Temperatures at California Beaches in January
Typical temperatures for beaches along the Pacific Ocean in California during the month of January are listed below. The tables give monthly averages of daily maximum and minimum air temperatures for each location and, where available, the month's average ocean temperature.
You can jump to a separate table for each region of the state: Southern Coast, Los Angeles Area, Central Coast, San Francisco Area and Northern Coast.
January has the coolest weather of the year for most of the California coast, yet Avila Beach, Long Beach and Laguna Beach usually manage to reach highs of at least 67 degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees Celsius). Along the Pacific Ocean in northern California, the days in January usually warm up to the mid-50s Fahrenheit.
Southern California Coast
| High | Low | Place | Ocean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 66 | 47 | Imperial Beach | – |
| 68 | 44 | Laguna Beach | – |
| 63 | 50 | Newport Beach | 58 |
| 63 | 45 | Oceanside | 57 |
| 65 | 49 | San Diego | 58 |
| 60 | 50 | Santa Catalina Island | 58 |
Los Angeles Area
| High | Low | Place | Ocean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 50 | Anacapa Island | 56 |
| 67 | 46 | Long Beach | 58 |
| 65 | 46 | Oxnard | 56 |
| 64 | 51 | Santa Monica | 57 |
Central California Coast
| High | Low | Place | Ocean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 67 | 44 | Avila Beach | 55 |
| 60 | 43 | Big Sur State Park | – |
| 63 | 42 | Lompoc | – |
| 58 | 42 | Monterey | 53 |
| 65 | 45 | Morro Bay | 54 |
| 60 | 45 | Pismo Beach | – |
| 61 | 41 | Salinas | – |
| 65 | 46 | Santa Barbara | 56 |
San Francisco Area
| High | Low | Place | Ocean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 44 | Bodega Bay | 52 |
| 59 | 42 | Half Moon Bay | – |
| 57 | 48 | Pacifica | – |
| 57 | 45 | San Francisco, Fort Funston | 53 |
| 59 | 39 | San Gregorio | – |
| 63 | 41 | Santa Cruz | 53 |
Northern California Coast
| High | Low | Place | Ocean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | 41 | Crescent City | 50 |
| 56 | 41 | Eureka | 51 |
| 52 | 40 | Fort Bragg | 52 |
| 58 | 42 | Fort Ross State Park | 52 |
| 53 | 36 | Klamath | – |
| 57 | 46 | Shelter Cove | – |
The high and low air temperatures are normals for the years 1981 to 2010. Temperatures for the two places without climate normals, Anacapa Island and Avila Beach, are instead averages for the years that weather data were collected. Ocean temperatures are also averages of all the years with measurements.
Often the location of stations that measure weather and those that measure ocean water temperature don't match. For beaches with climate but no ocean data, a nearby location, where available, is used here. So the ocean temperature listed for San Diego is from La Jolla. Other substitutions are Los Angeles for Long Beach, Port Hueneme for Oxnard, Pacific Grove for Monterey, Fort Point for San Francisco, Trinidad for Eureka, and Mendocino for Fort Bragg.
References
National Climatic Data Center. NOAA's 1981-2010 Climate Normals.
NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center. NODC Coastal Water Temperature Guide (CWTG).
Western Regional Climate Center. Comparative Data for the Western States.