How extreme does San Diego's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days San Diego 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 San Diego Intl Ap station 3 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 Diego has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day

107°F Sep 4, 1988

That is about 30°F hotter than a normal September afternoon in San Diego (typical high near 77°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 107°F Sep 4, 1988

2 104°F Oct 3, 1987

3 103°F Sep 23, 1975

❄️ Coldest night

33°F Jan 5, 1971

About 17°F colder than a normal January night in San Diego (typical low near 50°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 33°F Jan 5, 1971

2 34°F Jan 7, 1971

3 34°F Dec 8, 1978

🌧️ Most rain in one day

2.73 in Jan 22, 2024

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

The three most extreme on record

1 2.73 in Jan 22, 2024recent

2 2.70 in Oct 27, 2004

3 2.57 in Jan 31, 1979

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 Diego's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — September's 107°F is about 30°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 Diego's warmest days reach the high 70s°F and its coldest nights drop to the low 50s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 107°F and as low as 33°F. A single day has delivered over 3 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 Imperial Beach Ream Fld Nas (NOAA GHCN station USW00093115), about 17 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →

← San Diego city detail