Oakland, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Oakland's primary NOAA station, OAKLAND METRO INTL AP.
The climate verdict for Oakland
Dryness leads the climate profile for Oakland, California, with 18.7 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 58°F. It scores 76/100 for climate comfort (good), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 69% of them.
- 58°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 76/100
- comfort score, above 69% of station-mapped location scores
- 18.7"
- annual precipitation
- 350 days
- frost-free growing season
Oakland: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00023230 · Oakland, CA 58°F mean · 18.7" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-NARROW · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 58°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,734
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Salinas Municip…
- PRCP-DRY 18.7"
- SWING-NARROW 15°F
- COMF-TOP 76/100
- LOAD-HEAT 2,690 HDD
- STN-1 USW00023230
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Salinas Municipal, CA (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every CA station list.
- Hot Berkeley, CA 59°F
- Oakland (this station) 58°F
- Cold San Francisco D…, CA 58°F
- Near Salinas Municip…, CA 58°F
- Near Salinas, CA 58°F
Climate Living Index · Oakland
Oakland: 81/100 · grade B
Oakland publishes 5 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals · NOAA hourly normals); 1 missing weight rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Oakland, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 76/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frost-free season | 350 days/year | 100/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 0 calendar days | 100/100 · A |
| Summer moisture balance | 54.9°F mean dew point | 91/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 58.1°F · 9.4° from 67.5°F | 70/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 18.7 in · 16.3 from 35 in | 42/100 · D |
Oakland · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Oakland is a temperate Köppen climate: Csb
Coldest-month mean 49.9°F and warmest-month mean 64.8°F place this station in temperate, dry-summer, warm summer climates (Csb). Class Csb is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, dry-summer, warm summer.
- Köppen code
- Csb
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 64.8°F
- Coldest month
- 49.9°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · heating-led station
Where Oakland sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Oakland's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 69th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 75%
- Oakland's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 98%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Oakland is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Oakland compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Oakland's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
76 Top 31% score exceeds 69% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). This entry sits in this band.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Above this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Oakland's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 52 complete annual observations from 1950 to 2025, OAKLAND METRO INTL AP warmed at a fitted rate of 0.19°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Oakland primary station fitted change +0.19 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58°F (14°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 3.4" | 1.1 | 0.0 |
| February | 60°F (16°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 3.5" | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 63°F (17°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 2.7" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 66°F (19°C) | 49°F (10°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 1.4" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| May | 68°F (20°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 0.6" | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| June | 71°F (22°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 0.2" | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| July | 72°F (22°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| August | 72°F (22°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.9 |
| September | 74°F (23°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 2.1 |
| October | 72°F (22°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 0.9" | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| November | 64°F (18°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 2.0" | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 58°F (14°C) | 42°F (6°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 3.8" | 1.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The calendar barely moves in Oakland: no date carries a normal high of 90°F or a normal low at freezing. The year runs between 42°F near January 1 and 74°F near September 10.
No freezing date
Not one calendar date in the 1991–2020 record carries a normal low at or below 32°F. The coldest normal low of the year is 42°F around January 1.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 26, when 38% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is July 24 at 1%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 68 wet dates a year.
The widest day
October 15 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 21°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Oakland.
Where Oakland Stands Nationally
Among the steadiest day-night climates ranked: even the widest normal daily swing holds to roughly 21°F.
Oakland earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
10.5 days with precipitation
10.2 days with precipitation
10.4 days with precipitation
6.2 days with precipitation
3.1 days with precipitation
1.0 days with precipitation
0.4 days with precipitation
0.5 days with precipitation
1.5 days with precipitation
4.8 days with precipitation
8.4 days with precipitation
11.2 days with precipitation
Oakland's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 58% of the year's precipitation here, while June through August contribute 1%. That is the cool-season-dominant pattern of the West Coast and the higher inland West, where storm tracks swing south in winter and summer turns dry; the thermometer meanwhile shows an unusually narrow 14.9°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- December, 3.8"
- Driest month
- July, 0.0"
- Wettest three months
- December, February, January (58% of the year)
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. A cool-season label means the December-February share reaches 35%. Where snow falls, the monthly figures above report liquid-equivalent precipitation, so a wet winter month is not necessarily a rainy one.
How Oakland's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 68 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 18.7" between them, or roughly 0.27 inches on a typical wet day. That sits in the middle band: neither the many-light-days pattern of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, nor the few-heavy-events pattern of the Gulf and the desert Southwest.
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year and say nothing about the heaviest single storm on record.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
December 23
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
January 7
50% probability date
Growing Season
350 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,690
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
175
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
September
Coldest Month
January
Humidity & Wind
Monthly averages from hourly observations
| Month | Humidity | Wind (mph) | Clear Sky % | Overcast % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 6.6 | 31% | 24% |
| February | 74% | 8.4 | 24% | 27% |
| March | 71% | 9.4 | 23% | 17% |
| April | 70% | 10.0 | 25% | 14% |
| May | 74% | 10.6 | 22% | 10% |
| June | 75% | 9.9 | 29% | 9% |
| July | 78% | 10.0 | 18% | 7% |
| August | 74% | 8.6 | 34% | 5% |
| September | 71% | 7.5 | 36% | 15% |
| October | 70% | 6.5 | 33% | 15% |
| November | 72% | 6.4 | 37% | 19% |
| December | 76% | 6.5 | 31% | 25% |
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Oakland on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (58°F here).
- Cairo, IL 58°F · 0.0°F off
- Dickson, TN 58°F · 0.0°F off
- Henderson, TN 58°F · 0.0°F off
- Hillsboro, NM 58°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (18.7" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Mcallen, TX 18.7" · 0.0" off
- Alberton, MT 18.7" · 0.0" off
- Harrold, SD 18.6" · 0.0" off
- Max, ND 18.7" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Oakland's climate pattern fits together
heating led · dry · low swing
Heating is the larger measured load in Oakland, at 2,690 degree days versus 175 for cooling. Unlike a strongly continental record, however, its 14.9°F month-to-month range is compact; persistent cool-season demand matters more than a dramatic summer-to-winter reversal.
Oakland has a long frost-free window of roughly 350 days, but the dry annual profile is a separate constraint. Growing-season length says when freezes are unlikely, not whether rainfall is sufficient.
The calendar stays thermally compact and dry. September and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, only 14.9°F apart, while the annual precipitation total remains below PlainClimate's dry threshold. The annual average is 58°F. The monthly rows show whether that limited precipitation is spread through the year or concentrated in a shorter interval.
Oakland's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 18.7 inches, which places the station in PlainClimate's dry range. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. The snowfall and rainfall fields should be read separately rather than inferred from temperature.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Oakland's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Oakland, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Oakland's climate
How much rain does Oakland get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Oakland? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Oakland's primary station: OAKLAND METRO INTL AP (USW00023230). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 0653000). Match rule for Oakland: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Oakland comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.