Climate averages 1991–2020
Salinas weather
in December.
A cool, moderately wet month: the coolest and the 10th driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a cool month in Salinas: daytime highs average 14.9°C and nights cool to about 5.9°C. By daytime temperature it is the coolest month of the year.
Expect about 85 mm of rain on roughly 8 days, which makes December a moderately wet month (the 10th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 9 h 42 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is San Jose (77 km away). In December its highs average 14.5°C, about as warm as Salinas, with 119 mm of rain.
Among the 498 cities listed in the United States, Salinas ranks 141st of 498 for the warmest December highs and joint 298th of 498 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 498 cities is 10.5°C; Salinas is 4.3°C warmer than that mean.
From December to January, average highs rise by 0.2°C to 15.1°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 85 mm to 95 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Salinas climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15.1°C6.0°C | 6.0°C | 95 | 8.4 | 10.010 h |
| February | 15.5°C6.7°C | 6.7°C | 95 | 9.0 | 10.811 h |
| March | 16.5°C7.6°C | 7.6°C | 73 | 8.3 | 11.912 h |
| April | 17.2°C8.5°C | 8.5°C | 33 | 5.1 | 13.113 h |
| May | 18.9°C10.0°C | 10.0°C | 15 | 2.9 | 14.114 h |
| June | 21.2°C11.5°C | 11.5°C | 2.6 | 0.4 | 14.615 h |
| July | 22.9°C13.2°C | 13.2°C | 0.8 | 0.2 | 14.414 h |
| August | 23.5°C13.6°C | 13.6°C | 1.4 | 0.3 | 13.614 h |
| September | 23.6°C13.3°C | 13.3°C | 2.1 | 0.4 | 12.512 h |
| October | 21.7°C11.4°C | 11.4°C | 19 | 2.2 | 11.311 h |
| November | 17.8°C8.2°C | 8.2°C | 42 | 5.2 | 10.310 h |
| December, selected | 14.9°C5.9°C | 5.9°C | 85 | 7.9 | 9.710 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
December in nearby cities
- San Jose in DecemberUnited States · 77 kmHigh 14.5°C · Low 6.3°C · 119 mm rain
- Sunnyvale in DecemberUnited States · 84 kmHigh 14.0°C · Low 6.6°C · 119 mm rain
- Milpitas in DecemberUnited States · 86 kmHigh 14.5°C · Low 6.8°C · 83 mm rain
- Mountain View in DecemberUnited States · 87 kmHigh 14.2°C · Low 7.1°C · 83 mm rain
- Fremont in DecemberUnited States · 101 kmHigh 14.0°C · Low 6.5°C · 83 mm rain
- Redwood City in DecemberUnited States · 104 kmHigh 13.8°C · Low 7.5°C · 94 mm rain
- Union City in DecemberUnited States · 107 kmHigh 14.0°C · Low 6.3°C · 83 mm rain
- Pleasanton in DecemberUnited States · 111 kmHigh 13.9°C · Low 5.8°C · 79 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Salinas) is explained once on the Salinas year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.