Rancho Bernardo, California climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Rancho Bernardo's normal year runs from 44°F December nights to 83°F August afternoons, with 14.2 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 17.5°C, December lows of 7°C, August highs of 28°C, 360 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationRancho Bernardo
- Station IDUSC00047248
- Location33.02°N 117.08°W
- Elevation690 ft (210 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Rancho Bernardo is 77°F and the normal low 56°F.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Rancho Bernardo.
- Jan 67° 46°
- Feb 67° 46°
- Mar 68° 49°
- Apr 70° 51°
- May 72° 55°
- Jun 76° 58°
- Jul 82° 63°
- Aug 83° 64°
- Sep 81° 60°
- Oct 78° 57°
- Nov 71° 50°
- Dec 66° 44°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Rancho Bernardo each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 83°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 44°F. The most precipitation falls in February (3.44 in), the least in August (0.05 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67°F | 46°F | 56.6°F | 2.79 | – | <1 | <1 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 67°F | 46°F | 56.2°F | 3.44 | – | <1 | <1 | 11 h |
| March | 68°F | 49°F | 58.2°F | 2.04 | – | 1 | <1 | 12 h |
| April | 70°F | 51°F | 60.9°F | 1.09 | – | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 72°F | 55°F | 63.5°F | 0.38 | – | 1 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 76°F | 58°F | 67.0°F | 0.08 | – | 1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 82°F | 63°F | 72.1°F | 0.10 | – | 3 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 83°F | 64°F | 73.4°F | 0.05 | – | 5 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 81°F | 60°F | 70.7°F | 0.17 | – | 6 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 78°F | 57°F | 67.2°F | 0.66 | – | 4 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 71°F | 50°F | 60.7°F | 1.08 | – | 1 | <1 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 66°F | 44°F | 55.2°F | 2.28 | – | <1 | <1 | 10 h |
| Year (annual) | 73°F | 54°F | 63.5°F | 14.16 | – | 21 | 1 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20°C | 8°C | 13.7°C | 71 mm |
| February | 19°C | 8°C | 13.4°C | 87 mm |
| March | 20°C | 9°C | 14.6°C | 52 mm |
| April | 21°C | 11°C | 16.1°C | 28 mm |
| May | 22°C | 13°C | 17.5°C | 10 mm |
| June | 24°C | 14°C | 19.4°C | 2 mm |
| July | 28°C | 17°C | 22.3°C | 3 mm |
| August | 28°C | 18°C | 23.0°C | 1 mm |
| September | 27°C | 16°C | 21.5°C | 4 mm |
| October | 25°C | 14°C | 19.6°C | 17 mm |
| November | 22°C | 10°C | 15.9°C | 27 mm |
| December | 19°C | 7°C | 12.9°C | 58 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00047248; 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.
Which months are mildest at Rancho Bernardo?
Every month's normal high in Rancho Bernardo falls between 65°F and 85°F.
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 USC00047248.
When is the last frost at Rancho Bernardo?
A night at 32°F or colder comes in only 21% of years in Rancho Bernardo (NOAA). NOAA's median date of the last spring frost is January 5 and of the first autumn frost January 2.
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 Rancho Bernardo in zone 10a in ZIP code 92128, the nearest ZIP area. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, the station is in zone 10a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 34°F (17 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 USC00047248; 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.
How hot and how cold does it get at Rancho Bernardo?
In a normal year in Rancho Bernardo, 21 days a year reach 90°F (2 of them 100°F or more) and 1 night falls to 32°F or colder.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 21a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 2a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 1a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00047248.
How sunny is it at Rancho Bernardo?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Rancho Bernardo, 5.4 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (92%) and February the cloudiest (83%).
| 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 many heating and cooling degree days does Rancho Bernardo record?
A normal year at Rancho Bernardo brings 1,474 heating degree days, 73% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 924 cooling degree days, 2% more than the median (908). One month needs 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 4,953 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 267 | 5 |
| February | 254 | 8 |
| March | 219 | 8 |
| April | 140 | 15 |
| May | 80 | 32 |
| June | 15 | 73 |
| July | 0 | 219 |
| August | 0 | 259 |
| September | 5 | 176 |
| October | 32 | 100 |
| November | 156 | 27 |
| December | 306 | 3 |
| Year (annual) | 1,474 | 924 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00047248. 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.
Have recent years at Rancho Bernardo been warmer than normal?
2025 averaged 64.4°F, 0.9°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 63.5°F. 3 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63.6°F | +0.1°F | 11.33 |
| 2022 | 64.9°F | +1.4°F | 7.42 |
| 2023 | 62.6°F | −0.9°F | 23.16 |
| 2024 | 63.4°F | −0.1°F | 13.45 |
| 2025 | 64.4°F | +0.9°F | 11.57 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USC00047248. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Rancho Bernardo's climate compare?
Rancho Bernardo is warmer than 161 of the 219 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 96. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 63.5°F is warmer than 84%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Rancho Bernardo is Csa: temperate, dry-summer, hot 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 Rancho Bernardo 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.
- Poway, CA49,435 people · 4 mi SE
- Fairbanks Ranch, CA2,794 people · 6 mi W
- Rancho Santa Fe, CA2,574 people · 7 mi W
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 Rancho Bernardo's climate
What is the coldest month at Rancho Bernardo?
December, with a normal high of 66°F and a normal low of 44°F. The warmest is August (83°F by day, 64°F at night).
What is the rainiest month at Rancho Bernardo?
February, with 3.44 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.05 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Rancho Bernardo in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Rancho Bernardo in zone 10a in ZIP code 92128, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 34°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 10a.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Escondido, CA7 miles from this station, 65.8°F a year
- San Pasqual Animal Park, CA7 miles from this station, 65.0°F a year
- Ramona, CA10 miles from this station, 61.2°F a year
- San Diego Miramar Naval Air Station, CA11 miles from this station, 64.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made