Watsonville Muni, CA Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Annual temperature and rainfall from NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 normals →; comfort score computed by PlainClimate
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Watsonville Muni's primary NOAA station, WATSONVILLE MUNI AP.
The climate verdict for Watsonville Muni
A compact 13.5°F seasonal swing gives Watsonville Muni, California a steadier-than-extreme annual shape. NOAA reports an annual average of 57°F. It scores 88/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 89% of them.
- 57°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 88/100
- comfort score, above 89% of station-mapped location scores
- 22.4"
- annual precipitation
- 312 days
- frost-free growing season
Watsonville Muni: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USW00023277 · Watsonville Muni, CA 57°F mean · 22.4" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-DRY · SWING-NARROW · COMF-TOP · LOAD-HEAT · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 57°F
- RANK-UPPER #4,597
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Monterey Penins…
- PRCP-DRY 22.4"
- SWING-NARROW 14°F
- COMF-TOP 88/100
- LOAD-HEAT 2,962 HDD
- STN-1 USW00023277
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Monterey Peninsul, 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.
- Watsonville (this station) 57°F
- Cold Shelter Cove Av…, CA 57°F
- Hot Big Sur, CA 57°F
- Near Monterey Penins…, CA 57°F
- Near Pacifica, CA 57°F
Climate Living Index · Watsonville Muni
Watsonville Muni: 80/100 · grade B
Watsonville Muni publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Watsonville Muni, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 88/100 (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 |
| Annual temperature balance | 57.2°F · 10.3° from 67.5°F | 67/100 · C |
| Precipitation balance | 22.4 in · 12.6 from 35 in | 56/100 · C |
Watsonville Muni · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Watsonville Muni is a temperate Köppen climate: Csb
Coldest-month mean 50.1°F and warmest-month mean 63.6°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
- 63.6°F
- Coldest month
- 50.1°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 Watsonville Muni sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Watsonville Muni's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- 67th percentile warmth
- Mid-pack annual mean versus 6,861 station normals.
- Annual precipitation
- 31st percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 99%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Watsonville Muni is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Watsonville Muni compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Watsonville Muni's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
88 Top 11% score exceeds 89% 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%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). This entry sits in this band.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). Above this entry.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61°F (16°C) | 40°F (5°C) | 51°F (10°C) | 4.6" | 2.3 | 0.0 |
| February | 62°F (17°C) | 42°F (5°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 4.0" | 1.2 | 0.0 |
| March | 64°F (18°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 54°F (12°C) | 4.3" | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| April | 66°F (19°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 56°F (13°C) | 1.3" | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| May | 69°F (21°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 58°F (15°C) | 0.9" | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| June | 72°F (22°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 0.2" | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| July | 72°F (22°C) | 53°F (11°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| August | 73°F (23°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 0.0" | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| September | 75°F (24°C) | 52°F (11°C) | 64°F (18°C) | 0.1" | 0.0 | 2.9 |
| October | 74°F (23°C) | 48°F (9°C) | 61°F (16°C) | 0.8" | 0.0 | 2.2 |
| November | 67°F (19°C) | 43°F (6°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 2.1" | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| December | 61°F (16°C) | 39°F (4°C) | 50°F (10°C) | 4.0" | 3.3 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
The calendar barely moves in Watsonville Muni: no date carries a normal high of 90°F or a normal low at freezing. The year runs between 39°F near December 20 and 76°F near September 15.
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 39°F around December 20.
Where the wet dates fall
The likeliest wet date is February 27, when 37% of years recorded at least a hundredth of an inch. The driest is June 22 at 5%. Summed across the calendar, that is about 69 wet dates a year.
The widest day
October 19 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 Watsonville Muni.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
8.8 days with precipitation
9.9 days with precipitation
10.4 days with precipitation
6.8 days with precipitation
3.3 days with precipitation
1.5 days with precipitation
2.0 days with precipitation
1.7 days with precipitation
2.1 days with precipitation
4.2 days with precipitation
7.7 days with precipitation
9.7 days with precipitation
Watsonville Muni'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 13.5°F seasonal spread.
- Wettest month
- January, 4.6"
- Driest month
- July, 0.0"
- Wettest three months
- January, March, February (58% 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 Watsonville Muni's precipitation splits across the calendar
About 68 days a year record measurable precipitation here, carrying 22.4" between them, or roughly 0.33 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 9
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
January 31
50% probability date
Growing Season
312 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,962
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
126
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
September
Coldest Month
December
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside CA closest to Watsonville 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 (57°F here).
- Anderson, MO 57°F · 0.0°F off
- Christiana, TN 57°F · 0.0°F off
- Columbus, KS 57°F · 0.0°F off
- Farmville, VA 57°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (22.4" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Chama, NM 22.4" · 0.0" off
- Hill City, SD 22.4" · 0.0" off
- Healy, KS 22.4" · 0.0" off
- Miller, SD 22.3" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Watsonville Muni's climate pattern fits together
heating led · moderate · low swing
Heating is the larger measured load in Watsonville Muni, at 2,962 degree days versus 126 for cooling. Unlike a strongly continental record, however, its 13.5°F month-to-month range is compact; persistent cool-season demand matters more than a dramatic summer-to-winter reversal.
The frost-free window extends for about 312 days. That is a long calendar measure, but it is not a forecast and does not combine heat, rainfall, soil, or local elevation into a planting recommendation.
Temperature varies within a narrow 13.5°F band across the normal year. September and December mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar. The annual average is 57°F. Monthly rows still matter, but they refine a steady profile rather than reveal two climatic extremes.
Watsonville Muni's 22.4 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Watsonville Muni's primary station, so the winter figures are a thirty-year average and not a floor: a single hard season can run well below them. Treat each band as a descriptive range for Watsonville Muni, not an official NOAA class or a year-ahead forecast.
Questions about Watsonville Muni's climate
How much rain does Watsonville Muni get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Watsonville Muni? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Watsonville Muni's primary station: WATSONVILLE MUNI AP (USW00023277). 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 Watsonville 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 Watsonville 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.