Climate and average weather in La Jolla

In La Jolla, the summers are warm, dry, and clear and the winters are mild and mostly clear.

Best: late May to mid November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in La Jolla typically varies from 52°F to 74°F, and is rarely below 48°F or above 80°F. August is the hottest month of the year, while February is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit La Jolla for warm-weather activities is from late May to mid November.

Hottest
Aug
74°
Coldest
Feb
53°
Wettest
Feb
2.5 in
Driest
Aug
0.0 in
Rain / yr
9.9 in
32 wet days
Daylight
9.8–14.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
105 ft
32.8°N
Clearest
Aug
18% cloud

La Jolla is neighborhood in San Diego, California, United States.

Founded
1850

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

La Jolla 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 May to mid November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in La Jolla stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is August, with an average high of 74°F and low of 66°F; the coolest is February, with an average low of 53°F and high of 62°F.

Days typically run about 9°F warmer than nights year-round.

40°50°60°70°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan6252
Feb6253
Mar6354
Apr6456
May6658
Jun6961
Jul7264
Aug7466
Sep7465
Oct7162
Nov6757
Dec6253

Average hourly temperature in La Jolla

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 August afternoons, near 74°F, and coldest before dawn in February, near 53°F.

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

La Jolla 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
Jan62° / 52°2.05.510.16.1
Feb62° / 53°2.56.210.85.9
Mar63° / 54°1.55.211.86.3
Apr64° / 56°0.62.912.87.2
May66° / 58°0.31.613.77.7
Jun69° / 61°0.00.214.18.4
Jul72° / 64°0.10.313.99.0
Aug74° / 66°0.00.113.29.4
Sep74° / 65°0.10.612.29.2
Oct71° / 62°0.5211.28.4
Nov67° / 57°0.72.910.37.6
Dec62° / 53°1.64.99.96.4

Chance of rain

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

La Jolla gets about 9.9 in of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is mostly dry, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.6 months, from around Nov 2 to Apr 20, peaking in February at about 24% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jun 30.

February is the wettest month by volume, with 2.5 in over about 6 wet days; August is the driest, with 0.0 in.

0%10%20%30%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainFeb 21 · 24%Jun 30 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan186
Feb226
Mar175
Apr103
May52
Jun10
Jul10
Aug00
Sep21
Oct62
Nov103
Dec165

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, La Jolla collects about 9.9 in of rain across 32 wet days — roughly 0.8 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. February is the wettest month with 2.5 in, while August is the driest at just 0.0 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 61% of the year’s total.

00.511.522.53JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2.02.51.50.60.30.00.10.00.10.50.71.6
Rainfall (in)Rain days
Jan2.06
Feb2.56
Mar1.55
Apr0.63
May0.32
Jun0.00
Jul0.10
Aug0.00
Sep0.11
Oct0.52
Nov0.73
Dec1.65

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In La Jolla, 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 30 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around November 9. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 94% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 10 and lasts for 6.6 months, ending around May 29. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 40% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 12 · 94%Feb 20 · 57%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6337
Feb6040
Mar6337
Apr7129
May7327
Jun8515
Jul919
Aug946
Sep9010
Oct8020
Nov7327
Dec6436

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 16, brings about 14 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around December 16, only 9 h 48 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.16:575:00
Feb10.86:405:27
Mar11.86:065:51
Apr12.85:256:14
May13.74:556:36
Jun14.14:456:54
Jul13.94:566:54
Aug13.25:176:30
Sep12.25:375:49
Oct11.25:595:09
Nov10.36:264:43
Dec9.96:504:41

Sunny days

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

La Jolla averages about 19 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 12 and 27 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.6 months, from around Jun 6 to Oct 23. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 26 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is February, down near 13 sunny days — about 50% fewer than the August peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 1227 daysFeb 2512 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan16Bright
Feb12Mixed
Mar14Mixed
Apr16Bright
May16Bright
Jun21Bright
Jul25Brilliant
Aug27Brilliant
Sep24Brilliant
Oct20Bright
Nov18Bright
Dec16Bright

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 La Jolla, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.0 months, from around June 21 to October 21. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 83% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 22 to June 20, and March is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 8 · 100%Aug 25 · 13%muggycomfortabledryhumidcomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan955000
Feb946000
Mar8812000
Apr8118100
May5641300
Jun21601810
Jul13354110
Aug01761220
Sep42552181
Oct23452830
Nov6632200
Dec928000

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.

Wind in La Jolla is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 mphcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeApr 18 · 7 mphNov 14 · 6 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb7calm
Mar7calm
Apr7calm
May7calm
Jun7calm
Jul7calm
Aug7calm
Sep7calm
Oct6calm
Nov6calm
Dec6calm

Best time to visit La Jolla

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late May, La Jolla 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 La Jolla for general outdoor tourist activities is from early May to mid November, with a peak score in the last week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 25 · 9.5

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
Jan6.1good
Feb5.9good
Mar6.3good
Apr7.2good
May7.7ideal
Jun8.4ideal
Jul9.0ideal
Aug9.4ideal
Sep9.2ideal
Oct8.4ideal
Nov7.6ideal
Dec6.4good

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit La Jolla for hot-weather activities is from early July to early October, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 28 · 7.8

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 La Jolla, 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.

For a warm-season trip around August (highs near 74°F), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around February (highs near 62°F), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, La Jolla sees daytime highs around 74°F and nights near 66°F. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes.

Sea temperature near La Jolla

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 70°F and coldest in February near 59°F.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jul 8 to Oct 6 — about 3 months when the water holds above 68°F.

60°65°70°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshingcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°F)Comfort
Jan60Cool
Feb59Cool
Mar60Cool
Apr61Cool
May64Cool
Jun66Cool
Jul69Refreshing
Aug70Refreshing
Sep70Refreshing
Oct67Cool
Nov64Cool
Dec61Cool

UV index (midday) in La Jolla 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 La Jolla peaks around June 23 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 17 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 11 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJun 23UV 11Dec 17UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan4Moderate
Feb5Moderate
Mar5High
Apr8Very high
May8Very high
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug10Extreme
Sep8Very high
Oct6High
Nov4Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in La Jolla

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)
Jan30
Feb4.50
Mar5.50
Apr74
May7.54.5
Jun8.56
Jul8.56
Aug85.5
Sep74
Oct5.50
Nov30
Dec00

Air quality in La Jolla 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 La Jolla is worst in September — around 26 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.4× the cleanest month (May, 8 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateGoodModerateSep 1625 µg/m³May 168 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan12Good
Feb12Moderate
Mar12Moderate
Apr11Good
May8Good
Jun11Good
Jul11Good
Aug15Moderate
Sep26Moderate
Oct14Moderate
Nov12Moderate
Dec16Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

La Jolla 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. La Jolla banks about 4,675 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

01,0002,0003,0004,0005,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan218
Feb203
Mar256
Apr307
May381
Jun440
Jul567
Aug620
Sep585
Oct512
Nov354
Dec232

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.

La Jolla receives about 5.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.0 and 8.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Mar 20 to Sep 27. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.9 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.1 kWh/m² — roughly 60% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 248.0 kWhDec 163.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.3Moderate
Feb4.1Bright
Mar5.5Bright
Apr6.7Intense
May7.3Intense
Jun7.9Intense
Jul7.7Intense
Aug7.2Intense
Sep6.2Intense
Oct4.8Bright
Nov3.7Moderate
Dec3.1Moderate

Where is La Jolla?

La Jolla sits at 32.8°N, 117.3°W, 105 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Mira Mesa, 8.7 mi away.

Topography around La Jolla

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around La Jolla has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 810 ft around an average of 128 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 814 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 6,450 ft.

The land around La Jolla is covered by water (58%) and artificial surfaces (25%) within 2 miles, water (57%) and artificial surfaces (25%) within 10 miles, and water (37%) and shrubs (20%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
810 ft
10 miles
814 ft
50 miles
6,450 ft
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Mira Mesa 8.7 mi · San Diego 11 mi · Rancho Penasquitos 12 mi · Coronado 12 mi · Encinitas 13 mi · National City 16 mi · La Mesa 16 mi · Lemon Grove 16 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 La Jolla (32.8473°, -117.2742°, elevation 105 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).