Climate and average weather in Oceanside

In Oceanside, the summers are humid, warm, dry, and clear and the winters are mild and mostly clear.

Best: late May to late November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Oceanside typically varies from 52°F to 76°F, and is rarely below 48°F or above 83°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 Oceanside for warm-weather activities is from late May to late November.

Hottest
Aug
76°
Coldest
Feb
53°
Wettest
Feb
2.9 in
Driest
Aug
0.0 in
Rain / yr
11.3 in
32 wet days
Daylight
9.8–14.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
66 ft
33.2°N
Clearest
Aug
17% cloud

Oceanside is city in San Diego County, California, United States.

Density
1,608/km²
people per km²
Founded
1888

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

Oceanside 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 late November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 3.2 months, from July 6 to October 10, with daily high temperatures above 73°F. The hottest month of the year in Oceanside is August, with an average high of 76°F and low of 67°F.

The cool season lasts 4.5 months, from December 2 to April 16, with daily high temperatures below 65°F. The coldest month of the year in Oceanside 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
Jun6962
Jul7465
Aug7667
Sep7566
Oct7263
Nov6758
Dec6353

Average hourly temperature in Oceanside

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 76°F, and coldest before dawn in February, near 53°F.

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

Oceanside 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°2.55.310.16.2
Feb62° / 53°2.96.110.85.9
Mar63° / 54°1.65.311.76.3
Apr64° / 56°0.7312.87.2
May66° / 58°0.31.813.77.6
Jun69° / 62°0.10.414.28.4
Jul74° / 65°0.00.3149.2
Aug76° / 67°0.00.213.29.5
Sep75° / 66°0.10.612.29.3
Oct72° / 63°0.5211.28.5
Nov67° / 58°0.82.710.37.7
Dec63° / 53°1.84.79.86.5

Chance of rain

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

Oceanside gets about 11.3 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 5.0 months, from around Nov 21 to Apr 22, peaking in February at about 24% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 17.

February is the wettest month by volume, with 2.9 in over about 6 wet days; August is the driest, with 0.0 in.

0%10%20%30%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainFeb 22 · 24%Aug 17 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan175
Feb216
Mar175
Apr103
May62
Jun10
Jul10
Aug00
Sep21
Oct62
Nov93
Dec155

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Oceanside collects about 11.3 in of rain across 32 wet days — roughly 0.9 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. February is the wettest month with 2.9 in, while August is the driest at just 0.0 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 63% of the year’s total.

00.511.522.533.5JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2.52.91.60.70.30.10.00.00.10.50.81.8
Rainfall (in)Rain days
Jan2.55
Feb2.96
Mar1.65
Apr0.73
May0.32
Jun0.10
Jul0.00
Aug0.00
Sep0.11
Oct0.52
Nov0.83
Dec1.85

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Oceanside, 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 June 8 and lasts for 5.2 months, ending around November 13. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 93% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 14 and lasts for 6.8 months, ending around June 7. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 41% 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 11 · 94%Feb 22 · 56%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6238
Feb5941
Mar6238
Apr6931
May6832
Jun7921
Jul8911
Aug937
Sep8812
Oct7921
Nov7228
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 12, brings about 14 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, 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)
Jan10.16:585:00
Feb10.86:415:27
Mar11.76:075:52
Apr12.85:256:14
May13.74:556:37
Jun14.24:446:55
Jul14.04:556:55
Aug13.25:166:31
Sep12.25:385:50
Oct11.26:005:09
Nov10.36:274:42
Dec9.86:514:40

Sunny days

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

Oceanside averages about 19 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 13 and 27 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.2 months, from around Jun 10 to Nov 14. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 26 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is February, down near 14 sunny days — about 48% fewer than the August peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 1827 daysFeb 2213 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan15Mixed
Feb13Mixed
Mar14Mixed
Apr16Bright
May15Bright
Jun20Bright
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 Oceanside, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 4.5 months, from around June 12 to October 25. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 92% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 26 to June 11, 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 1 · 100%Aug 23 · 6%muggydrycomfortablehumidcomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan946000
Feb928000
Mar7920000
Apr7026400
May44441200
Jun11493370
Jul01651321
Aug0844444
Sep21941344
Oct193734101
Nov5935600
Dec8910000

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 Oceanside is steady company: average speeds sit near 5 mphcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezeApr 13 · 6 mphAug 14 · 5 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May6calm
Jun5calm
Jul5calm
Aug5calm
Sep5calm
Oct5calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Best time to visit Oceanside

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid November, Oceanside is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

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 Oceanside for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to late November, with a peak score in the second week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 11 · 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
Jan6.2good
Feb5.9good
Mar6.3good
Apr7.2good
May7.6ideal
Jun8.4ideal
Jul9.2ideal
Aug9.5ideal
Sep9.3ideal
Oct8.5ideal
Nov7.7ideal
Dec6.5good

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 Oceanside for hot-weather activities is from early July to mid October, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 25 · 8.2

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 Oceanside, 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 76°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, Oceanside sees daytime highs around 76°F and nights near 67°F. Pack sun protection. Worth having: light clothes.

Sea temperature near Oceanside

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 71°F and coldest in January near 59°F.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jul 5 to Oct 7 — about 3.1 months when the water holds above 68°F.

60°65°70°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshingcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°F)Comfort
Jan59Cool
Feb59Cool
Mar60Cool
Apr61Cool
May64Cool
Jun66Cool
Jul69Refreshing
Aug71Refreshing
Sep70Refreshing
Oct67Cool
Nov64Cool
Dec61Cool

UV index (midday) in Oceanside 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 Oceanside peaks around July 11 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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJul 11UV 11Dec 17UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan4Moderate
Feb5Moderate
Mar5Moderate
Apr8Very high
May8Very high
Jun11Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug10Extreme
Sep8Very high
Oct6High
Nov4Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Oceanside

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 July 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
Mar50
Apr73.5
May84.5
Jun8.56
Jul8.56
Aug85.5
Sep74
Oct5.50
Nov30
Dec00

Air quality in Oceanside 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 Oceanside is worst in September — around 24 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.5× the cleanest month (May, 7 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodSep 1223 µg/m³May 207 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan10Good
Feb11Good
Mar11Good
Apr10Good
May7Good
Jun8Good
Jul9Good
Aug20Moderate
Sep24Moderate
Oct12Moderate
Nov11Good
Dec11Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Oceanside 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. Oceanside banks about 4,875 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan222
Feb202
Mar259
Apr304
May383
Jun462
Jul607
Aug664
Sep620
Oct539
Nov372
Dec241

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.

Oceanside receives about 5.5 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.0 and 7.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Mar 19 to Sep 27. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.0 kWh/m² — roughly 60% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 257.8 kWhDec 163.0 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.2Moderate
Feb4.1Bright
Mar5.5Bright
Apr6.7Intense
May7.2Intense
Jun7.7Intense
Jul7.6Intense
Aug7.1Intense
Sep6.0Intense
Oct4.7Bright
Nov3.6Moderate
Dec3.0Moderate

Where is Oceanside?

Oceanside sits at 33.2°N, 117.4°W, 66 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Carlsbad, 3.1 mi away.

Topography around Oceanside

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Oceanside has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 279 ft around an average of 59 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,060 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 6,772 ft.

The land around Oceanside is covered by water (42%) and artificial surfaces (39%) within 2 miles, water (47%) within 10 miles, and water (33%) and shrubs (20%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
279 ft
10 miles
1,060 ft
50 miles
6,772 ft
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Carlsbad 3.1 mi · Vista 8.1 mi · Encinitas 12 mi · San Marcos 13 mi · Fallbrook 14 mi · Escondido 18 mi · San Clemente 21 mi · Rancho Penasquitos 22 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 Oceanside (33.1959°, -117.3795°, elevation 66 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).