensington, CA5,292 people · 2 mi NW
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
Questions about Berkeley's climate
What is the coldest month in Berkeley?
December, with a normal high of 59°F and a normal low of 43°F. The warmest is September (76°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in Berkeley?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is no measurable snow a year.
What is the rainiest month in Berkeley?
December, with 5.32 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.01 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Berkeley in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Berkeley in zone 10a across its 9 ZIP code areas (10a in 94710, the largest). By the same method at Berkeley's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 33°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 10a.
Nearby and next
- Berkeley in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Oakland Museum, CA5 miles from this station, 59.6°F a year
- Richmond, CA7 miles from this station, 58.8°F a year
- Oakland, CA11 miles from this station, 58.1°F a year
- San Francisco, CA12 miles from this station, 57.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made