How extreme does Santa Barbara's weather get?

The hottest, coldest, wettest and snowiest days Santa Barbara 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 Santa Barbara station 1 km away. Updated through June 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 Santa Barbara has recorded — each shown against what a normal day that time of year looks like.

🔥 Hottest day

105°F Jul 16, 1978

That is about 29°F hotter than a normal July afternoon in Santa Barbara (typical high near 76°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 105°F Jul 16, 1978

2 105°F Sep 25, 1978

3 105°F Jul 2, 1985

❄️ Coldest night

-15°F Mar 15, 2003

About 64°F colder than a normal March night in Santa Barbara (typical low near 49°F).

The three most extreme on record

1 -15°F Mar 15, 2003

2 14°F Apr 25, 1984

3 20°F May 24, 1992

🌧️ Most rain in one day

8.00 in Jan 4, 1995

More rain in a single day than Santa Barbara usually gets in the whole month of January (typical January total about 4.4 in).

The three most extreme on record

1 8.00 in Jan 4, 1995

2 6.10 in Jan 10, 1995

3 5.90 in Nov 8, 2002

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

Santa Barbara's record heat sits well above even a hot day for the season — July's 105°F is about 29°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, Santa Barbara's warmest days reach the high 70s°F and its coldest nights drop to the mid-40s°F. But across the record it has gone as high as 105°F and as low as −15°F. A single day has delivered over 8 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 Santa Barbara (NOAA GHCN station USC00047902), about 1 km from the city centre.

How we build these numbers →

← Santa Barbara city detail