San Diego weather

Southern California gets morning fogs which the sun soon burns away. The summer mornings are cool along the coast, the afternoons hot but rarely humid.

Along the coast the climate is generally mild, but inland temperatures can get quite warm. As you move inland the terrain steepens and the temperature rises.

On some days coastal and inland temperatures may differ by as much as 30 degrees. San Diego daily average coastal temperatures are shown in the table to the right:

Coastal San Diego’s heat is moderated by ocean breezes but occasional Santa Ana winds from the desert can heat things up during September and October.

An average of 10 inches of rain falls annually in Downtown. Most rain falls November through March. Abundant sunshine much of the year, though June can be gloomy. Mild summer, somewhat cooler spring. 

Located closer to the equator than to the north pole, our waters are almost semi-tropical and possess many marine organisms with close relatives from farther south. 

Our coastal climate is characterized as Mediterranean - that is, with mild winters and temperate summers, which encourages the occurrence of marine flora and fauna that are transitional between true tropical and true temperate.