Climate and average weather in Eureka

In Eureka, the weather is mild, wet, and mostly clear and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near mild levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around December.

Best: late June to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Eureka typically varies from 46°F to 61°F, and is rarely below 41°F or above 67°F. September is the hottest month of the year, while February is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Eureka for warm-weather activities is from late June to mid October.

Hottest
Sep
61°
Coldest
Feb
46°
Wettest
Dec
9.6 in
Driest
Jul
0.1 in
Rain / yr
47.8 in
104 wet days
Daylight
9.1–14.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
39 ft
40.8°N
Clearest
Sep
36% cloud

Eureka is city in and county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States.

Density
722/km²
people per km²
Founded
1850

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

Eureka weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late June to mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Eureka, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Eureka stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is September, with an average high of 61°F and low of 54°F; the coolest is February, with an average low of 46°F and high of 53°F.

Days typically run about 6°F warmer than nights year-round.

40°45°50°55°60°65°70°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan5346
Feb5346
Mar5347
Apr5348
May5550
Jun5752
Jul6053
Aug6154
Sep6154
Oct5952
Nov5549
Dec5347

Average hourly temperature in Eureka

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on September afternoons, near 61°F, and coldest before dawn in February, near 46°F.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Eureka weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°F)Rainfall (inches)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan53° / 46°8.015.39.42.6
Feb53° / 46°6.713.410.42.6
Mar53° / 47°7.014.711.72.6
Apr53° / 48°4.111.813.13.0
May55° / 50°2.1714.23.9
Jun57° / 52°0.93.714.94.9
Jul60° / 53°0.10.814.66.0
Aug61° / 54°0.20.913.66.3
Sep61° / 54°0.62.312.36.3
Oct59° / 52°2.96.310.95.1
Nov55° / 49°5.712.59.73.3
Dec53° / 47°9.615.69.12.6

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Eureka gets about 47.8 in of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.9 months, from around Oct 31 to Apr 28, peaking in December at about 51% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 29.

December is the wettest month by volume, with 9.6 in over about 16 wet days; July is the driest, with 0.1 in.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetDec 13 · 51%Jul 29 · 2%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan4915
Feb4813
Mar4715
Apr4012
May237
Jun124
Jul31
Aug31
Sep82
Oct206
Nov4213
Dec5016

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Eureka collects about 47.8 in of rain across 104 wet days — roughly 4.0 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. December is the wettest month with 9.6 in, while July is the driest at just 0.1 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 51% of the year’s total.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec8.06.77.04.12.10.90.10.20.62.95.79.6
Rainfall (in)Rain days
Jan8.015
Feb6.713
Mar7.015
Apr4.112
May2.17
Jun0.94
Jul0.11
Aug0.21
Sep0.62
Oct2.96
Nov5.713
Dec9.616

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Eureka, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around May 26 and lasts for 5.3 months, ending around November 3. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 73% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 4 and lasts for 5.8 months, ending around April 29. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 66% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 2 · 74%Dec 14 · 33%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan3466
Feb3565
Mar3961
Apr4555
May5347
Jun6436
Jul7129
Aug7030
Sep7327
Oct6535
Nov4357
Dec3565

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 10, brings about 14 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.47:455:07
Feb10.47:205:43
Mar11.76:366:16
Apr13.15:446:49
May14.25:057:21
Jun14.94:507:44
Jul14.65:037:42
Aug13.65:327:10
Sep12.36:036:19
Oct10.96:355:28
Nov9.77:114:52
Dec9.17:404:45

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Eureka averages about 11 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 6 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.5 months, from around May 21 to Nov 3. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 17 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is January, down near 7 sunny days — about 60% fewer than the September peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightSep 2617 daysJan 66 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan7Gloomy
Feb7Gloomy
Mar8Gloomy
Apr9Mixed
May12Mixed
Jun14Mixed
Jul16Bright
Aug15Mixed
Sep17Bright
Oct15Bright
Nov9Mixed
Dec7Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Eureka, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in September, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 0% of the time — humidity is not something you need to plan around here.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccomfortabledry
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May982
Jun955
Jul8317
Aug7129
Sep7722
Oct928
Nov991
Dec991

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Eureka is typically light breeze, near 9 mph, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 7.5 months, from around Nov 20 to Jul 4. The windiest month is December, averaging about 10 mph (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jul 5 to Nov 19, with September the calmest month at about 7 mph.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyDec 16 · 10 mphSep 18 · 7 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan9light breeze
Feb10light breeze
Mar10light breeze
Apr9light breeze
May9light breeze
Jun10light breeze
Jul8light breeze
Aug8light breeze
Sep7calm
Oct7calm
Nov9light breeze
Dec10light breeze

Hazard calendar for Eureka

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Eureka's rainy season runs November–March, when most of the year's rain falls.

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

Best time to visit Eureka

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Eureka throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around late June, Eureka is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 64°F and 82°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Eureka for general outdoor tourist activities is from late June to mid October, with a peak score in the first week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 1 · 6.5

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan2.6poor
Feb2.6poor
Mar2.6poor
Apr3.0poor
May3.9fair
Jun4.9fair
Jul5.9good
Aug6.3good
Sep6.2good
Oct5.1fair
Nov3.4poor
Dec2.6poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Eureka rarely gets warm enough to lift this score — no time of year really suits hot-weather activities here.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDectemperaturecloudsprecipitation

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Eureka, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

Eureka packs about the same all year — highs hold near 61°F. Across the year the things worth having are a warm layer, sun protection and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In September, Eureka sees daytime highs around 61°F and nights near 54°F. Worth packing: a warm layer and sun protection.

Sea temperature near Eureka

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in August at about 55°F and coldest in March near 51°F.

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

50°52°54°56°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracing
Sea temperature (°F)Comfort
Jan52Bracing
Feb52Bracing
Mar51Bracing
Apr52Bracing
May52Bracing
Jun53Bracing
Jul54Bracing
Aug55Bracing
Sep55Bracing
Oct54Bracing
Nov53Bracing
Dec53Bracing

UV index (midday) in Eureka by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Eureka peaks around June 21 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 15 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highHighModerateLowJun 21UV 9Dec 15UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Low
Feb3Moderate
Mar5Moderate
Apr6High
May9Very high
Jun10Very high
Jul9Very high
Aug8Very high
Sep5High
Oct5Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec2Low

Average hourly UV index in Eureka

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in June the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan00
Feb00
Mar50
Apr6.51
May85
Jun8.56
Jul8.55.5
Aug7.54
Sep5.50
Oct4.50
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Eureka by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Eureka is worst in September — around 35 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 6.3× the cleanest month (December, 6 µg/m³).

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

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodSep 1234 µg/m³Dec 186 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan6Good
Feb7Good
Mar8Good
Apr9Good
May8Good
Jun9Good
Jul11Good
Aug28Moderate
Sep35Poor
Oct8Good
Nov7Good
Dec6Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Eureka is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 50°F)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 50°F: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Eureka banks about 1,120 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

05001,0001,500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr18
May80
Jun136
Jul199
Aug232
Sep223
Oct165
Nov64
Dec3

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Eureka receives about 4.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.6 and 7.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.1 months, from around Mar 30 to Sep 30. The brightest month is July, averaging about 7.6 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.6 kWh/m² — roughly 78% less than the July peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 47.7 kWhDec 161.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.8Dim
Feb2.7Moderate
Mar4.0Moderate
Apr5.4Bright
May6.7Intense
Jun7.4Intense
Jul7.7Intense
Aug6.7Intense
Sep5.4Bright
Oct3.7Moderate
Nov2.2Moderate
Dec1.6Dim

Where is Eureka?

Eureka sits at 40.8°N, 124.2°W, 39 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Bayside, 6.2 mi away.

Topography around Eureka

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Eureka has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 302 ft around an average of 39 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,293 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 7,415 ft.

The land around Eureka is covered by water (35%) and artificial surfaces (32%) within 2 miles, water (46%) and trees (39%) within 10 miles, and trees (64%) and water (30%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
302 ft
10 miles
2,293 ft
50 miles
7,415 ft
treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Bayside 6.2 mi · Arcata 6.2 mi · McKinleyville 11 mi · Redding 94 mi · Grants Pass 121 mi · Ashland 122 mi · Medford 125 mi · Ukiah 125 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
Protestant 47%unaffiliated 23%Roman Catholic 21%Jewish 2%

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 Eureka (40.8021°, -124.1637°, elevation 39 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).