How extreme does San Rafael's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days San Rafael has recorded — the outer limits of what its weather can do, and how far they sit beyond a normal day.

Based on 50+ years of daily weather observations (1971–present), from the Kentfield station 2 km away. Updated through May 2026 — an all-time extreme only changes when a more extreme day actually occurs, so some dates are old. That is normal, not stale data.

The four kinds of extreme

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest single days San Rafael has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day

111°F Jul 14, 1972

That is about 28°F hotter than a normal July afternoon in San Rafael (typical high near 83°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 111°F Jul 14, 1972

2 110°F Jul 17, 1988

3 110°F Jun 14, 2000

❄️ Coldest night

18°F Dec 22, 1990

About 24°F colder than a normal December night in San Rafael (typical low near 42°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 18°F Dec 22, 1990

2 19°F Dec 9, 1972

3 21°F Dec 23, 1990

🌧️ Most rain in one day

11.09 in Oct 24, 2021

More rain in a single day than San Rafael usually gets in the whole month of October (typical October total about 2.0 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 11.09 in Oct 24, 2021recent

2 10.55 in Jan 4, 1982

3 7.96 in Nov 5, 1994

How hot and cold it gets, month by month

The shaded band is the normal range of daily temperatures for each month. The dots show the most extreme it has ever been — so you can see how far beyond a normal day the records really sit.

normal range of daily temperatureshottest ever recordedcoldest ever recorded

San Rafael's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — July's 111°F is about 28°F beyond a normal hot afternoon. Its record cold is just as far below a normal winter night — the dots mark how rare each extreme really is.

In plain terms

In a normal year, San Rafael's warmest days reach the low 80s°F and its coldest nights drop to the low 40s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 111°F and as low as 18°F. A single day has delivered over 11 inches of rain. Those are the outer edges worth knowing if you are moving here, planning a trip, or thinking about a house.

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — the official 1991–2020 climate normals from NOAA's U.S. Climate Normals, measured at San Francisco Dwtn (NOAA GHCN station USW00023272), about 24 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →

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