Santa Cruz, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Santa Cruz's normal year runs from 41°F December nights to 76°F August afternoons, with 30.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.8°C, December lows of 5°C, August highs of 24°C, 778 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSanta Cruz
- Station IDUSC00047916
- Location36.99°N 122.00°W
- Elevation70 ft (21 m)
- From the center2 miles
- Population62,581
On October 23, the normal high in Santa Cruz is 73°F and the normal low 49°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 Santa Cruz.
- Jan 63° 41°
- Feb 64° 43°
- Mar 67° 44°
- Apr 69° 46°
- May 71° 49°
- Jun 74° 52°
- Jul 74° 54°
- Aug 76° 55°
- Sep 77° 53°
- Oct 74° 50°
- Nov 67° 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 Santa Cruz each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 76°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 41°F. The most precipitation falls in January (6.42 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 | 63°F | 41°F | 51.9°F | 6.42 | 11 | <1 | 2 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 64°F | 43°F | 53.3°F | 6.10 | 11 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 67°F | 44°F | 55.3°F | 4.31 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 69°F | 46°F | 57.5°F | 2.04 | 6 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 71°F | 49°F | 60.2°F | 0.87 | 4 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 74°F | 52°F | 62.8°F | 0.24 | 1 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 74°F | 54°F | 64.3°F | 0.01 | 1 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 76°F | 55°F | 65.2°F | 0.04 | 1 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 77°F | 53°F | 64.8°F | 0.10 | 1 | 2 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 50°F | 61.7°F | 1.32 | 4 | 1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 67°F | 44°F | 55.6°F | 3.17 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 62°F | 41°F | 51.2°F | 6.01 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 70°F | 48°F | 58.7°F | 30.63 | 65 | 6 | 6 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17°C | 5°C | 11.1°C | 163 mm |
| February | 18°C | 6°C | 11.8°C | 155 mm |
| March | 19°C | 7°C | 12.9°C | 109 mm |
| April | 21°C | 8°C | 14.2°C | 52 mm |
| May | 22°C | 9°C | 15.7°C | 22 mm |
| June | 23°C | 11°C | 17.1°C | 6 mm |
| July | 24°C | 12°C | 17.9°C | 0 mm |
| August | 24°C | 13°C | 18.4°C | 1 mm |
| September | 25°C | 12°C | 18.2°C | 3 mm |
| October | 23°C | 10°C | 16.5°C | 34 mm |
| November | 19°C | 7°C | 13.1°C | 81 mm |
| December | 16°C | 5°C | 10.7°C | 153 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00047916; 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 Santa Cruz?
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 (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 USC00047916.
When is the last frost in Santa Cruz?
In Santa Cruz, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after January 29 in half of years and after February 28 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 13 in half of years and before November 23 in one year in ten. A night at 32°F or colder comes at all in 91% 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 February 28; 9 in 10 after December 25
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 131 year in 10 before November 23; 9 in 10 before January 22
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 323 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 365 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 3 in half of springs and before December 27 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Santa Cruz in zones 9b to 10a across its 4 ZIP code areas (9b in 95060, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Santa Cruz's NOAA station is in zone 9b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 29°F (28 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 USC00047916; 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 Santa Cruz ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Santa Cruz's 4 ZIP code areas run from zone 9b to 10a: 1 in 10a and 3 in 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 Santa Cruz?
In a normal year in Santa Cruz, 6 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 6 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 65 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 6a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 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
- 65a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1893) is 110°F, on September 3, 2017; the lowest is 19°F, on December 23, 1990.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1983, with 59.76 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00047916; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00047916. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Santa Cruz?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Santa Cruz, 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 Santa Cruz need?
A normal year in Santa Cruz brings 2,488 heating degree days, 54% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 180 cooling degree days, 80% 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 3,271 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 405 | 0 |
| February | 328 | 0 |
| March | 301 | 1 |
| April | 229 | 4 |
| May | 159 | 10 |
| June | 85 | 19 |
| July | 51 | 30 |
| August | 38 | 44 |
| September | 54 | 48 |
| October | 125 | 23 |
| November | 285 | 2 |
| December | 428 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,488 | 180 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00047916. 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 Santa Cruz been warmer than normal lately?
Over 109 complete years from 1875 to 2019, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.3°F per century (+0.07°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Santa Cruz's climate compare?
Santa Cruz is warmer than 72 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 169. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 58.7°F is warmer than 71%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz share this climate record?
9 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.
- Live Oak, CA16,866 people · 1 mi E
- Soquel, CA10,691 people · 3 mi E
- Capitola, CA9,503 people · 3 mi E
- Aptos, CA6,124 people · 6 mi E
- Pleasure Point, CA5,813 people · 3 mi SE
- Twin Lakes, CA4,895 people · 2 mi S
- Seacliff, CA3,488 people · 5 mi E
- Pasatiempo, CA925 people · 2 mi NW
- Paradise Park, CA647 people · 3 mi NW
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 Santa Cruz's climate
What is the coldest month in Santa Cruz?
December, with a normal high of 62°F and a normal low of 41°F. The warmest is August (76°F by day, 55°F at night).
Does it snow in Santa Cruz?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is no measurable snow a year.
What is the rainiest month in Santa Cruz?
January, with 6.42 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.01 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Santa Cruz in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Santa Cruz in zones 9b to 10a across its 4 ZIP code areas (9b in 95060, the largest). By the same method at Santa Cruz's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 29°F (28 years, 1991-2020): zone 9b.
How late can frost come in Santa Cruz?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after January 29; in one year in ten it comes after February 28. Waiting until February 28 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Santa Cruz in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Ben Lomond, CA8 miles from this station, 60.4°F a year
- Watsonville, CA12 miles from this station, 57.2°F a year
- Watsonville Water Works, CA13 miles from this station, 57.6°F a year
- Los Gatos, CA17 miles from this station, 59.7°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made