Climate and average weather in Seaside

In Seaside, the summers are mild, dry, and clear and the winters are cool and partly cloudy.

Best: late May to late October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Seaside typically varies from 43°F to 71°F, and is rarely below 36°F or above 79°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 Seaside for warm-weather activities is from late May to late October.

Hottest
Aug
71°
Coldest
Jan
44°
Wettest
Feb
4.2 in
Driest
Jul
0.0 in
Rain / yr
20.7 in
55 wet days
Daylight
9.5–14.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
23 ft
36.6°N
Clearest
Sep
20% cloud

Seaside is city in Monterey County, California, United States.

Density
1,360/km²
people per km²
Founded
1954

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

Seaside 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 October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

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

The hot season lasts 4.0 months, from June 21 to October 19, with daily high temperatures above 67°F. The hottest month of the year in Seaside is August, with an average high of 71°F and low of 54°F.

The cool season lasts 4.5 months, from November 26 to April 10, with daily high temperatures below 58°F. The coldest month of the year in Seaside is January, with an average low of 44°F and high of 56°F.

Days typically run about 15°F warmer than nights year-round.

30°40°50°60°70°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan5644
Feb5744
Mar5845
Apr5946
May6248
Jun6650
Jul7053
Aug7154
Sep7053
Oct6751
Nov6146
Dec5643

Average hourly temperature in Seaside

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 71°F, and coldest before dawn in January, near 44°F.

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

Seaside 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
Jan56° / 44°4.29.19.84.0
Feb57° / 44°4.29.610.64.0
Mar58° / 45°3.39.111.74.5
Apr59° / 46°1.55.512.95.3
May62° / 48°0.62.913.96.6
Jun66° / 50°0.10.614.58.1
Jul70° / 53°0.00.214.28.7
Aug71° / 54°0.10.213.48.8
Sep70° / 53°0.10.612.28.7
Oct67° / 51°0.92.511.17.9
Nov61° / 46°1.95.8105.7
Dec56° / 43°3.88.59.54.0

Chance of rain

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

Seaside gets about 20.7 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 21, peaking in February at about 37% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 4.

February is the wettest month by volume, with 4.2 in over about 10 wet days; July is the driest, with 0.0 in.

0%10%20%30%40%50%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetFeb 20 · 37%Aug 4 · 1%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan299
Feb3410
Mar299
Apr186
May93
Jun21
Jul10
Aug10
Sep21
Oct83
Nov196
Dec279

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Seaside collects about 20.7 in of rain across 55 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.

012345JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec4.24.23.31.50.60.10.00.10.10.91.93.8
Rainfall (in)Rain days
Jan4.29
Feb4.210
Mar3.39
Apr1.56
May0.63
Jun0.11
Jul0.00
Aug0.10
Sep0.11
Oct0.93
Nov1.96
Dec3.89

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

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

In Seaside, 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 4 and lasts for 6.1 months, ending around November 4. 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 5 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around May 3. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 51% 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 2 · 96%Mar 14 · 47%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan4951
Feb4951
Mar4951
Apr6337
May7327
Jun8614
Jul937
Aug946
Sep928
Oct8119
Nov6436
Dec5248

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 30 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 5 hours.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan9.87:245:09
Feb10.67:045:40
Mar11.76:266:08
Apr12.95:406:36
May13.95:057:02
Jun14.54:537:22
Jul14.25:057:21
Aug13.45:296:54
Sep12.25:556:09
Oct11.16:215:24
Nov10.06:524:53
Dec9.57:184:49

Sunny days

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

Seaside averages about 18 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 10 and 27 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.3 months, from around May 26 to Nov 2. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 26 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is February, down near 11 sunny days — about 59% fewer than the September peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 127 daysFeb 2410 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan11Mixed
Feb10Mixed
Mar11Mixed
Apr14Mixed
May17Bright
Jun24Brilliant
Jul27Brilliant
Aug27Brilliant
Sep25Brilliant
Oct22Bright
Nov15Bright
Dec12Mixed

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 Seaside, the air stays dry or comfortable essentially all year. Even in September, the muggiest month, it feels humid or worse only about 1% 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 (%)
Jan10000
Feb10000
Mar10000
Apr10000
May9910
Jun9730
Jul89101
Aug85141
Sep88111
Oct9550
Nov9910
Dec9910

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 Seaside is typically calm, near 5 mph, and varies little with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 6.8 months, from around Nov 25 to Jun 20. The windiest month is April, averaging about 6 mph (calm).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Jun 21 to Nov 24, with September the calmest month at about 4 mph.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezeApr 10 · 6 mphSep 25 · 4 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan6calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May6calm
Jun5calm
Jul5calm
Aug4calm
Sep4calm
Oct4calm
Nov5calm
Dec6calm

Hazard calendar for Seaside

In seasonPeak

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

Seaside's rainy season runs December–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 Seaside

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

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

Around early June, Seaside 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 Seaside for general outdoor tourist activities is from late May to late October, with a peak score in the last week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 30 · 8.9

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
Jan4.0fair
Feb4.0fair
Mar4.5fair
Apr5.3fair
May6.6good
Jun8.1ideal
Jul8.7ideal
Aug8.8ideal
Sep8.7ideal
Oct7.9ideal
Nov5.7good
Dec4.1fair

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 Seaside 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 29 · 5.8

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 Seaside, 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 71°F), the essentials are sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 56°F), pack a warm layer and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Seaside sees daytime highs around 71°F and nights near 54°F. Pack sun protection.

Sea temperature near Seaside

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 54°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
Jan55Bracing
Feb55Bracing
Mar55Bracing
Apr54Bracing
May54Bracing
Jun55Bracing
Jul57Bracing
Aug58Bracing
Sep58Bracing
Oct58Bracing
Nov57Bracing
Dec55Bracing

UV index (midday) in Seaside 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 Seaside 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.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJun 23UV 10Dec 13UV 2
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb4Moderate
Mar5Moderate
Apr7High
May8Very high
Jun10Extreme
Jul10Extreme
Aug10Very high
Sep6High
Oct5High
Nov2Moderate
Dec2Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Seaside

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
Feb3.50
Mar50
Apr6.52.5
May84.5
Jun8.56
Jul8.56
Aug85.5
Sep6.52.5
Oct50
Nov00
Dec00

Air quality in Seaside 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 Seaside is worst in August — around 22 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 4.2× the cleanest month (June, 5 µg/m³).

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

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecGoodModerateGoodAug 1920 µg/m³Jun 135 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan7Good
Feb8Good
Mar8Good
Apr7Good
May6Good
Jun5Good
Jul8Good
Aug22Moderate
Sep15Moderate
Oct12Moderate
Nov8Good
Dec7Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Seaside 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. Seaside banks about 2,003 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

05001,0001,5002,0002,500JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan2
Feb11
Mar43
Apr75
May156
Jun247
Jul354
Aug379
Sep349
Oct278
Nov103
Dec4

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.

Seaside receives about 5.4 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.5 and 8.1 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.2 months, from around Mar 24 to Sep 28. The brightest month is June, averaging about 8.0 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 2.5 kWh/m² — roughly 68% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 238.1 kWhDec 152.5 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan2.7Moderate
Feb3.6Moderate
Mar5.0Bright
Apr6.5Intense
May7.4Intense
Jun8.0Intense
Jul7.9Intense
Aug7.2Intense
Sep6.0Intense
Oct4.5Bright
Nov3.1Moderate
Dec2.5Moderate

Where is Seaside?

Seaside sits at 36.6°N, 121.9°W, 23 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Monterey, 2.5 mi away.

Topography around Seaside

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

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Seaside has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 417 ft around an average of 89 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,218 ft; within 50 miles, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 5,883 ft.

The land around Seaside is covered by artificial surfaces (39%) and water (36%) within 2 miles, water (39%) and trees (31%) within 10 miles, and water (33%), trees (28%) and grassland (27%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
417 ft
10 miles
2,218 ft
50 miles
5,883 ft
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Monterey 2.5 mi · Pacific Grove 3.7 mi · Marina 5.6 mi · Salinas 12 mi · Prunedale 15 mi · Watsonville 21 mi · Big Sur 24 mi · Live Oak 27 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 Seaside (36.6111°, -121.8516°, elevation 23 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).