Salinas, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Salinas's normal year runs from 41°F December nights to 74°F September afternoons, with 12.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.5°C, December lows of 5°C, September highs of 24°C, 320 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSalinas Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00023233
- Location36.66°N 121.61°W
- Elevation74 ft (23 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population160,783
On October 23, the normal high in Salinas is 73°F and the normal low 48°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 11%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Salinas.
- Jan 62° 42°
- Feb 63° 43°
- Mar 66° 45°
- Apr 67° 46°
- May 68° 50°
- Jun 70° 53°
- Jul 71° 55°
- Aug 72° 56°
- Sep 74° 54°
- Oct 74° 50°
- Nov 68° 44°
- Dec 62° 41°
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 Salinas each month?
September is the warmest month, with normal highs of 74°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 41°F. The most precipitation falls in January (2.63 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 | 62°F | 42°F | 51.9°F | 2.63 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 63°F | 43°F | 53.1°F | 2.42 | 9 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 66°F | 45°F | 55.0°F | 2.06 | 9 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 67°F | 46°F | 56.7°F | 0.95 | 6 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 68°F | 50°F | 59.3°F | 0.38 | 3 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 70°F | 53°F | 61.6°F | 0.07 | 1 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 71°F | 55°F | 62.9°F | 0.01 | <1 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 72°F | 56°F | 64.0°F | 0.03 | 1 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 74°F | 54°F | 64.2°F | 0.05 | 1 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 50°F | 61.6°F | 0.60 | 3 | 2 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 68°F | 44°F | 56.1°F | 1.26 | 6 | <1 | <1 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 62°F | 41°F | 51.1°F | 2.12 | 8 | <1 | 2 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 48°F | 58.1°F | 12.58 | 56 | 6 | 6 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17°C | 5°C | 11.1°C | 67 mm |
| February | 17°C | 6°C | 11.7°C | 61 mm |
| March | 19°C | 7°C | 12.8°C | 52 mm |
| April | 19°C | 8°C | 13.7°C | 24 mm |
| May | 20°C | 10°C | 15.2°C | 10 mm |
| June | 21°C | 12°C | 16.4°C | 2 mm |
| July | 22°C | 13°C | 17.2°C | 0 mm |
| August | 22°C | 13°C | 17.8°C | 1 mm |
| September | 24°C | 12°C | 17.9°C | 1 mm |
| October | 23°C | 10°C | 16.4°C | 15 mm |
| November | 20°C | 7°C | 13.4°C | 32 mm |
| December | 16°C | 5°C | 10.6°C | 54 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00023233; 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 Salinas?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in March, 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 USW00023233.
When is the last frost in Salinas?
In Salinas, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after January 29 in half of years and after March 1 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 10 in half of years and before November 21 in one year in ten. A night at 32°F or colder comes at all in 90% of years here (NOAA).
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- January 291 year in 10 after March 1; 9 in 10 after December 18
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 101 year in 10 before November 21; 9 in 10 before January 15
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 325 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 365 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after December 31 in half of springs and before December 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Salinas in zone 9b across its 3 ZIP code areas (9b in 93906, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Salinas's NOAA station is in zone 9b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 30°F (30 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 USW00023233; 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 Salinas ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Salinas's 3 ZIP code areas are all in zone 9b. 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 Salinas?
In a normal year in Salinas, 6 days a year reach 90°F, 6 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 56 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 6a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 56a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1930) is 109°F, on September 2, 2017; the lowest is 18°F, on January 21, 1937.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1941, with 28.10 in; the snowiest season is 1961–62, with 1.0 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00023233; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00023233. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Salinas?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Salinas, 5.3 kWh per square metre a day. June is the sunniest month (92%) and December the cloudiest (78%). 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 | 80% | 2.7 |
| February | 79% | 3.6 |
| March | 82% | 4.9 |
| April | 84% | 6.2 |
| May | 88% | 7.3 |
| June | 92% | 8.1 |
| July | 91% | 7.6 |
| August | 90% | 6.9 |
| September | 91% | 5.8 |
| October | 89% | 4.4 |
| November | 85% | 3.1 |
| December | 78% | 2.4 |
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 Salinas need?
A normal year in Salinas brings 2,635 heating degree days, 51% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 134 cooling degree days, 85% 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 3,099 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 405 | 0 |
| February | 334 | 0 |
| March | 311 | 1 |
| April | 252 | 5 |
| May | 185 | 8 |
| June | 114 | 12 |
| July | 80 | 13 |
| August | 58 | 25 |
| September | 61 | 37 |
| October | 131 | 27 |
| November | 273 | 5 |
| December | 431 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,635 | 134 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00023233. 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 Salinas been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 58.7°F, 0.6°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 58.1°F. 4 of the 4 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 60.1°F | +2.0°F | 7.54 |
| 2023 | 58.9°F | +0.8°F | 10.95 |
| 2024 | 59.6°F | +1.5°F | 16.87 |
| 2025 | 58.7°F | +0.6°F | 12.72 |
Over 78 complete years from 1934 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 2.7°F per century (+0.15°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00023233; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Salinas's climate compare?
Salinas is warmer than 62 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 71. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.1°F is warmer than 69%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Salinas 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 Salinas share this climate record?
5 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.
- Gonzales, CA8,431 people · 14 mi SE
- Castroville, CA6,870 people · 11 mi NW
- Boronda, CA2,246 people · 4 mi NW
- Chualar, CA1,042 people · 8 mi SE
- Spreckels, CA189 people · 3 mi SW
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Salinas's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Salinas. This page uses Salinas Municipal Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salinas #2 USC00047668 | 3 mi SW | 45 ft | 57.8°F | 41°F | 71°F | 15.4 | 0 | February 4 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Salinas's climate
What is the coldest month in Salinas?
December, with a normal high of 62°F and a normal low of 41°F. The warmest is September (74°F by day, 54°F at night).
Does it snow in Salinas?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Salinas's NOAA station; Salinas's own co-op station Salinas #2 records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Salinas?
January, with 2.63 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.01 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Salinas in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Salinas in zone 9b across its 3 ZIP code areas (9b in 93906, the largest). By the same method at Salinas's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 30°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 9b.
How late can frost come in Salinas?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after January 29; in one year in ten it comes after March 1. Waiting until March 1 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Salinas in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Monterey, CA14 miles from this station, 57.3°F a year
- Carmel Valley, CA14 miles from this station, 58.3°F a year
- Paicines (4 mi W), CA15 miles from this station, 56.5°F a year
- Hollister, CA16 miles from this station, 58.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made