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What is the rainiest month in California?

Author

Noah Mitchell

Published Jan 11, 2026

The rainy period of the year lasts for 6.3 months, from October 16 to April 25, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. The month with the most rain in Los Angeles is February, with an average rainfall of 3.3 inches. The rainless period of the year lasts for 5.7 months, from April 25 to October 16.

What month is rainy season in California?

Today marks the final day of California's rainy season. December, January and February are typically the wettest months in the Golden State, with 75 percent of the state's annual precipitation falling between November and March.

What month rains the most?

According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, April is actually the fifth wettest month in the U.S. June is the wettest month of the year on average and May 2015 was the wettest month in the history of the United States.

What is the rainiest city in California?

Gasquet is located in the Smith River National Recreation Area and is reputed to be the rainiest place in California with an average annual rainfall of 95 inches (2,400 mm). A post office operated at Gasquet from 1879 to 1902 and from 1949 to present.

What is the coldest month in California?

The cold season lasts for 3.1 months, from December 3 to March 7, with an average daily high temperature below 52°F. The coldest month of the year in California is January, with an average low of 30°F and high of 44°F.

45 related questions found

Does San Francisco rain a lot?

San Francisco, California gets 25 inches of rain, on average, per year. The US average is 38 inches of rain per year. San Francisco averages 0 inches of snow per year. The US average is 28 inches of snow per year.

Will 2021 be a wet year in California?

California's 2021 calendar year is over, but its 2022 Water Year (which started October 2021) is already three months old and still early in its wet season. So far this wet season is actually wet.

Where in California gets the least rainfall?

Fewest Rainy Days

The places in the US where it rains least often are Indio, Mecca and Calexico in California. These communities average just 11 days of year with rainfall.

What month has the least rain in California?

On average, January is the most rainy with 6 days of rain/snow. On average, July is the driest month with 0 rainy days.

What is California's average rainfall?

This means years with extremely low and extremely high precipitation have become more frequent. The lowest total was recorded at 9.4 inches in 1924, and the highest at 41.66 inches in 2017 (not shown). Seven of the last ten years have been dry, with totals below the statewide average of 22.9 inches.

Is the rainy season over in California?

Most of California's precipitation comes between December and April.

Which state gets the most rain?

Hawaii overall is the rainiest state in the US, with a state-wide average of 63.7 inches (1618 millimetres) of rain a year. But few places in Hawaii fit the state's average. Many weather stations on the islands record less than 20 inches (508 mm) of rainfall a year while others receive well over 100 inches (2540 mm).

What month is the best to visit California?

The months of September and October are ideal to visit California as they avoid the fog and the crowds and the temperature is ideal for spending time on the beach, sight-seeing, and attending festivals. One of the many appeals of California is that it's a great destination any time of year.

Where in California is the best place to live?

Here are the top 10 California cities to live in, according to Niche:

  • San Francisco (ranked no. ...
  • Sunnyvale (ranked no. ...
  • Torrance (ranked no. ...
  • Santa Clara (ranked no. ...
  • Carlsbad (ranked no. 30 in the U.S.)
  • Pasadena (ranked no. 46 in the U.S.)
  • Thousand Oaks (ranked no. 51 in the U.S.)
  • San Diego (ranked no. 55 in the U.S.)

Where is the best climate in California?

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara has long been recognized as having arguably the best climate in the state with the best weather in the U.S. (California).

Which state has the driest weather?

Nevada is the Nation's driest state, with statewide annual average (1895–2020) precipitation only 10.2 inches. Regionally, annual average (1991–2020 normals) precipitation varies from 4 inches in some low elevation locations in the southwest to more than 50 inches on high mountain peaks of the Sierra Nevada.

What places never get rain?

The 10 Driest Places on Earth

  • Intro. Desert of Ica in Peru. ( ...
  • Aoulef, Algeria. A dust storm blows over Algeria in mid-July 2011 as captured by NASA's Terra satellite. ( ...
  • Pelican Point, Namibia. ...
  • Iquique, Chile. ...
  • Wadi Halfa, Sudan. ...
  • Ica, Peru. ...
  • Luxor, Egypt. ...
  • Aswan, Egypt.

Is California in a drought 2021?

The 2021 water year was California's driest in a century, and more than half of the state's water years since 2000 have been dry or drought years.

Will it be a wet winter in California 2022?

Snowpack and Reservoir Conditions

Heavy snowfall at the end of the year helped create a snowpack well above average heading into 2022. The state's snowpack was near 160% of average by late December.

When can we expect cooler weather in California?

November 2021 to October 2022. Winter will be warmer and drier than normal, with below-normal mountain snows. The coldest temperatures will occur from mid-December into mid-January, in mid-February, and in early March.

Why is California so cold?

The overall temperature decreases in part due to the clouds reflecting the Sun's shortwave solar radiation. Winds also tend to pick up in low pressure regions primarily due to differences in air density. So, basically, now you see how the low pressure led to colder weather for us in LA!

Does San Fran get snow?

Since 1887, San Francisco has seen just six snowstorms that afford the city with a white blanket of frozen precipitation. Alas, it's been over 45 years since we've seen any semblance of significant snowfall anywhere in SF.

Does it snow in California?

Equating California's climate with its sunny southern region, you might think it does not snow. Not quite! The western fronts of the mountain ranges, notably the Sierra Nevada, receive heavy snowfall during the winter. However, to the south, snowfall happens rarely or in negligible amounts.