Santa Monica Pier, California climate: Climate normals at a NOAA weather station
Santa Monica Pier's normal year runs from 50°F January nights to 70°F August afternoons, with 12.2 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 15.8°C, January lows of 10°C, August highs of 21°C, 309 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationSanta Monica Pier
- Station IDUSC00047953
- Location34.01°N 118.50°W
- Elevation14 ft (4 m)
On October 23, the normal high in Santa Monica Pier is 67°F and the normal low 58°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 7%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Santa Monica Pier.
- Jan 62° 50°
- Feb 62° 50°
- Mar 62° 52°
- Apr 63° 53°
- May 63° 56°
- Jun 66° 59°
- Jul 69° 62°
- Aug 70° 62°
- Sep 70° 61°
- Oct 68° 59°
- Nov 67° 54°
- Dec 63° 50°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like at Santa Monica Pier each month?
August is the warmest month, with normal highs of 70°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 50°F. The most precipitation falls in February (3.10 in), the least in August (0.01 in).
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62°F | 50°F | 55.8°F | 3.08 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 10 h 10 min |
| February | 62°F | 50°F | 56.0°F | 3.10 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 11 h |
| March | 62°F | 52°F | 56.8°F | 1.74 | 5 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 63°F | 53°F | 58.3°F | 0.57 | 2 | <1 | <1 | 13 h |
| May | 63°F | 56°F | 59.6°F | 0.23 | 1 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| June | 66°F | 59°F | 62.7°F | 0.05 | 1 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 20 min |
| July | 69°F | 62°F | 65.4°F | 0.03 | 1 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| August | 70°F | 62°F | 66.0°F | 0.01 | <1 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| September | 70°F | 61°F | 65.5°F | 0.03 | <1 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 68°F | 59°F | 63.0°F | 0.49 | 2 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 67°F | 54°F | 60.3°F | 0.81 | 2 | <1 | <1 | 10 h 30 min |
| December | 63°F | 50°F | 56.5°F | 2.03 | 5 | <1 | <1 | 9 h 50 min |
| Year (annual) | 66°F | 56°F | 60.5°F | 12.17 | 34 | 1 | <1 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17°C | 10°C | 13.2°C | 78 mm |
| February | 17°C | 10°C | 13.3°C | 79 mm |
| March | 17°C | 11°C | 13.8°C | 44 mm |
| April | 17°C | 12°C | 14.6°C | 14 mm |
| May | 17°C | 13°C | 15.3°C | 6 mm |
| June | 19°C | 15°C | 17.1°C | 1 mm |
| July | 21°C | 16°C | 18.6°C | 1 mm |
| August | 21°C | 17°C | 18.9°C | 0 mm |
| September | 21°C | 16°C | 18.6°C | 1 mm |
| October | 20°C | 15°C | 17.2°C | 12 mm |
| November | 19°C | 12°C | 15.7°C | 21 mm |
| December | 17°C | 10°C | 13.6°C | 52 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00047953; 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.
Which months are mildest at Santa Monica Pier?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in June, July, August, September, October and November. Of those, August 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 USC00047953.
How hot and how cold does it get at Santa Monica Pier?
In a normal year in Santa Monica Pier, 1 day a year reaches 90°F, nights almost never fall to freezing and 34 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 34a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1937) is 100°F, on November 1, 1966; the lowest is 33°F, on March 1, 1945.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1998, with 25.40 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USC00047953; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USC00047953. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is it at Santa Monica Pier?
Over a year 90% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds at Santa Monica Pier, 5.7 kWh per square metre a day. August is the sunniest month (97%) and February the cloudiest (82%).
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 83% | 3.2 |
| February | 82% | 4.0 |
| March | 85% | 5.4 |
| April | 87% | 6.7 |
| May | 89% | 7.5 |
| June | 93% | 8.1 |
| July | 95% | 7.9 |
| August | 97% | 7.5 |
| September | 95% | 6.3 |
| October | 91% | 4.8 |
| November | 88% | 3.6 |
| December | 83% | 2.9 |
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 many heating and cooling degree days does Santa Monica Pier record?
A normal year at Santa Monica Pier brings 1,844 heating degree days, 66% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 204 cooling degree days, 77% fewer than the median (908). No month reaches 300 heating degree days. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 3,847 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 289 | 4 |
| February | 256 | 3 |
| March | 257 | 3 |
| April | 207 | 6 |
| May | 170 | 3 |
| June | 77 | 9 |
| July | 26 | 40 |
| August | 20 | 51 |
| September | 30 | 44 |
| October | 87 | 25 |
| November | 157 | 14 |
| December | 267 | 2 |
| Year (annual) | 1,844 | 204 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USC00047953. 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.
How does Santa Monica Pier's climate compare?
Santa Monica Pier is warmer than 103 of the 219 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 67. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 60.5°F is warmer than 76%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Santa Monica Pier is BSk: cold semi-arid steppe. 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 Monica Pier share this climate record?
2 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.
- Malibu, CA10,298 people · 15 mi W
- Pepperdine University, CA2,772 people · 12 mi W
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 Monica Pier's climate
What is the coldest month at Santa Monica Pier?
January, with a normal high of 62°F and a normal low of 50°F. The warmest is August (70°F by day, 62°F at night).
Does it snow at Santa Monica Pier?
Rarely: NOAA's normal is no measurable snow a year.
What is the rainiest month at Santa Monica Pier?
February, with 3.10 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is August with 0.01 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Santa Monica Pier in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Santa Monica Pier in zone 11a in ZIP code 90401, the nearest ZIP area. By the same method at the station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 43°F (17 years, 1991-2020): zone 11a.
Nearby and next
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Santa Monica, CA3 miles from this station, 62.8°F a year
- Culver City, CA5 miles from this station, 63.7°F a year
- U C L A, CA6 miles from this station, 64.3°F a year
- Getty Center, CA6 miles from this station, 64.2°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made