Carlsbad, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Carlsbad's normal year runs from 47°F December nights to 76°F August afternoons, with 11.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 16.9°C, December lows of 8°C, August highs of 24°C, 289 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationCarlsbad Palomar Airport
- Station IDUSW00003177
- Location33.13°N 117.28°W
- Elevation328 ft (100 m)
- From the centerunder 1 mile
- Population113,575
On October 14, the normal high in Carlsbad is 73°F and the normal low 59°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 Carlsbad.
- Jan 65° 48°
- Feb 64° 49°
- Mar 65° 51°
- Apr 66° 53°
- May 68° 57°
- Jun 70° 60°
- Jul 74° 64°
- Aug 76° 65°
- Sep 76° 64°
- Oct 73° 59°
- Nov 70° 52°
- Dec 65° 47°
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 Carlsbad each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 76°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 47°F. The most precipitation falls in February (2.64 in), the least in August (0.03 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 | 65°F | 48°F | 56.4°F | 2.49 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 64°F | 49°F | 56.3°F | 2.64 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 11 h |
| March | 65°F | 51°F | 57.6°F | 1.61 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 12 h |
| April | 66°F | 53°F | 59.8°F | 0.88 | 5 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 68°F | 57°F | 62.5°F | 0.28 | 3 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 70°F | 60°F | 65.1°F | 0.06 | 1 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 74°F | 64°F | 69.2°F | 0.08 | 1 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 76°F | 65°F | 70.5°F | 0.03 | 1 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 76°F | 64°F | 69.6°F | 0.11 | 2 | 1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 73°F | 59°F | 66.1°F | 0.50 | 4 | 1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 70°F | 52°F | 60.8°F | 0.99 | 6 | <1 | <1 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 65°F | 47°F | 56.0°F | 1.72 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 69°F | 56°F | 62.5°F | 11.39 | 53 | 3 | <1 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 18°C | 9°C | 13.6°C | 63 mm |
| February | 18°C | 9°C | 13.5°C | 67 mm |
| March | 18°C | 10°C | 14.2°C | 41 mm |
| April | 19°C | 12°C | 15.4°C | 22 mm |
| May | 20°C | 14°C | 16.9°C | 7 mm |
| June | 21°C | 16°C | 18.4°C | 2 mm |
| July | 23°C | 18°C | 20.7°C | 2 mm |
| August | 24°C | 19°C | 21.4°C | 1 mm |
| September | 24°C | 18°C | 20.9°C | 3 mm |
| October | 23°C | 15°C | 18.9°C | 13 mm |
| November | 21°C | 11°C | 16.0°C | 25 mm |
| December | 18°C | 8°C | 13.3°C | 44 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003177; 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 Carlsbad?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in January, April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November. Of those, August has the fewest days with rain (1).
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 USW00003177.
What hardiness zone is each Carlsbad ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Carlsbad's 4 ZIP code areas run from zone 10a to 10b: 3 in 10a and 1 in 10b. 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 Carlsbad?
In a normal year in Carlsbad, 3 days a year reach 90°F, nights almost never fall to freezing and 53 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 3a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 53a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1998) is 104°F, on October 24, 2017; the lowest is 32°F, on December 24, 2009.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2010, with 20.45 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00003177; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00003177. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Carlsbad?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Carlsbad, 5.4 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (92%) and February the cloudiest (83%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 58th (with 22 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 85% | 3.3 |
| February | 83% | 4.1 |
| March | 85% | 5.4 |
| April | 86% | 6.5 |
| May | 83% | 6.9 |
| June | 85% | 7.3 |
| July | 89% | 7.4 |
| August | 92% | 7.0 |
| September | 91% | 6.0 |
| October | 88% | 4.6 |
| November | 87% | 3.6 |
| December | 83% | 2.9 |
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 Carlsbad need?
A normal year in Carlsbad brings 1,510 heating degree days, 72% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 607 cooling degree days, 33% fewer than the median (908). No month reaches 300 heating degree days. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,583 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 271 | 4 |
| February | 249 | 4 |
| March | 234 | 6 |
| April | 165 | 9 |
| May | 89 | 12 |
| June | 29 | 32 |
| July | 2 | 130 |
| August | 0 | 172 |
| September | 3 | 142 |
| October | 38 | 72 |
| November | 148 | 22 |
| December | 282 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 1,510 | 607 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00003177. 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 Carlsbad been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 62.4°F, 0.1°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 62.5°F. 0 of the 2 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62.0°F | −0.5°F | 8.93 |
| 2025 | 62.4°F | −0.1°F | 10.67 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00003177. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Carlsbad's climate compare?
Carlsbad is warmer than 129 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 50. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 62.5°F is warmer than 81%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Carlsbad is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Carlsbad share this climate record?
3 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.
- Encinitas, CAalso near: Rancho Bernardo (11 mi, 63.5°F a year); Escondido (11 mi, 65.8°F a year)61,137 people · 5 mi S
- Solana Beach, CA12,868 people · 10 mi S
- Lake San Marcos, CA4,996 people · 4 mi E
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 Carlsbad's climate
What is the coldest month in Carlsbad?
December, with a normal high of 65°F and a normal low of 47°F. The warmest is August (76°F by day, 65°F at night).
What is the rainiest month in Carlsbad?
February, with 2.64 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.03 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Carlsbad in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Carlsbad in zones 10a to 10b across its 4 ZIP code areas (10a in 92009, the largest). By the same method at Carlsbad's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 38°F (22 years, 1991-2020): zone 10b.
Nearby and next
- Carlsbad in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Oceanside, CA7 miles from this station, 61.0°F a year
- Vista, CA8 miles from this station, 62.7°F a year
- Oceanside Marina, CA9 miles from this station, 60.9°F a year
- Escondido, CA11 miles from this station, 65.8°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made