Santa Maria Public, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Pulled from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →: climate measurements used in PlainClimate's documented score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Santa Maria Public's primary NOAA station, SANTA MARIA PUBLIC AP.
The climate verdict for Santa Maria Public
Dryness leads the climate profile for Santa Maria Public, California, with 13.3 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 59°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.
- 59°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 76/100
- comfort score, above 69% of station-mapped location scores
- 13.3"
- precipitation, annual total
- 312 days
- frost-free growing season
Santa Maria Public: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00023273 · Santa Maria Public, CA 59°F mean · 13.3" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-NARROW · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 59°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,871
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Santa Cruz
- PRCP-DRY 13.3"
- SWING-NARROW 12°F
- COMF-TOP 76/100
- LOAD-HEAT 2,484 HDD
- STN-1 USW00023273
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Santa Cruz, CA (+ 0.1 °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.
- Santa Maria Pub… (this station) 59°F
- Hot Richmond, CA 59°F
- Near Santa Cruz, CA 59°F
- Near San Francisco, CA 59°F
- Cold Santa Barbara, CA 58°F
Climate Living Index · Santa Maria Public
Santa Maria Public: 78/100 · grade B
Santa Maria Public 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 Santa Maria Public, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 76/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Frost-free season | 312 days/year | 100/100 · A |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 0 calendar days | 100/100 · A |
| Summer moisture balance | 54.5°F mean dew point | 92/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 58.6°F · 8.9° from 67.5°F | 72/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 13.3 in · 21.7 from 35 in | 22/100 · F |
Santa Maria Public · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Santa Maria Public is a temperate Köppen climate: Csb
Coldest-month mean 52.2°F and warmest-month mean 64.5°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
- 64.5°F
- Coldest month
- 52.2°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 Santa Maria Public sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Santa Maria Public's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 29% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Santa Maria Public sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 87%
- Santa Maria Public's annual total ranks in the drier third of 6,352 measured normals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 99%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Santa Maria Public is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Santa Maria Public compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Santa Maria Public'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
Santa Maria Public's measured station temperature trend
MethodologyAcross 66 complete annual observations from 1948 to 2025, SANTA MARIA PUBLIC AP warmed at a fitted rate of 0.24°C per decade. The line shows the fitted change relative to its first year, not raw year-to-year temperatures or a forecast.
- Santa Maria Public primary station fitted change +0.24 °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 | 65°F (18°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 2.7" | 2.5 | 0.0 |
| February | 65°F (18°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 2.9" | 1.5 | 0.0 |
| March | 66°F (19°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 2.6" | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| April | 68°F (20°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 0.9" | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| May | 69°F (21°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 0.4" | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| June | 71°F (22°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 62°F (16°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| July | 73°F (23°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| August | 74°F (23°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| September | 75°F (24°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| October | 75°F (24°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 0.5" | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| November | 70°F (21°C) | 44°F (7°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 1.1" | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| December | 64°F (18°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 2.0" | 3.8 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The calendar barely moves in Santa Maria Public: no date carries a normal high of 90°F or a normal low at freezing. The year runs between 40°F near December 17 and 75°F near September 20.
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 40°F around December 17.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 19, when 29% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is August 3 at 1%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 47 wet dates a year.
The widest day
November 6 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 26°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Santa Maria Public.
Where Santa Maria Public Stands Nationally
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 13 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Santa Maria Public 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
7.7 days with precipitation
8.4 days with precipitation
7.7 days with precipitation
4.4 days with precipitation
2.2 days with precipitation
0.6 days with precipitation
0.5 days with precipitation
0.4 days with precipitation
0.6 days with precipitation
2.7 days with precipitation
4.6 days with precipitation
7.2 days with precipitation
Santa Maria Public's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 57% 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 12.3°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- February, 2.9"
- Driest month
- August, 0.0"
- Wettest three months
- February, January, March (61% 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 Santa Maria Public's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 47 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 13.3" between them, or roughly 0.28 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 13
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
February 4
50% probability date
Growing Season
312 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,484
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
165
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
August
Coldest Month
December
Humidity & Wind
Monthly averages from hourly observations
| Month | Humidity | Wind (mph) | Clear Sky % | Overcast % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71% | 6.5 | 45% | 19% |
| February | 73% | 7.3 | 39% | 23% |
| March | 74% | 7.9 | 43% | 20% |
| April | 69% | 9.2 | 49% | 17% |
| May | 72% | 8.5 | 47% | 21% |
| June | 74% | 7.7 | 57% | 16% |
| July | 80% | 6.3 | 53% | 13% |
| August | 78% | 5.7 | 61% | 12% |
| September | 70% | 5.9 | 59% | 17% |
| October | 67% | 5.6 | 57% | 15% |
| November | 67% | 5.9 | 56% | 14% |
| December | 68% | 5.8 | 49% | 18% |
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Santa Maria Public 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 (59°F here).
- Alva, OK 59°F · 0.0°F off
- Billings, OK 59°F · 0.0°F off
- Chase City, VA 59°F · 0.0°F off
- Clarkesville, GA 59°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (13.3" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Roy, MT 13.3" · 0.0" off
- Salina, UT 13.3" · 0.0" off
- Carrizozo, NM 13.3" · 0.0" off
- Saco, MT 13.4" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Santa Maria Public's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · low swing
Heating is the larger measured load in Santa Maria Public, at 2,484 degree days versus 165 for cooling. Unlike a strongly continental record, however, its 12.3°F month-to-month range is compact; persistent cool-season demand matters more than a dramatic summer-to-winter reversal.
Santa Maria Public has a long frost-free window of roughly 312 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 12.3°F apart, while the annual precipitation total remains below PlainClimate's dry threshold. The annual average is 59°F. The monthly rows show whether that limited precipitation is spread through the year or concentrated in a shorter interval.
Santa Maria Public's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 13.3 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.
Santa Maria Public wettest normal
February
February concentrates the scarce annual total (13.3 inches).
Santa Maria Public driest normal
August
August is typically driest; arid stations are defined by when water is absent, not by a four-season grid.
Questions about Santa Maria Public's climate
How dry is Santa Maria Public? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Santa Maria Public? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Santa Maria Public's primary station: SANTA MARIA PUBLIC AP (USW00023273). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The conservative exact name-and-state crosswalk finds no Census place match, so PlainClimate treats this as a station-mapped location and does not claim it is a municipality. No exact Gazetteer row for Santa Maria Public; facility counts that depend on place identity are therefore an upper bound, not a municipal census.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Santa Maria Public 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.