Local Weather

San Diego enjoys beautiful weather year round with an average daily temperature of a little over 70 degrees Fahrenheit – or 21 degrees centigrade, and most daily forecasts show the area to be mild, warm and sunny.  Here temperatures seldom fall below 40 degrees. Normally humidity is low, even during summer months.  Average annual rainfall is less than 10 inches and rain occurs primarily between December and March.   San Diego has been voted by meteorologists “the only place in the United States
with perfect weather.”

San Diego area weather is affected by the Marine Layer, a giant layer of air in contact with ocean water.  This moist, cool air covers San Diego at night and recedes during the day.  This phenomenon results in foggy or hazy mornings on the coast, but the clouds dissipate by noon most of the time.  Santa Ana winds are another local weather factor, and on rare occasions – generally in late fall – when these easterly winds bring hot, dry air from the inland deserts, temperatures can soar into the 90’s and beyond. Fortunately, the heat is normally offset by very low humidity.

The climate in the greater San Diego area varies.  Basically the farther inland you are, the hotter the days and the cooler the nights.  Therefore, coastal San Diego is milder throughout the year than the inland communities.  Temperatures can vary as much as 10–15 degrees from the coast to the warmer inland areas.  We have snow in the nearby Laguna Mountains; and summer temperatures in the Anza-Borrego Desert rival those in Death Valley.

Virtually every day is pleasant in San Diego, allowing the residents and visitors alike to swim, play tennis, golf, bicycle, lie on the beach and enjoy the enormous range of outdoor activities enjoyed in this Southern California city where you can vacation all year round.