Santa Monica Muni, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Average temperature and precipitation from NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals →, with a derived climate comfort score
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Santa Monica Muni's primary NOAA station, SANTA MONICA MUNI AP.
The climate verdict for Santa Monica Muni
Dryness leads the climate profile for Santa Monica Muni, California, with 13.4 inches of precipitation a year. NOAA records an annual average of 63°F. August is the warmest month at 70°F and December the coldest at 57°F.
- 63°F
- yearly average temperature, NOAA normal
- 13.4"
- annual precipitation
Santa Monica Muni: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00093197 · Santa Monica Muni, CA 63°F mean · 13.4" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-NARROW · COMF-UNK · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 63°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,626
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Torrance
- PRCP-DRY 13.4"
- SWING-NARROW 13°F
- COMF-UNK Comfort n/a
- LOAD-HEAT 1,388 HDD
- STN-1 USW00093197
- BOOK-FULL 5/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Torrance, CA (+ 0.2 °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 Monica (this station) 63°F
- Cold Carlsbad Palomar, CA 63°F
- Hot Laguna Beach, CA 63°F
- Near Torrance, CA 63°F
- Near Redondo Beach, CA 63°F
Climate Living Index · Santa Monica Muni
Santa Monica Muni: 77/100 · grade B
Santa Monica Muni publishes 3 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 3 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Santa Monica Muni, not an official NOAA rating. Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 0 calendar days | 100/100 · A |
| Annual temperature balance | 62.8°F · 4.7° from 67.5°F | 86/100 · A |
| Precipitation balance | 13.4 in · 21.6 from 35 in | 23/100 · F |
Santa Monica Muni · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method .
Santa Monica Muni's normals sit in a dry climate class: BSk
Precipitation is low relative to temperature but above true desert thresholds: cold semi-arid steppe (BSk). Class BSk is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: dry (arid or semi-arid), specifically cold semi-arid steppe.
- Köppen code
- BSk
- Group
- Dry (arid or semi-arid)
- Warmest month
- 69.8°F
- Coldest month
- 57.0°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 Monica Muni sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Santa Monica Muni's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 18% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Santa Monica Muni sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- Drier than 86%
- Santa Monica Muni'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 Monica Muni is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 66°F (19°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 3.3" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| February | 66°F (19°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 3.3" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| March | 66°F (19°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 2.1" | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| April | 68°F (20°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 60°F (16°C) | 0.6" | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| May | 69°F (21°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 0.3" | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| June | 71°F (22°C) | 60°F (15°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| July | 75°F (24°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| August | 77°F (25°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| September | 76°F (24°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 1.3 |
| October | 74°F (23°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 0.6" | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| November | 70°F (21°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 0.8" | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| December | 66°F (19°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 57°F (14°C) | 2.3" | 0.0 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The calendar barely moves in Santa Monica Muni: no date carries a normal high of 90°F or a normal low at freezing. The year runs between 47°F near December 15 and 77°F near August 23.
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 47°F around December 15.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 24, when 22% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is June 19 at 1%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 38 wet dates a year.
The widest day
December 7 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 19°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Santa Monica Muni.
Where Santa Monica Muni Stands Nationally
Among the steadiest day-night climates ranked: even the widest normal daily swing holds to roughly 19°F.
A drier-than-most normal water year — around 14 inches, below what four out of five ranked stations collect.
Santa Monica Muni earns 2 nationally notable standings (outer quintiles) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations; only those extremes render.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
5.4 days with precipitation
6.3 days with precipitation
5.0 days with precipitation
2.7 days with precipitation
1.8 days with precipitation
0.3 days with precipitation
0.5 days with precipitation
0.4 days with precipitation
1.0 days with precipitation
3.7 days with precipitation
4.0 days with precipitation
6.5 days with precipitation
Santa Monica Muni's wet season runs through the cold months
December, January and February carry 67% 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 12.8°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- February, 3.3"
- Driest month
- August, 0.0"
- Wettest three months
- February, January, December (67% 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.
When it rains in Santa Monica Muni, it arrives in quantity
13.4" of precipitation falls across only about 38 wet days here, averaging 0.36 inches each. Fewer days carry more water: the year's total is delivered in comparatively heavy events rather than persistent damp.
- Days with measurable precipitation
- about 38 a year, 10% of all days
- Average depth per wet day
- 0.36 inches
- Most wet days
- December, about 7
- Fewest wet days
- June, about 0
A wet day is one recording at least 0.01 inches. These are 1991-2020 normals: they describe an average year, and a per-day average is not a forecast of any individual storm.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
N/A
50% probability date
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
1,388
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
613
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
August
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Santa Monica Muni 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 (63°F here).
- Alexander City, AL 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Alpine, TX 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Bowie, TX 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Calhoun City, MS 63°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (13.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Weiser, ID 13.4" · 0.0" off
- Chinook, MT 13.4" · 0.0" off
- Glasgow, MT 13.4" · 0.0" off
- Briggsdale, CO 13.4" · 0.0" off
Scarce-water calendar
Where Santa Monica Muni's limited precipitation lands
heating led · dry · low swing
Heating is the larger measured load in Santa Monica Muni, at 1,388 degree days versus 613 for cooling. Unlike a strongly continental record, however, its 12.8°F month-to-month range is compact; persistent cool-season demand matters more than a dramatic summer-to-winter reversal.
A frost-free growing-season length is not available for Santa Monica Muni. That missing field is kept separate from the observed temperature and precipitation record rather than filled from a regional estimate.
The calendar stays thermally compact and dry. August and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar, only 12.8°F apart, while the annual precipitation total remains below PlainClimate's dry threshold. The annual average is 63°F. The monthly rows show whether that limited precipitation is spread through the year or concentrated in a shorter interval.
Santa Monica Muni's cold-season load does not imply a wet climate. Annual precipitation is 13.4 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 Monica Muni wettest normal
February
February concentrates the scarce annual total (13.4 inches).
Santa Monica Muni 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 Monica Muni's climate
How dry is Santa Monica Muni? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Santa Monica Muni? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Santa Monica Muni's primary station: SANTA MONICA MUNI AP (USW00093197). 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 Monica Muni; 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 Monica Muni 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.