#1 of 35 US cities · 2024
How pleasant is the weather in San Diego, CA?
In 2024, 94% of daytime hours in San Diego were enjoyable outdoors: 4,484 of 4,758 hours between 8 AM and 9 PM. That's #1 of 35 major US cities. June, July, August, and October were the best months and February the worst.
- Enjoyable
- 94%
- Comfortable temp
- 95%
- Too cold
- 4%
- Too hot
- 1%
- Lost to rain
- 0.4%
- Lost to gusts
- 0.5%
Month by month
Share of each month's daytime hours (8 AM to 9 PM). Avg temp is the plain air temperature over those hours, not feels-like.
| Month | Enjoyable | Comfortable | Too cold | Too hot | Rain | Avg temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 86% | 88% | 12% | 0% | 1.0% | 59°F |
| February | 82% | 86% | 14% | 0% | 2.7% | 58°F |
| March | 85% | 88% | 12% | 0% | 1.0% | 59°F |
| April | 93% | 94% | 6% | 0% | 0.5% | 60°F |
| May | 99% | 99% | 1% | 0% | 0.0% | 62°F |
| June | 100% | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0.0% | 66°F |
| July | 100% | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0.0% | 70°F |
| August | 100% | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0.0% | 72°F |
| September | 92% | 92% | 0% | 8% | 0.0% | 71°F |
| October | 100% | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0.0% | 68°F |
| November | 96% | 98% | 2% | 0% | 0.0% | 63°F |
| December | 97% | 97% | 3% | 0% | 0.0% | 59°F |
What limits outdoor time
Temperature almost never gets in the way in San Diego: only 5% of daytime hours were too cold or too hot.
Sun or shade makes less difference here: 75% of comfortable hours were pleasant in both.
Weather escapes within driving distance
Within an hour's drive (about 45 miles) there's nowhere meaningfully cooler in summer or warmer in winter. Stretch it to two hours (about 90 miles) and you can find places 10°F cooler in summer. Distances are straight-line; temperatures are PRISM 1991–2020 averages.
How San Diego, CA compares
- Los Angeles, CA · #2 · 85%
- Oakland, CA · #3 · 80%
- San Jose, CA · #4 · 80%
Other California cities: Los Angeles, CA (85%), Oakland, CA (80%), San Jose, CA (80%), San Francisco, CA (77%), Sacramento, CA (65%).
Questions
How many pleasant outdoor hours does San Diego, CA get?
4,484 hours in 2024, counting only 8 AM to 9 PM. That's 94% of daytime hours, about 345 days' worth of daytime, and ranks #1 of 35 major US cities.
What is the best month to be outside in San Diego, CA?
June, July, August, and October all came in at 100% of daytime hours enjoyable. February was the worst month, at 82%.
What makes outdoor time less pleasant in San Diego, CA?
Mostly temperature. 4% of daytime hours were too cold and 1% too hot. Rain took another 0.4%, and gusty wind 0.5%.
Scored with the default rule: 48–79°F feels-like in sun or shade, under 1 mm/h of rain, gusts under 27 mph, 8 AM to 9 PM. If you run hotter or colder than that, set your own range on the map. How the score works.