Climate and average weather in Pacifica

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

Best: early June to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Pacifica typically varies from 48°F to 65°F, and is rarely below 44°F or above 71°F. September is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Sep
65°
Coldest
Jan
48°
Wettest
Feb
4.2 in
Driest
Jul
0.0 in
Rain / yr
20.7 in
58 wet days
Daylight
9.4–14.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
82 ft
37.6°N
Clearest
Sep
37% cloud

Pacifica is city in San Mateo County, California, USA.

Density
1,197/km²
people per km²
Founded
1957

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

Pacifica 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 early June to late October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

Temperatures in Pacifica stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is September, with an average high of 65°F and low of 57°F; the coolest is January, with an average low of 48°F and high of 55°F.

Days typically run about 7°F warmer than nights year-round.

40°50°60°70°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan5548
Feb5649
Mar5750
Apr5851
May5952
Jun6154
Jul6355
Aug6457
Sep6557
Oct6455
Nov5952
Dec5649

Average hourly temperature in Pacifica

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 65°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 48°F.

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

Pacifica 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
Jan55° / 48°4.0109.73.6
Feb56° / 49°4.29.410.53.8
Mar57° / 50°3.19.311.74.2
Apr58° / 51°1.55.312.94.8
May59° / 52°0.73.1145.5
Jun61° / 54°0.20.814.56.5
Jul63° / 55°0.00.114.37.1
Aug64° / 57°0.00.113.47.5
Sep65° / 57°0.10.512.37.7
Oct64° / 55°0.93.1117.1
Nov59° / 52°2.16.2105.1
Dec56° / 49°4.09.89.43.7

Chance of rain

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

Pacifica gets about 20.7 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 5.7 months, from around Nov 1 to Apr 21, peaking in February at about 36% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jul 17.

February is the wettest month by volume, with 4.2 in over about 9 wet days; July is the driest, with 0.0 in.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetFeb 20 · 36%Jul 17 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan3210
Feb349
Mar299
Apr185
May103
Jun31
Jul00
Aug00
Sep21
Oct103
Nov216
Dec3210

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Pacifica collects about 20.7 in of rain across 58 wet days — roughly 1.7 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. February is the wettest month with 4.2 in, while July is the driest at just 0.0 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 59% of the year’s total.

012345JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec4.04.23.11.50.70.20.00.00.10.92.14.0
Rainfall (in)Rain days
Jan4.010
Feb4.29
Mar3.19
Apr1.55
May0.73
Jun0.21
Jul0.00
Aug0.00
Sep0.11
Oct0.93
Nov2.16
Dec4.010

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Pacifica, 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 April 17 and lasts for 6.7 months, ending around November 6. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 79% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 7 and lasts for 5.3 months, ending around April 16. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 57% 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 5 · 80%Jan 8 · 42%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4357
Feb4753
Mar5149
Apr6139
May6337
Jun7426
Jul7327
Aug7327
Sep7921
Oct7129
Nov5644
Dec4753

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 36 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.77:295:09
Feb10.57:085:41
Mar11.76:296:11
Apr12.95:416:39
May14.05:067:07
Jun14.54:537:28
Jul14.35:057:26
Aug13.45:306:58
Sep12.35:576:11
Oct11.06:255:25
Nov10.06:574:53
Dec9.47:244:49

Sunny days

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

Pacifica averages about 13 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 9 and 19 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 2.8 months, from around Aug 20 to Nov 13. The sunniest month is October, with roughly 17 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is January, down near 10 sunny days — about 42% fewer than the October peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantOct 319 daysJan 59 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan10Mixed
Feb9Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr13Mixed
May14Mixed
Jun16Bright
Jul13Mixed
Aug13Mixed
Sep17Bright
Oct17Bright
Nov13Mixed
Dec10Mixed

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 Pacifica, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in September, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 2% 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 (%)Humid (%)
Jan9910
Feb9910
Mar9910
Apr9910
May9640
Jun90100
Jul70300
Aug51481
Sep53452
Oct72271
Nov90100
Dec9640

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 Pacifica is typically light breeze, near 8 mph, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 4.9 months, from around Feb 8 to Jul 5. The windiest month is May, averaging about 10 mph (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jul 6 to Dec 13, with September the calmest month at about 7 mph.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezyMay 13 · 10 mphSep 27 · 7 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan8light breeze
Feb8light breeze
Mar9light breeze
Apr10light breeze
May10light breeze
Jun9light breeze
Jul8light breeze
Aug7calm
Sep7calm
Oct7calm
Nov7calm
Dec8light breeze

Hazard calendar for Pacifica

In seasonPeak

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

Pacifica'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 Pacifica

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around mid June, Pacifica 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 Pacifica for general outdoor tourist activities is from early June to late October, with a peak score in the first week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 4 · 7.8

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
Jan3.6fair
Feb3.8fair
Mar4.2fair
Apr4.8fair
May5.5good
Jun6.5good
Jul7.1good
Aug7.5good
Sep7.7ideal
Oct7.0good
Nov5.1fair
Dec3.8fair

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

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 22 · 2.9

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 Pacifica, 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.

Pacifica packs about the same all year — highs hold near 65°F. Across the year the things worth having are sun protection, a warm layer and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In September, Pacifica sees daytime highs around 65°F and nights near 57°F. Worth packing: sun protection.

Sea temperature near Pacifica

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 September at about 58°F and coldest in April near 53°F.

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

52°54°56°58°60°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcool
Sea temperature (°F)Comfort
Jan53Bracing
Feb54Bracing
Mar54Bracing
Apr53Bracing
May53Bracing
Jun54Bracing
Jul56Bracing
Aug58Bracing
Sep58Bracing
Oct57Bracing
Nov56Bracing
Dec54Bracing

UV index (midday) in Pacifica 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 Pacifica peaks around June 23 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 15 at about 2 (moderate).

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

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJun 23UV 10Dec 15UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan2Moderate
Feb4Moderate
Mar5Moderate
Apr6High
May8Very high
Jun10Extreme
Jul10Extreme
Aug10Very high
Sep6High
Oct5High
Nov2Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Pacifica

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
Feb30
Mar50
Apr6.52
May84.5
Jun8.56
Jul8.56
Aug85.5
Sep61.5
Oct50
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Pacifica 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 Pacifica is worst in August — around 25 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.5× the cleanest month (June, 10 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateGoodModerateAug 1824 µg/m³Jun 1110 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan15Moderate
Feb18Moderate
Mar16Moderate
Apr12Moderate
May10Good
Jun10Good
Jul11Good
Aug25Moderate
Sep17Moderate
Oct20Moderate
Nov18Moderate
Dec13Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Pacifica 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. Pacifica banks about 2,230 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around September.

05001,0001,5002,0002,500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan55
Feb74
Mar109
Apr124
May174
Jun225
Jul287
Aug324
Sep328
Oct293
Nov168
Dec69

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.

Pacifica receives about 5.0 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.2 and 7.7 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 23 to Sep 28. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.6 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.3 kWh/m² — roughly 70% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 187.7 kWhDec 152.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.4Moderate
Feb3.4Moderate
Mar4.7Bright
Apr6.2Intense
May7.1Intense
Jun7.6Intense
Jul7.3Intense
Aug6.6Intense
Sep5.6Bright
Oct4.2Bright
Nov2.9Moderate
Dec2.3Moderate

Where is Pacifica?

Pacifica sits at 37.6°N, 122.5°W, 82 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is San Bruno, 4.3 mi away.

Topography around Pacifica

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Pacifica has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,263 ft around an average of 302 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,991 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,383 ft.

The land around Pacifica is covered by trees (40%) and water (29%) within 2 miles, water (56%) and trees (21%) within 10 miles, and water (45%), trees (21%) and grassland (20%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
1,263 ft
10 miles
1,991 ft
50 miles
4,383 ft
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: San Bruno 4.3 mi · South San Francisco 5.0 mi · Millbrae 5.6 mi · Daly City 6.2 mi · Burlingame 6.8 mi · Visitacion Valley 8.7 mi · Parkside 8.7 mi · San Mateo 9.3 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 Pacifica (37.6138°, -122.4869°, elevation 82 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).