Santa Cruz weather in April

In April, Santa Cruz sees average daytime highs of 57°F and overnight lows near 51°F, with 1.8 in of rain across 5 wet days and about 12.9 hours of daylight. It is the 8th-warmest and 6th-wettest month of the year here.

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 57°F through the month. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 50% of the time in April, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 12 h 24 min at the start of April to 13 h 30 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, April is Santa Cruz's 7th-clearest and 1st-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Santa Cruz's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 57°; 8th warmest
Overnight low: 51°; 5th coldest
Rainfall: 1.8 in; 5 wet days
Daylight: 12 h 54 min; 5:40 AM – 6:37 PM
Cloud cover: 43%; 7th clearest
Wind: 9 mph; 1st windiest
Solar energy: 6.19 kWh/m²
Travel score: 4.7; out of 10

Santa Cruz is city in and county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, United States.

Density: 1,567/km²; people per km²
Founded: 1791

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

← March Santa Cruz year-round climate May →Best places to visit in April

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

Temperature in April

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Day-to-day highs hold fairly steady near 57°F through the month.

A typical April day in Santa Cruz reaches about 57°F in the afternoon and slips back to 51°F overnight — a 6°F spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 53°F and 61°F. Set against its neighbours, April runs on par with March and on par with May.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Avg high (°F)	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	56	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	57	58	58	58	58	58	58	58	58
Avg low (°F)	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	51

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	56	50
2	56	50
3	56	50
4	56	50
5	56	50
6	56	50
7	56	50
8	56	50
9	56	50
10	56	50
11	56	50
12	57	50
13	57	50
14	57	50
15	57	50
16	57	51
17	57	51
18	57	51
19	57	51
20	57	51
21	57	51
22	57	51
23	58	51
24	58	51
25	58	51
26	58	51
27	58	51
28	58	51
29	58	51
30	58	51

Santa Cruz weather by month

How April compares with the rest of the year at a glance. April is the 8th-warmest and 6th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°F)	Rainfall (inches)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	56° / 49°	5.7	9.6	9.8	3.8
Feb	56° / 49°	5.6	9.4	10.6	3.8
Mar	56° / 50°	3.9	9.1	11.7	4.1
Apr	57° / 51°	1.8	5	12.9	4.7
May	58° / 52°	0.8	3	13.9	5.4
Jun	60° / 54°	0.2	0.9	14.5	6.5
Jul	62° / 56°	0.0	0.1	14.3	7.2
Aug	63° / 57°	0.0	0.1	13.4	7.8
Sep	64° / 58°	0.1	0.6	12.3	7.9
Oct	63° / 56°	1.2	2.9	11	7.1
Nov	59° / 52°	2.6	6.1	10	5.2
Dec	56° / 49°	5.3	9.6	9.5	3.9

Cloud cover in April

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 50% of the time in April.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 16% of April, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 35%. Skies tend to open up as the month goes on.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Clearer (%)	59	58	59	59	60	61	61	61	62	62	63	63	64	65	65	66	67	67	68	68	69	69	69	70	70	71	71	71	71	72
Cloudier (%)	41	42	41	41	40	39	39	39	38	38	37	37	36	35	35	34	33	33	32	32	31	31	31	30	30	29	29	29	29	28

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	59	41
2	58	42
3	59	41
4	59	41
5	60	40
6	61	39
7	61	39
8	61	39
9	62	38
10	62	38
11	63	37
12	63	37
13	64	36
14	65	35
15	65	35
16	66	34
17	67	33
18	67	33
19	68	32
20	68	32
21	69	31
22	69	31
23	69	31
24	70	30
25	70	30
26	71	29
27	71	29
28	71	29
29	71	29
30	72	28

Chance of precipitation in April

Any precipitation

Santa Cruz gets around 1.8 in of rain over 5 wet days in April. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 17% and peaks near 23% on the wettest days. The odds ease toward the end of the month.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Rain chance (%)	23	22	22	21	21	21	21	20	20	20	20	19	19	18	18	17	17	16	16	15	14	14	13	13	13	12	12	11	11	11

	Rain chance (%)
1	23
2	22
3	22
4	21
5	21
6	21
7	21
8	20
9	20
10	20
11	20
12	19
13	19
14	18
15	18
16	17
17	17
18	16
19	16
20	15
21	14
22	14
23	13
24	13
25	13
26	12
27	12
28	11
29	11
30	11

Humidity in April

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of April feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, April lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100

Wind in April

Winds average 9 mph in April, the windiest month of the year.

Across April, daily wind ranges from about 8 mph on the calmest days to 9 mph at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Wind speed (mph)	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Feels	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze	light breeze

	Wind speed (mph)	Feels
1	8	light breeze
2	8	light breeze
3	8	light breeze
4	8	light breeze
5	9	light breeze
6	9	light breeze
7	9	light breeze
8	9	light breeze
9	9	light breeze
10	9	light breeze
11	9	light breeze
12	9	light breeze
13	9	light breeze
14	9	light breeze
15	9	light breeze
16	9	light breeze
17	9	light breeze
18	9	light breeze
19	9	light breeze
20	9	light breeze
21	9	light breeze
22	9	light breeze
23	9	light breeze
24	9	light breeze
25	9	light breeze
26	9	light breeze
27	9	light breeze
28	9	light breeze
29	9	light breeze
30	9	light breeze

Sunrise & sunset in April

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 12 h 24 min at the start of April to 13 h 30 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 66 minutes over April. Sunrise moves from 6:02 AM to 5:22 AM, and sunset from 6:23 PM to 6:49 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Daylight (h)	12.4	12.4	12.4	12.5	12.5	12.6	12.6	12.6	12.7	12.7	12.8	12.8	12.8	12.9	12.9	12.9	13.0	13.0	13.1	13.1	13.1	13.2	13.2	13.2	13.3	13.3	13.4	13.4	13.4	13.5
Sunrise (AM)	6:02	6:01	5:59	5:58	5:56	5:55	5:53	5:52	5:50	5:49	5:47	5:46	5:44	5:43	5:41	5:40	5:39	5:37	5:36	5:34	5:33	5:32	5:30	5:29	5:28	5:27	5:25	5:24	5:23	5:22
Sunset (PM)	6:23	6:24	6:25	6:26	6:27	6:28	6:29	6:30	6:30	6:31	6:32	6:33	6:34	6:35	6:36	6:37	6:38	6:39	6:39	6:40	6:41	6:42	6:43	6:44	6:45	6:46	6:47	6:48	6:48	6:49

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	12.4	6:02	6:23
2	12.4	6:01	6:24
3	12.4	5:59	6:25
4	12.5	5:58	6:26
5	12.5	5:56	6:27
6	12.6	5:55	6:28
7	12.6	5:53	6:29
8	12.6	5:52	6:30
9	12.7	5:50	6:30
10	12.7	5:49	6:31
11	12.8	5:47	6:32
12	12.8	5:46	6:33
13	12.8	5:44	6:34
14	12.9	5:43	6:35
15	12.9	5:41	6:36
16	12.9	5:40	6:37
17	13.0	5:39	6:38
18	13.0	5:37	6:39
19	13.1	5:36	6:39
20	13.1	5:34	6:40
21	13.1	5:33	6:41
22	13.2	5:32	6:42
23	13.2	5:30	6:43
24	13.2	5:29	6:44
25	13.3	5:28	6:45
26	13.3	5:27	6:46
27	13.4	5:25	6:47
28	13.4	5:24	6:48
29	13.4	5:23	6:48
30	13.5	5:22	6:49

Solar energy in April

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in April, about 6.19 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.37 kWh/m² to a high of 7.7 kWh/m² in June across the year — April's 6.19 kWh/m² falls in the middle.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	5.6	5.6	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.9	5.9	6.0	6.0	6.1	6.1	6.2	6.2	6.3	6.3	6.3	6.4	6.4	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.6	6.6	6.7	6.7	6.7	6.7
Level	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Bright	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense	Intense

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	5.6	Bright
2	5.6	Bright
3	5.7	Bright
4	5.7	Bright
5	5.7	Bright
6	5.8	Bright
7	5.8	Bright
8	5.8	Bright
9	5.9	Bright
10	5.9	Bright
11	6.0	Bright
12	6.0	Intense
13	6.1	Intense
14	6.1	Intense
15	6.2	Intense
16	6.2	Intense
17	6.3	Intense
18	6.3	Intense
19	6.3	Intense
20	6.4	Intense
21	6.4	Intense
22	6.5	Intense
23	6.5	Intense
24	6.5	Intense
25	6.6	Intense
26	6.6	Intense
27	6.7	Intense
28	6.7	Intense
29	6.7	Intense
30	6.7	Intense

Planning a trip in April

Hazard calendar for Santa Cruz

In seasonPeak

None of Santa Cruz's seasonal hazards are active in April. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Santa Cruz'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

Is April a good time to visit Santa Cruz?

Our two travel scores rate April for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

4.7

Sightseeing

8th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

9th-best month of the year

April is a reasonable time to visit Santa Cruz for sightseeing.

What to pack for Santa Cruz in April

From April's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In April, Santa Cruz sees daytime highs around 57°F and nights near 51°F. Pack sun protection. Worth having: a warm layer. About 5 days see rain.

sun protectiona warm layer

Sea temperature near Santa Cruz in April

The nearest coast averages about 54°F in April — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 9 mi away) is warmest in September at about 58°F and coldest in April near 54°F.

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sea temperature (°F)	55	55	55	54	54	55	57	58	58	58	57	55
Comfort	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing	Bracing

	Sea temperature (°F)	Comfort
Jan	55	Bracing
Feb	55	Bracing
Mar	55	Bracing
Apr	54	Bracing
May	54	Bracing
Jun	55	Bracing
Jul	57	Bracing
Aug	58	Bracing
Sep	58	Bracing
Oct	58	Bracing
Nov	57	Bracing
Dec	55	Bracing

UV index in Santa Cruz in April

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in April peaks around 7 — enough to warrant sun protection. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Santa Cruz peaks around June 23 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 13 at about 2 (moderate).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	3	4	5	7	8	10	10	10	6	5	2	2
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Extreme	Extreme	Very high	High	High	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	3	Moderate
Feb	4	Moderate
Mar	5	Moderate
Apr	7	High
May	8	Very high
Jun	10	Extreme
Jul	10	Extreme
Aug	10	Very high
Sep	6	High
Oct	5	High
Nov	2	Moderate
Dec	2	Moderate

Air quality in Santa Cruz in April

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where April falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Santa Cruz is worst in August — around 17 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.9× the cleanest month (June, 6 µg/m³).

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

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	7	9	8	7	7	6	6	17	11	10	9	6
Level	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Moderate	Good	Good	Good	Good

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	7	Good
Feb	9	Good
Mar	8	Good
Apr	7	Good
May	7	Good
Jun	6	Good
Jul	6	Good
Aug	17	Moderate
Sep	11	Good
Oct	10	Good
Nov	9	Good
Dec	6	Good

Location & terrain

Where is Santa Cruz?

Santa Cruz sits at 37.0°N, 122.0°W, 36 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Live Oak, 3.1 mi away.

Topography around Santa Cruz

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Santa Cruz has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 755 ft around an average of 131 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,520 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 4,820 ft.

The land around Santa Cruz is covered by artificial surfaces (44%) and trees (30%) within 2 miles, water (46%) and trees (42%) within 10 miles, and water (33%), trees (29%) and grassland (25%) within 50 miles.

2 miles

755 ft

artificial surfaces 44%

10 miles

2,520 ft

water 46%

50 miles

4,820 ft

water 33%

treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

← March Santa Cruz year-round climate May →Best places to visit in April

April weather nearby: Live Oak 3.1 mi · Watsonville 16 mi · Los Gatos 18 mi · Saratoga 20 mi · Campbell 22 mi · Morgan Hill 24 mi · Marina 24 mi · Cupertino 24 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

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 Santa Cruz (36.9741°, -122.0308°, 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. 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).

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	56	50
2	56	50
3	56	50
4	56	50
5	56	50
6	56	50
7	56	50
8	56	50
9	56	50
10	56	50
11	56	50
12	57	50
13	57	50
14	57	50
15	57	50
16	57	51
17	57	51
18	57	51
19	57	51
20	57	51
21	57	51
22	57	51
23	58	51
24	58	51
25	58	51
26	58	51
27	58	51
28	58	51
29	58	51
30	58	51

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	59	41
2	58	42
3	59	41
4	59	41
5	60	40
6	61	39
7	61	39
8	61	39
9	62	38
10	62	38
11	63	37
12	63	37
13	64	36
14	65	35
15	65	35
16	66	34
17	67	33
18	67	33
19	68	32
20	68	32
21	69	31
22	69	31
23	69	31
24	70	30
25	70	30
26	71	29
27	71	29
28	71	29
29	71	29
30	72	28

	Rain chance (%)
1	23
2	22
3	22
4	21
5	21
6	21
7	21
8	20
9	20
10	20
11	20
12	19
13	19
14	18
15	18
16	17
17	17
18	16
19	16
20	15
21	14
22	14
23	13
24	13
25	13
26	12
27	12
28	11
29	11
30	11

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	56	50
2	56	50
3	56	50
4	56	50
5	56	50
6	56	50
7	56	50
8	56	50
9	56	50
10	56	50
11	56	50
12	57	50
13	57	50
14	57	50
15	57	50
16	57	51
17	57	51
18	57	51
19	57	51
20	57	51
21	57	51
22	57	51
23	58	51
24	58	51
25	58	51
26	58	51
27	58	51
28	58	51
29	58	51
30	58	51

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	59	41
2	58	42
3	59	41
4	59	41
5	60	40
6	61	39
7	61	39
8	61	39
9	62	38
10	62	38
11	63	37
12	63	37
13	64	36
14	65	35
15	65	35
16	66	34
17	67	33
18	67	33
19	68	32
20	68	32
21	69	31
22	69	31
23	69	31
24	70	30
25	70	30
26	71	29
27	71	29
28	71	29
29	71	29
30	72	28

	Rain chance (%)
1	23
2	22
3	22
4	21
5	21
6	21
7	21
8	20
9	20
10	20
11	20
12	19
13	19
14	18
15	18
16	17
17	17
18	16
19	16
20	15
21	14
22	14
23	13
24	13
25	13
26	12
27	12
28	11
29	11
30	11

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100

	Avg high (°F)	Avg low (°F)
1	56	50
2	56	50
3	56	50
4	56	50
5	56	50
6	56	50
7	56	50
8	56	50
9	56	50
10	56	50
11	56	50
12	57	50
13	57	50
14	57	50
15	57	50
16	57	51
17	57	51
18	57	51
19	57	51
20	57	51
21	57	51
22	57	51
23	58	51
24	58	51
25	58	51
26	58	51
27	58	51
28	58	51
29	58	51
30	58	51

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	59	41
2	58	42
3	59	41
4	59	41
5	60	40
6	61	39
7	61	39
8	61	39
9	62	38
10	62	38
11	63	37
12	63	37
13	64	36
14	65	35
15	65	35
16	66	34
17	67	33
18	67	33
19	68	32
20	68	32
21	69	31
22	69	31
23	69	31
24	70	30
25	70	30
26	71	29
27	71	29
28	71	29
29	71	29
30	72	28

	Rain chance (%)
1	23
2	22
3	22
4	21
5	21
6	21
7	21
8	20
9	20
10	20
11	20
12	19
13	19
14	18
15	18
16	17
17	17
18	16
19	16
20	15
21	14
22	14
23	13
24	13
25	13
26	12
27	12
28	11
29	11
30	11

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100