San Jose, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from San Jose's primary NOAA station, SAN JOSE - 2 stations mapped to the area.
The climate verdict for San Jose
Dryness leads the climate profile for San Jose, California, with 13.5 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 61°F. It scores 88/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 89% of them.
- 61°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 88/100
- comfort score, above 89% of station-mapped location scores
- 13.5"
- annual precipitation
- 344 days
- growing season, frost-free days
San Jose: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00023293 · San Jose, CA 61°F mean · 13.5" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-NARROW · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-MULTI · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 61°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,283
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Ben Lomond
- PRCP-DRY 13.5"
- SWING-NARROW 19°F
- COMF-TOP 88/100
- LOAD-HEAT 2,184 HDD
- STN-MULTI USW00023293
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Ben Lomond, CA ( -0.3 °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.
- San Jose (this station) 61°F
- Hot Avalon Catalina, CA 61°F
- Cold King City, CA 60°F
- Near Ben Lomond, CA 60°F
- Near Napa State Hosp…, CA 60°F
Climate Living Index · San Jose
San Jose: 78/100 · grade B
San Jose publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for San Jose, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 88/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frost-free season | 344 days/year | 100/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 0 calendar days | 100/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 60.7°F · 6.8° from 67.5°F | 79/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 13.5 in · 21.5 from 35 in | 23/100 · F |
San Jose · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
San Jose is a temperate Köppen climate: Csb
Coldest-month mean 50.6°F and warmest-month mean 70.0°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
- 70.0°F
- Coldest month
- 50.6°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 San Jose sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for San Jose's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 23% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, San Jose sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 86%
- San Jose's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 97%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for San Jose is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How San Jose compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
San Jose's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
88 Top 11% score exceeds 89% 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%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
San Jose's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 92 complete annual observations from 1875 to 2025, SAN JOSE warmed at a fitted rate of 0.18°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- San Jose primary station fitted change +0.18 °C/decade
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Snow | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60°F (15°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 2.8" | N/A | 1.4 | 0.0 |
| February | 62°F (17°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 2.7" | N/A | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 66°F (19°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 2.1" | N/A | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| April | 69°F (21°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 1.1" | N/A | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| May | 74°F (23°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 0.4" | N/A | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| June | 79°F (26°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 67°F (20°C) | 0.2" | N/A | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| July | 81°F (27°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 0.0" | N/A | 0.0 | 2.8 |
| August | 81°F (27°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 0.1" | N/A | 0.0 | 3.2 |
| September | 81°F (27°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 0.1" | N/A | 0.0 | 4.5 |
| October | 76°F (24°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 0.5" | N/A | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| November | 66°F (19°C) | 46°F (8°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 1.3" | N/A | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| December | 60°F (15°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 2.3" | N/A | 1.4 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The calendar barely moves in San Jose: no date carries a normal high of 90°F or a normal low at freezing. The year runs between 41°F near January 1 and 82°F near August 26.
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 41°F around January 1.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 17, when 35% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is July 11 at 1%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 59 wet dates a year.
The widest day
June 24 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 24°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for San Jose.
Where San Jose Stands Nationally
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 14 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
San Jose 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 and snowfall
9.2 days with precipitation
10.0 days with precipitation
9.3 days with precipitation
5.8 days with precipitation
2.7 days with precipitation
0.8 days with precipitation
0.1 days with precipitation
0.2 days with precipitation
0.8 days with precipitation
3.1 days with precipitation
7.1 days with precipitation
9.5 days with precipitation
San Jose'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 2%. 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 19.4°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- January, 2.8"
- Driest month
- July, 0.0"
- Wettest three months
- January, February, December (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 San Jose's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 59 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 13.5" between them, or roughly 0.23 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 22
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
January 12
50% probability date
Growing Season
344 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,184
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
624
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
August
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to San Jose 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 (61°F here).
- Blytheville, AR 61°F · 0.0°F off
- Borger, TX 61°F · 0.0°F off
- Concord, NC 61°F · 0.0°F off
- Courtland, AL 61°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (13.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Pocatello, ID 13.5" · 0.0" off
- Rigby, ID 13.5" · 0.0" off
- Ignacio, CO 13.5" · 0.0" off
- Weiser, ID 13.4" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where San Jose's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · low swing
Heating is the larger measured load in San Jose, at 2,184 degree days versus 624 for cooling. Unlike a strongly continental record, however, its 19.4°F month-to-month range is compact; persistent cool-season demand matters more than a dramatic summer-to-winter reversal.
San Jose has a long frost-free window of roughly 344 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. August and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, only 19.4°F apart, while the annual precipitation total remains below PlainClimate's dry threshold. The annual average is 61°F. The monthly rows show whether that limited precipitation is spread through the year or concentrated in a shorter interval.
San Jose's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 13.5 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.
San Jose wettest normal
January
January concentrates the scarce annual total (13.5 inches).
San Jose driest normal
July
July is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about San Jose's climate
How dry is San Jose? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in San Jose? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from San Jose's primary station: SAN JOSE (USW00023293). 2 NOAA stations are mapped to the San Jose area; the primary station's record is used for consistency. 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 0668000). Match rule for San Jose: 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 San Jose 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.