Big Sur weather in April

In April, Big Sur sees average daytime highs of 57°F and overnight lows near 47°F, with 1.7 in of rain across 5.7 wet days and about 12.9 hours of daylight. It is the 8th-warmest and 6th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 57°F through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 50% of the time in April, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 12 h 18 min at the start of April to 13 h 24 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, April is Big Sur's 8th-clearest and 3rd-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Big Sur's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 57°; 8th warmest
Overnight low: 47°; 5th coldest
Rainfall: 1.7 in; 5.7 wet days
Daylight: 12 h 54 min; 5:40 AM – 6:35 PM
Cloud cover: 42%; 8th clearest
Wind: 10 mph; 3rd windiest
Solar energy: 6.6 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.7; out of 10

Big Sur is region in Monterey County, California, United States.

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

← March Big Sur year-round climate May →Best places to visit in April

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in April

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 57°F through the month.

A typical April day in Big Sur reaches about 57°F in the afternoon and slips back to 47°F overnight — a 10°F spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 51°F and 64°F. Set against its neighbours, April runs on par with March and about 2°F cooler than May.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Avg high (°F)	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	57	57	57	57	57	57	58	58	58	58	58	58	58	58	58	58
Avg low (°F)	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	46	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	47	48	48	48	48	48

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	56	46
2	56	46
3	56	46
4	56	46
5	56	46
6	56	46
7	56	46
8	56	46
9	56	46
10	56	46
11	56	46
12	56	46
13	56	46
14	56	46
15	57	46
16	57	47
17	57	47
18	57	47
19	57	47
20	57	47
21	58	47
22	58	47
23	58	47
24	58	47
25	58	47
26	58	48
27	58	48
28	58	48
29	58	48
30	58	48

Big Sur weather by month

How April compares with the rest of the year at a glance. April is the 8th-warmest and 6th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°F)	Rainfall (inches)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	55° / 46°	5.1	9.3	9.8	3.7
Feb	55° / 46°	4.8	9.3	10.6	3.6
Mar	56° / 46°	3.4	8.3	11.7	4.1
Apr	57° / 47°	1.7	5.7	12.9	4.7
May	59° / 49°	0.7	2.6	13.9	5.8
Jun	63° / 51°	0.1	0.4	14.4	7.4
Jul	66° / 54°	0.0	0.1	14.2	8.3
Aug	67° / 55°	0.1	0.3	13.4	8.5
Sep	67° / 55°	0.1	0.6	12.2	8.4
Oct	65° / 53°	0.9	2.4	11.1	7.6
Nov	59° / 49°	2.2	6.1	10.1	5.3
Dec	55° / 46°	4.5	9.2	9.6	3.8

Cloud cover in April

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 50% of the time in April.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 17% of April, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 33%. Skies tend to open up as the month goes on.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Clearer (%)	63	63	63	63	63	63	63	63	63	63	64	64	65	66	67	67	68	68	70	70	70	71	71	71	71	71	71	72	72	72
Cloudier (%)	37	37	37	37	37	37	37	37	37	37	36	36	35	34	33	33	32	32	30	30	30	29	29	29	29	29	29	28	28	28

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	63	37
2	63	37
3	63	37
4	63	37
5	63	37
6	63	37
7	63	37
8	63	37
9	63	37
10	63	37
11	64	36
12	64	36
13	65	35
14	66	34
15	67	33
16	67	33
17	68	32
18	68	32
19	70	30
20	70	30
21	70	30
22	71	29
23	71	29
24	71	29
25	71	29
26	71	29
27	71	29
28	72	28
29	72	28
30	72	28

Chance of precipitation in April

Any precipitation

Big Sur gets around 1.7 in of rain over 5.7 wet days in April. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 19% and peaks near 24% on the wettest days. The odds ease toward the end of the month.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Rain chance (%)	24	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	22	22	21	20	19	18	18	17	16	16	15	14	14	13	13	12	12	12	11

	Rain chance (%)
1	24
2	23
3	23
4	23
5	23
6	23
7	23
8	23
9	23
10	23
11	23
12	22
13	22
14	21
15	20
16	19
17	18
18	18
19	17
20	16
21	16
22	15
23	14
24	14
25	13
26	13
27	12
28	12
29	12
30	11

Humidity in April

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of April feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, April lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100

Wind in April

Winds average 10 mph in April.

Across April, daily wind ranges from about 9 mph on the calmest days to 10 mph at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Wind speed (mph)	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Feels	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

	Wind speed (mph)	Feels
1	9	light breeze
2	9	light breeze
3	9	light breeze
4	9	light breeze
5	9	light breeze
6	9	light breeze
7	9	light breeze
8	9	light breeze
9	9	light breeze
10	9	light breeze
11	9	light breeze
12	9	light breeze
13	9	light breeze
14	10	light breeze
15	10	light breeze
16	10	light breeze
17	10	light breeze
18	10	light breeze
19	10	light breeze
20	10	light breeze
21	10	light breeze
22	10	light breeze
23	10	light breeze
24	10	light breeze
25	10	light breeze
26	10	light breeze
27	10	light breeze
28	10	light breeze
29	10	light breeze
30	10	light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in April

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 12 h 18 min at the start of April to 13 h 24 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 66 minutes over April. Sunrise moves from 6:02 AM to 5:22 AM, and sunset from 6:22 PM to 6:47 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Daylight (h)	12.3	12.4	12.4	12.5	12.5	12.5	12.6	12.6	12.7	12.7	12.7	12.8	12.8	12.8	12.9	12.9	13.0	13.0	13.0	13.1	13.1	13.1	13.2	13.2	13.3	13.3	13.3	13.4	13.4	13.4
Sunrise (AM)	6:02	6:00	5:59	5:57	5:56	5:54	5:53	5:51	5:50	5:48	5:47	5:45	5:44	5:43	5:41	5:40	5:38	5:37	5:36	5:34	5:33	5:32	5:30	5:29	5:28	5:27	5:25	5:24	5:23	5:22
Sunset (PM)	6:22	6:23	6:24	6:25	6:26	6:27	6:27	6:28	6:29	6:30	6:31	6:32	6:33	6:33	6:34	6:35	6:36	6:37	6:38	6:39	6:39	6:40	6:41	6:42	6:43	6:44	6:45	6:46	6:46	6:47

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	12.3	6:02	6:22
2	12.4	6:00	6:23
3	12.4	5:59	6:24
4	12.5	5:57	6:25
5	12.5	5:56	6:26
6	12.5	5:54	6:27
7	12.6	5:53	6:27
8	12.6	5:51	6:28
9	12.7	5:50	6:29
10	12.7	5:48	6:30
11	12.7	5:47	6:31
12	12.8	5:45	6:32
13	12.8	5:44	6:33
14	12.8	5:43	6:33
15	12.9	5:41	6:34
16	12.9	5:40	6:35
17	13.0	5:38	6:36
18	13.0	5:37	6:37
19	13.0	5:36	6:38
20	13.1	5:34	6:39
21	13.1	5:33	6:39
22	13.1	5:32	6:40
23	13.2	5:30	6:41
24	13.2	5:29	6:42
25	13.3	5:28	6:43
26	13.3	5:27	6:44
27	13.3	5:25	6:45
28	13.4	5:24	6:46
29	13.4	5:23	6:46
30	13.4	5:22	6:47

Solar energy in April

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in April, about 6.6 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.59 kWh/m² to a high of 8.18 kWh/m² in June across the year — April's 6.6 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	6.0	6.0	6.1	6.1	6.2	6.2	6.2	6.3	6.3	6.4	6.4	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.6	6.6	6.7	6.7	6.8	6.8	6.8	6.9	6.9	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.1	7.1	7.2	7.2
Level	Bright	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	6.0	Bright
2	6.0	Intense
3	6.1	Intense
4	6.1	Intense
5	6.2	Intense
6	6.2	Intense
7	6.2	Intense
8	6.3	Intense
9	6.3	Intense
10	6.4	Intense
11	6.4	Intense
12	6.5	Intense
13	6.5	Intense
14	6.5	Intense
15	6.6	Intense
16	6.6	Intense
17	6.7	Intense
18	6.7	Intense
19	6.8	Intense
20	6.8	Intense
21	6.8	Intense
22	6.9	Intense
23	6.9	Intense
24	7.0	Intense
25	7.0	Intense
26	7.0	Intense
27	7.1	Intense
28	7.1	Intense
29	7.2	Intense
30	7.2	Intense

Planning a trip in April

Hazard calendar for Big Sur

In seasonPeak

None of Big Sur's seasonal hazards are active in April. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Big Sur's rainy season runs December–March, when most of the year's rain falls.

Rainy season

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is April a good time to visit Big Sur?

Our two travel scores rate April for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

4.7

Sightseeing

8th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

8th-best month of the year

April is a reasonable time to visit Big Sur for sightseeing.

What to pack for Big Sur in April

From April's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In April, Big Sur sees daytime highs around 57°F and nights near 47°F. Pack sun protection. Worth having: a warm layer. About 6 days see rain.

sun protectiona warm layer

Sea temperature near Big Sur in April

The nearest coast averages about 54°F in April — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 8 mi away) is warmest in September at about 59°F and coldest in April near 54°F.

The water stays below 68°F all year — cool enough that most swimmers want a wetsuit.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°F)	55	55	55	54	54	55	57	58	59	58	57	56
Comfort	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing

	Sea temperature (°F)	Comfort
Jan	55	Bracing
Feb	55	Bracing
Mar	55	Bracing
Apr	54	Bracing
May	54	Bracing
Jun	55	Bracing
Jul	57	Bracing
Aug	58	Bracing
Sep	59	Bracing
Oct	58	Bracing
Nov	57	Bracing
Dec	56	Bracing

UV index in Big Sur in April

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in April peaks around 7 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Big Sur peaks around June 22 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 12 at about 2 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 9 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	3	4	5	7	8	11	10	10	7	5	3	2
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	High	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	3	Moderate
Feb	4	Moderate
Mar	5	Moderate
Apr	7	High
May	8	Very high
Jun	11	Extreme
Jul	10	Extreme
Aug	10	Very high
Sep	7	High
Oct	5	High
Nov	3	Moderate
Dec	2	Moderate

Air quality in Big Sur in April

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where April falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Big Sur is worst in September — around 27 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 7.0× the cleanest month (December, 4 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	4	5	5	5	5	5	16	25	27	6	4	4
Level	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Good	Good	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	4	Good
Feb	5	Good
Mar	5	Good
Apr	5	Good
May	5	Good
Jun	5	Good
Jul	16	Moderate
Aug	25	Moderate
Sep	27	Moderate
Oct	6	Good
Nov	4	Good
Dec	4	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Big Sur?

Big Sur sits at 36.3°N, 121.8°W, 0 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Monterey, 24 mi away.

Topography around Big Sur

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Big Sur.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Big Sur has large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,455 ft around an average of 1,145 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,918 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 5,758 ft.

The land around Big Sur is covered by trees (77%) within 2 miles, water (45%) and trees (43%) within 10 miles, and water (40%), grassland (27%) and trees (22%) within 50 miles.

2 miles

3,455 ft

trees 77%

10 miles

4,918 ft

water 45%

50 miles

5,758 ft

water 40%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater

← March Big Sur year-round climate May →Best places to visit in April

April weather nearby: Monterey 24 mi · Seaside 24 mi · Pacific Grove 25 mi · Marina 29 mi · Soledad 29 mi · Salinas 29 mi · Greenfield 32 mi · Prunedale 36 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs: Type A / B; 120 V · 60 Hz
Prices: ≈ 100% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $90,027; 2025
Happiness: 6.8 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 98%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 5.8; per 100k, 2023
Road deaths: 12.7; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: High; World Bank
Religion

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Big Sur (36.2702°, -121.8075°, elevation 0 ft), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	56	46
2	56	46
3	56	46
4	56	46
5	56	46
6	56	46
7	56	46
8	56	46
9	56	46
10	56	46
11	56	46
12	56	46
13	56	46
14	56	46
15	57	46
16	57	47
17	57	47
18	57	47
19	57	47
20	57	47
21	58	47
22	58	47
23	58	47
24	58	47
25	58	47
26	58	48
27	58	48
28	58	48
29	58	48
30	58	48

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	63	37
2	63	37
3	63	37
4	63	37
5	63	37
6	63	37
7	63	37
8	63	37
9	63	37
10	63	37
11	64	36
12	64	36
13	65	35
14	66	34
15	67	33
16	67	33
17	68	32
18	68	32
19	70	30
20	70	30
21	70	30
22	71	29
23	71	29
24	71	29
25	71	29
26	71	29
27	71	29
28	72	28
29	72	28
30	72	28

	Rain chance (%)
1	24
2	23
3	23
4	23
5	23
6	23
7	23
8	23
9	23
10	23
11	23
12	22
13	22
14	21
15	20
16	19
17	18
18	18
19	17
20	16
21	16
22	15
23	14
24	14
25	13
26	13
27	12
28	12
29	12
30	11

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	56	46
2	56	46
3	56	46
4	56	46
5	56	46
6	56	46
7	56	46
8	56	46
9	56	46
10	56	46
11	56	46
12	56	46
13	56	46
14	56	46
15	57	46
16	57	47
17	57	47
18	57	47
19	57	47
20	57	47
21	58	47
22	58	47
23	58	47
24	58	47
25	58	47
26	58	48
27	58	48
28	58	48
29	58	48
30	58	48

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	63	37
2	63	37
3	63	37
4	63	37
5	63	37
6	63	37
7	63	37
8	63	37
9	63	37
10	63	37
11	64	36
12	64	36
13	65	35
14	66	34
15	67	33
16	67	33
17	68	32
18	68	32
19	70	30
20	70	30
21	70	30
22	71	29
23	71	29
24	71	29
25	71	29
26	71	29
27	71	29
28	72	28
29	72	28
30	72	28

	Rain chance (%)
1	24
2	23
3	23
4	23
5	23
6	23
7	23
8	23
9	23
10	23
11	23
12	22
13	22
14	21
15	20
16	19
17	18
18	18
19	17
20	16
21	16
22	15
23	14
24	14
25	13
26	13
27	12
28	12
29	12
30	11

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	56	46
2	56	46
3	56	46
4	56	46
5	56	46
6	56	46
7	56	46
8	56	46
9	56	46
10	56	46
11	56	46
12	56	46
13	56	46
14	56	46
15	57	46
16	57	47
17	57	47
18	57	47
19	57	47
20	57	47
21	58	47
22	58	47
23	58	47
24	58	47
25	58	47
26	58	48
27	58	48
28	58	48
29	58	48
30	58	48

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	63	37
2	63	37
3	63	37
4	63	37
5	63	37
6	63	37
7	63	37
8	63	37
9	63	37
10	63	37
11	64	36
12	64	36
13	65	35
14	66	34
15	67	33
16	67	33
17	68	32
18	68	32
19	70	30
20	70	30
21	70	30
22	71	29
23	71	29
24	71	29
25	71	29
26	71	29
27	71	29
28	72	28
29	72	28
30	72	28

	Rain chance (%)
1	24
2	23
3	23
4	23
5	23
6	23
7	23
8	23
9	23
10	23
11	23
12	22
13	22
14	21
15	20
16	19
17	18
18	18
19	17
20	16
21	16
22	15
23	14
24	14
25	13
26	13
27	12
28	12
29	12
30	11

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100