Climate and average weather in San Benito

In San Benito, the summers are muggy, sweltering, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are mild and partly cloudy.

Best: late October to early April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in San Benito typically varies from 53°F to 95°F, and is rarely below 40°F or above 100°F. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

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

Hottest
Aug
95°
Coldest
Jan
53°
Wettest
Sep
4.1 in
Driest
Feb
1.0 in
Rain / yr
23.8 in
89 wet days
Daylight
10.4–13.6 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
36 ft
26.1°N
Clearest
Jun
43% cloud

San Benito is city in Cameron County, Texas, United States.

Density
586/km²
people per km²

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

San Benito 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 October to early April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.3 months, from May 15 to September 22, with daily high temperatures above 90°F. The hottest month of the year in San Benito is August, with an average high of 95°F and low of 78°F.

The cool season lasts 2.5 months, from December 1 to February 15, with daily high temperatures below 76°F. The coldest month of the year in San Benito is January, with an average low of 53°F and high of 71°F.

Days typically run about 17°F warmer than nights year-round.

40°60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan7153
Feb7557
Mar8062
Apr8568
May9073
Jun9477
Jul9578
Aug9578
Sep9175
Oct8668
Nov7861
Dec7355

How hot and cold San Benito really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, San Benito feels like about 108°F (around August 4). About 171 days a year carry some heat stress, and 95 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 102°F), peaking in August.

60°80°100°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°F)Air high (°F)Feels-like low (°F)Air low (°F)
Jan71715353
Feb75755757
Mar80806262
Apr87856868
May96907373
Jun104947777
Jul106957878
Aug107957878
Sep99917575
Oct88866868
Nov79786161
Dec73735455

Average hourly temperature in San Benito

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 95°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 53°F.

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

San Benito 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
Jan71° / 53°1.25.110.57.3
Feb75° / 57°1.04.911.17.6
Mar80° / 62°1.65.511.87.2
Apr85° / 68°1.75.512.65.7
May90° / 73°1.96.513.34.3
Jun94° / 77°2.38.913.63.1
Jul95° / 78°2.48.513.52.6
Aug95° / 78°2.19.412.92.5
Sep91° / 75°4.114.412.23.4
Oct86° / 68°2.77.911.45.5
Nov78° / 61°1.56.510.77.4
Dec73° / 55°1.35.510.47.4

Chance of rain

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

San Benito gets about 23.8 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 4.6 months, from around Jun 2 to Oct 18, peaking in September at about 53% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Dec 3.

September is the wettest month by volume, with 4.1 in over about 14 wet days; February is the driest, with 1.0 in.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetSep 9 · 53%Dec 3 · 16%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan175
Feb175
Mar186
Apr186
May217
Jun309
Jul279
Aug319
Sep4614
Oct268
Nov217
Dec186

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, San Benito collects about 23.8 in of rain across 89 wet days — roughly 2.0 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. September is the wettest month with 4.1 in, while February is the driest at just 1.0 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 39% of the year’s total.

012345JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec1.21.01.61.71.92.32.42.14.12.71.51.3
Rainfall (in)Rain days
Jan1.25
Feb1.05
Mar1.66
Apr1.76
May1.97
Jun2.39
Jul2.49
Aug2.19
Sep4.114
Oct2.78
Nov1.57
Dec1.36

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In San Benito, 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 7 and lasts for 3.8 months, ending around August 29. The clearest month is June, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 74% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 7 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around May 6. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 55% 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%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJun 9 · 76%Jan 31 · 44%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4555
Feb4852
Mar5149
Apr5347
May6535
Jun7426
Jul6931
Aug6634
Sep5941
Oct6832
Nov5842
Dec4951

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 5, brings about 13 h 36 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 h 24 min — a swing of roughly 3 h 12 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.57:245:56
Feb11.17:136:18
Mar11.86:466:34
Apr12.66:126:49
May13.35:487:05
Jun13.65:427:20
Jul13.55:517:21
Aug12.96:077:02
Sep12.26:206:29
Oct11.46:345:57
Nov10.76:555:37
Dec10.47:165:38

Sunny days

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

San Benito 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 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.4 months, from around May 18 to Aug 27. The sunniest month is June, with roughly 16 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is January, down near 10 sunny days — about 39% fewer than the June peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightJun 1317 daysJan 319 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan10Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr11Mixed
May13Mixed
Jun16Bright
Jul17Bright
Aug15Mixed
Sep12Mixed
Oct15Mixed
Nov12Mixed
Dec11Mixed

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 San Benito, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 6.6 months, from around April 6 to October 24. The muggiest month is June, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 25 to April 5, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 73% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 10 · 74%Jun 3 · 0%miserablemuggycomfortablehumidoppressivedrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan5716161010
Feb4317182110
Mar2913193460
Apr13101533281
May23719608
Jun00156528
Jul00017326
Aug00026829
Sep126105031
Oct1091622358
Nov29161925110
Dec5213161720

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 San Benito is typically light breeze, near 10 mph, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.9 months, from around Feb 8 to Aug 6. The windiest month is May, averaging about 12 mph (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Aug 7 to Feb 7, with September the calmest month at about 8 mph.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezyMay 2 · 12 mphSep 13 · 8 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan10light breeze
Feb11light breeze
Mar11light breeze
Apr12light breeze
May12light breeze
Jun11light breeze
Jul11light breeze
Aug10light breeze
Sep8light breeze
Oct9light breeze
Nov10light breeze
Dec10light breeze

Hazard calendar for San Benito

In seasonPeak

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

San Benito sits in the Atlantic hurricane belt; the season peaks August–October.

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

Best time to visit San Benito

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around late March, San Benito 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 San Benito for general outdoor tourist activities is from late October to early April, with a peak score in the last week of November.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationNov 29 · 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
Jan7.3good
Feb7.6ideal
Mar7.2good
Apr5.7good
May4.3fair
Jun3.1poor
Jul2.6poor
Aug2.5poor
Sep3.4poor
Oct5.5good
Nov7.3good
Dec7.5good

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit San Benito for hot-weather activities run from mid February to mid June and again from late September to early December, with a peak score in the second week of April.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationApr 9 · 7.7

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 San Benito, 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 95°F), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 71°F), pack a light layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, San Benito sees daytime highs around 95°F and nights near 78°F. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 9 days see rain.

Sea temperature near San Benito

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

The sea at the nearest coast (about 32 mi away) is warmest in September at about 84°F and coldest in February near 65°F.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Mar 22 to Dec 29 — about 9.3 months when the water holds above 68°F.

60°70°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccoolrefreshingwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°F)Comfort
Jan66Cool
Feb65Cool
Mar67Cool
Apr72Refreshing
May77Warm
Jun82Warm
Jul82Tropical
Aug83Tropical
Sep84Tropical
Oct81Warm
Nov75Refreshing
Dec70Refreshing

UV index (midday) in San Benito 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 San Benito peaks around June 21 at about 12 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 22 at about 5 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecHighVery highExtremeVery highExtremeVery highHighJun 21UV 12Dec 22UV 5
UV index (midday)Level
Jan5Moderate
Feb7High
Mar8Very high
Apr11Extreme
May9Very high
Jun12Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug11Extreme
Sep10Very high
Oct8Very high
Nov6High
Dec5Moderate

Average hourly UV index in San Benito

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 6.5 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)
Jan4.50
Feb63
Mar6.54
Apr86
May85
Jun8.56.5
Jul8.56
Aug86
Sep7.55
Oct6.53.5
Nov5.50
Dec4.50

Air quality in San Benito 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 San Benito is worst in July — around 25 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 3.7× the cleanest month (October, 7 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodJul 1525 µg/m³Oct 247 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan8Good
Feb9Good
Mar11Good
Apr13Moderate
May19Moderate
Jun20Moderate
Jul25Moderate
Aug18Moderate
Sep13Moderate
Oct7Good
Nov7Good
Dec9Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

San Benito 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
Jan990
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec990

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. San Benito banks about 9,405 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan377
Feb446
Mar653
Apr796
May984
Jun1,061
Jul1,131
Aug1,135
Sep981
Oct838
Nov586
Dec419

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.

San Benito receives about 4.9 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.9 and 6.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Mar 23 to Sep 30. The brightest month is July, averaging about 6.7 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.0 kWh/m² — roughly 56% less than the July peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 206.8 kWhDec 252.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.1Moderate
Feb3.8Moderate
Mar4.7Bright
Apr5.7Bright
May6.3Intense
Jun6.6Intense
Jul6.7Intense
Aug6.3Intense
Sep5.2Bright
Oct4.5Bright
Nov3.4Moderate
Dec2.9Moderate

Where is San Benito?

San Benito sits at 26.1°N, 97.6°W, 36 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Harlingen, 5.6 mi away.

Topography around San Benito

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around San Benito has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 33 ft around an average of 36 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 82 ft; within 50 miles, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 367 ft.

The land around San Benito is covered by grassland (25%), cropland (25%) and artificial surfaces (25%) within 2 miles, cropland (44%), grassland (24%) and trees (20%) within 10 miles, and cropland (34%) and water (24%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
33 ft
10 miles
82 ft
50 miles
367 ft
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetland
Nearby: Harlingen 5.6 mi · Mercedes 17 mi · Brownsville 18 mi · Heroica Matamoros 19 mi · Weslaco 22 mi · Donna 26 mi · Ciudad Río Bravo 30 mi · Alamo 30 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 San Benito (26.1326°, -97.6311°, elevation 36 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. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). 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).