Watsonville, California climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Watsonville's normal year runs from 39°F December nights to 75°F September afternoons, with 22.4 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 14.0°C, December lows of 4°C, September highs of 24°C, 568 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationWatsonville Municipal Airport
- Station IDUSW00023277
- Location36.94°N 121.79°W
- Elevation160 ft (49 m)
- From the center1 miles
- Population51,320
On October 14, the normal high in Watsonville is 74°F and the normal low 49°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 13%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Watsonville.
- Jan 61° 40°
- Feb 62° 42°
- Mar 64° 43°
- Apr 66° 45°
- May 69° 48°
- Jun 72° 50°
- Jul 72° 53°
- Aug 73° 53°
- Sep 75° 52°
- Oct 74° 48°
- Nov 67° 43°
- Dec 61° 39°
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 Watsonville each month?
September is the warmest month, with normal highs of 75°F; December the coldest, with normal lows of 39°F. The most precipitation falls in January (4.60 in), the least in July (0.02 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 | 61°F | 40°F | 50.7°F | 4.60 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 9 h 50 min |
| February | 62°F | 42°F | 51.9°F | 4.02 | 10 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 50 min |
| March | 64°F | 43°F | 53.5°F | 4.34 | 10 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 50 min |
| April | 66°F | 45°F | 55.5°F | 1.25 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| May | 69°F | 48°F | 58.3°F | 0.88 | 3 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| June | 72°F | 50°F | 61.1°F | 0.18 | 2 | 1 | <1 | 14 h 40 min |
| July | 72°F | 53°F | 62.5°F | 0.02 | 2 | <1 | <1 | 14 h 30 min |
| August | 73°F | 53°F | 63.3°F | 0.03 | 2 | 1 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| September | 75°F | 52°F | 63.6°F | 0.07 | 2 | 3 | <1 | 12 h 30 min |
| October | 74°F | 48°F | 60.9°F | 0.85 | 4 | 2 | <1 | 11 h 20 min |
| November | 67°F | 43°F | 55.0°F | 2.10 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 10 min |
| December | 61°F | 39°F | 50.1°F | 4.01 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 9 h 40 min |
| Year (annual) | 68°F | 46°F | 57.2°F | 22.35 | 68 | 8 | 7 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16°C | 5°C | 10.4°C | 117 mm |
| February | 17°C | 5°C | 11.1°C | 102 mm |
| March | 18°C | 6°C | 11.9°C | 110 mm |
| April | 19°C | 7°C | 13.1°C | 32 mm |
| May | 21°C | 9°C | 14.6°C | 22 mm |
| June | 22°C | 10°C | 16.2°C | 5 mm |
| July | 22°C | 11°C | 16.9°C | 1 mm |
| August | 23°C | 12°C | 17.4°C | 1 mm |
| September | 24°C | 11°C | 17.6°C | 2 mm |
| October | 23°C | 9°C | 16.1°C | 22 mm |
| November | 19°C | 6°C | 12.8°C | 53 mm |
| December | 16°C | 4°C | 10.1°C | 102 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00023277; 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 Watsonville?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November. Of those, June has the fewest days with rain (2).
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 USW00023277.
When is the last frost in Watsonville?
In Watsonville, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after January 31 in half of years and after March 9 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 9 in half of years and before November 20 in one year in ten. A night at 32°F or colder comes at all in 95% 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 311 year in 10 after March 9; 9 in 10 after December 28
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 91 year in 10 before November 20; 9 in 10 before January 12
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 317 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 364 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 3 in half of springs and before December 25 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Watsonville in zone 9b in ZIP code 95019. By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Watsonville's NOAA station is in zone 9b: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 29°F (21 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 USW00023277; 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.
How hot and how cold does it get in Watsonville?
In a normal year in Watsonville, 8 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 7 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 68 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 8a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 7a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 68a normal year
The highest temperature in this station's record (since 1945) is 110°F, on September 2, 2017; the lowest is 21°F, on December 23, 1998.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 2019, with 33.62 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00023277; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), station USW00023277. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How sunny is Watsonville?
Over a year 87% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Watsonville, 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 Watsonville need?
A normal year in Watsonville brings 2,962 heating degree days, 45% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 126 cooling degree days, 86% fewer than the median (908). Five months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 2,817 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 443 | 0 |
| February | 367 | 0 |
| March | 357 | 1 |
| April | 287 | 4 |
| May | 212 | 6 |
| June | 127 | 11 |
| July | 91 | 13 |
| August | 75 | 24 |
| September | 84 | 40 |
| October | 151 | 24 |
| November | 304 | 3 |
| December | 463 | 0 |
| Year (annual) | 2,962 | 126 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00023277. 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 Watsonville been warmer than normal lately?
2023 averaged 56.5°F, 0.7°F below the 1991-2020 normal of 57.2°F. 0 of the 2 complete years since 2022 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 56.7°F | −0.5°F | 22.08 |
| 2023 | 56.5°F | −0.7°F | 31.36 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00023277. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Watsonville's climate compare?
Watsonville is warmer than 50 of the other 218 places with their own NOAA record in California, and wetter than 146. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 57.2°F is warmer than 67%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Watsonville 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 Watsonville share this climate record?
8 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.
- Rio del Mar, CA8,938 people · 6 mi W
- Day Valley, CA3,514 people · 7 mi NW
- Freedom, CA3,211 people · 0 mi NW
- Amesti, CA2,905 people · 2 mi N
- La Selva Beach, CA2,519 people · 3 mi W
- Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, CA1,999 people · 3 mi NW
- Corralitos, CA1,906 people · 3 mi N
- Pajaro Dunes, CA103 people · 5 mi S
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Watsonville's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Watsonville. This page uses Watsonville Municipal Airport; the other differs by site and elevation, and the linked ones have pages of their own:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watsonville Water Works USC00049473 | 1 mi N | 95 ft | 57.6°F | 40°F | 71°F | 22.7 | 0 | January 28 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Watsonville's climate
What is the coldest month in Watsonville?
December, with a normal high of 61°F and a normal low of 39°F. The warmest is September (75°F by day, 52°F at night).
Does it snow in Watsonville?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Watsonville's NOAA station; Watsonville's own co-op station Watsonville Water Works records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Watsonville?
January, with 4.60 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is July with 0.02 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Watsonville in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Watsonville in zone 9b in ZIP code 95019. By the same method at Watsonville's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 29°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 9b.
How late can frost come in Watsonville?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after January 31; in one year in ten it comes after March 9. Waiting until March 9 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Watsonville in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- California climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Watsonville Water Works, CA1 miles from this station, 57.6°F a year
- Santa Cruz, CA12 miles from this station, 58.7°F a year
- Gilroy, CA14 miles from this station, 60.2°F a year
- Ben Lomond, CA19 miles from this station, 60.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made