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Sacramento weather by month: averages, rainfall & climate trends

Basking in the broad Central Valley between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges, Sacramento has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate: long, blazing, bone-dry summers and mild, foggy winters when dense tule fog can blanket the valley for days. Sacramento weather by month: average temperatures, rainfall, extremes and how the climate has changed since 1940.

Today vs average

+6.2°Fhigh well above average

85° / 49°Today
78° / 52°Average
see today in detail →

How it's changed

+3.7°Faverage temperature, 2016–2025 vs 1940–1949average temperature vs 1940–492frost days a year now (2016–2025) · 12 in the 1940sfrost days a year · 12 in the 1940s130days above 86°F a year now (2016–2025) · 98 in the 1940sdays above 86°F · 98 in the 1940s+3.7°F vs the 1940s · see how it's changed →
Weather by montha typical year, averaged over the full recordJanuary, rain 4.5 incheshigh 57°low 40°February, rain 4.0 incheshigh 62°low 43°March, rain 3.6 incheshigh 67°low 46°April, rain 1.7 incheshigh 74°low 49°May, rain 0.8 incheshigh 81°low 54°June, rain 0.2 incheshigh 89°low 59°July, rain 0.03 incheshigh 93°low 60°August, rain 0.1 incheshigh 91°low 60°September, rain 0.2 incheshigh 88°low 59°October, rain 1.3 incheshigh 79°low 53°November, rain 2.9 incheshigh 65°low 46°December, rain 4.2 incheshigh 57°low 41°wettest month January, 4.5 inches · 23.4 inches a yearsee month by month →

Right now

What it's doing today vs the historical average for this date.
Clear

Right now

67.6°

63°feels like
45%humidity
46°dew point
9 mphfrom SW
UV index0.0
sunrise07:18sunset18:23day length11h 05m
SunClear85°49°
TodayClear69°52°
TueOvercast70°46°
WedOvercast75°60°
ThuDrizzle63°57°
FriClear75°53°
SatClear76°56°

On this date: October 19

Today (forecast)
85° / 49°
Average for October 19
78° / 52°

High well above average · +6.2°F

  • Highest since 1940: 94.8° · 2023
  • Lowest since 1940: 42.9° · 1969
  • One year ago: 81° / 53°

Every October 19 in history, coldest to hottest

▲ Daily highs▼ Daily lows

Dots show daily highs (top) and lows (bottom) for each October 19 on record (n = 86). Outlined dots are today's forecast.

Area we sample

Each city's history comes from one ERA5 grid cell, about 28 km across, shown by the dashed box. Near mountains or coasts, conditions can vary across the cell.

Location & data

Historical weather for Sacramento is sampled from the ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at 38.58°N, 121.49°W, with daily records since 1940.

Coordinates
38.58°N, 121.49°W
Time zone
America/Los Angeles
Period
1940–2026
Data source
ERA5 (ECMWF)

Last 30 days

17 of the last 30 days were warmer than the historical average for that date. Average difference: +2.4°F.

Each bar is one day, from morning low to afternoon high. Warm-colored bars are days whose mean ran above average; cool bars ran below. The dot inside the bar is the daily mean. The shaded band is the typical 10–90% range expected for that date. Average = the day's mean temperature averaged across every year of record (1940–2026) for that calendar date.

This date over the years

One dot per year, showing the mean temperature on this calendar date. Dots are warmer or cooler than the long-term average (dashed line); the shaded band is the typical 10–90% range, and the highlighted dot is today's forecast. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Weather by month

Average temperatures and rainfall for each month: a typical year, from the full record.

Climate overview

Sacramento occupies the floor of the Central Valley, enclosed by the Sierra Nevada to the east and the Coast Ranges to the west, with a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa): summers are long, blazing and almost entirely dry, while winters are mild and wet, the only season when Pacific storm systems routinely reach this far inland. A summer sea breeze called the delta breeze, flowing through the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, often moderates the summer heat, and temperatures cool down sharply at night.

Sacramento's winters bring tule fog, a dense ground-level fog that can persist for days or weeks, reducing visibility to near zero across the flat valley floor and making roads treacherous. The city has a long history of catastrophic flooding: the Great Flood of December 1861 to January 1862 turned much of the valley into an inland sea, left Sacramento under water for months and remains among the most extreme hydrological events in California's recorded history. On 6 September 2022, Sacramento set a new all-time high temperature record as an exceptional heat dome pushed temperatures into the extreme range across the state.

The year peaks in July, at around 92.5°F by mid-afternoon, with nights around 60.4°F. In a typical recent year, around 130 days reach 86°F or more. The coolest month is January, when afternoons reach about 57.1°F and overnight lows sit around 40.5°F.

Sacramento picks up roughly 23.4 inches a year, with a peak of 4.5 inches in January and as little as 0.03 inches in July.

The record here starts in 1940, and since then the annual mean in Sacramento has climbed 3.7°F from the first ten years to the last ten. The last decade has also run wetter, about 8% above the long-term precipitation average.

Sources:en.wikipedia.orgbritannica.comweather.gov

Climate graph (climograph)

July is the warmest month, January the coolest: a yearly swing of 27°F. Wettest month: January (~4.5 in). Whole year averages ~23.4 inches of rain.

Bars = average monthly rainfall (right axis). Lines = average daily high and low (left axis). Average = each month's value averaged across every year of record (1940–2026).

Rainy days by month

About 49 rainy days a year: most in January (~8), fewest in July (almost none).

Bars = average number of days with ≥ 0.08 in per month. Hover for the monthly rainfall total.

Monthly wind

Average daily peak wind at 10 m, by month.

Monthly solar energy

Average daily incoming solar energy in megajoules per square metre: the record's own proxy for how sunny the month is.

Sacramento month by month: what to expect

Typical conditions for each month, averaged across the full record (since 1940). Daylight is the time from sunrise to sunset. Highest and Lowest are the most extreme values in the ERA5 dataset (modelled since 1940), so they can differ from official weather-station readings.

MonthAvg highAvg lowRainRainy daysDaylightHighestLowest
January57.1°40.5°4.5 in89.6 h76.6° (2021)22.8° (1963)
February62.1°43.3°4.0 in810.6 h79.7° (2012)25.9° (1989)
March66.6°46.1°3.6 in811.7 h86.4° (2015)29.8° (1971)
April73.5°49.4°1.7 in513.0 h99.3° (2009)36.4° (1953)
May81.3°54.1°0.8 in214.1 h105.9° (2009)39.6° (1942)
June88.6°58.5°0.2 in114.7 h113.4° (1961)43.2° (1952)
July92.5°60.4°0.03 in014.4 h115.6° (1972)50.3° (1974)
August91.3°60.1°0.1 in013.5 h110.6° (2020)49.4° (1950)
September88.4°58.7°0.2 in112.2 h117.8° (2022)46.2° (2007)
October79.0°53.1°1.3 in311.0 h102.7° (2020)36.9° (2023)
November65.5°45.6°2.9 in69.9 h85.5° (2018)27.8° (2004)
December57.1°41.0°4.2 in89.3 h75.4° (2020)20.0° (1990)

How it's changed

Year-by-year signals from 1940 to today.

Climate stripes

Annual mean shifted from 1940–1949 to 2016–2025 by +3.7°F.

Each vertical stripe is one year. Color encodes how much that year's annual mean differed from the long-term average. Average = each year's annual mean compared to the average of all years (1940–2026). cooler ← → warmer

Annual mean temperature

Long-term trend: +0.42°F per decade.

One point per year, showing the temperature averaged across the whole year. The dashed line is the least-squares long-term trend. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Seasonal warming

Mar–May is warming fastest: +0.61°F per decade.

Each faint line is one three-month period's average per year; the bold dashed line is its long-term trend. Different parts of the year often warm at different rates. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Hot days vs frost days

Days ≥ 86°F per year: 98.1 early in the record → 129.7 recently. Frost days: 12 → 2.

Thin lines are raw yearly counts; thick lines are the smoothed trend that removes year-to-year noise. The hot-day threshold is auto-picked per city so the line actually moves. Average = a centered 5-year rolling average to smooth weather noise.

Yearly hot & cold extremes

Hottest day since 1940 in 2022, coldest in 1990: 117.8°F / 20.0°F.

One point per year: the single hottest and coldest day recorded that year.

Annual rainfall

~23.4 in/year on average. Last decade: +8% vs that average. Long-term trend: +0.20 in per decade.

One bar per year of total rainfall. Dashed line is the long-term average. Average = the average annual rainfall across every year of record (1940–2026).

Day-by-day grid

Each tiny square is one calendar day across the full record, about 30,000 days per city. Use the mode switch above the chart: Anomaly colors each day by how far it ran from the historical average for that date (red = warmer, blue = cooler), Daily mean temp shows the absolute mean temperature for the day (useful to see seasons and heatwaves), and Precipitation shows daily rainfall (useful to spot wet/dry seasons and droughts). Average = the long-term average for that calendar date (1940–2026).

Frequently asked questions about Sacramento

Which is the warmest month in Sacramento?
On long-term average, the warmest month in Sacramento is July (mean daily temperature of about 74.6°F) and the coolest is January (about 47.1°F).
How does today's temperature in Sacramento compare to the historical average?
On October 19, 2026, Sacramento is forecast to reach a high of 84.6°F and a low of 48.9°F. The long-term average for this date (the full record since 1940) is a high of 78.4°F and a low of 51.9°F, so today's high is 6.2°F warmer than that average.
How much has Sacramento warmed since 1940?
Comparing the first decade of the record (1940–1949) with the most recent (2016–2025), the annual mean temperature in Sacramento is about 3.7°F warmer.
How much does it rain in Sacramento?
Sacramento receives about 23.4 inches of precipitation per year on long-term average, with January typically the wettest month.
What is the average temperature in Sacramento?
Over the full record (since 1940), the annual mean temperature in Sacramento is about 61.4°F. The warmest month is July and the coolest is January.
What are the average temperatures in Sacramento by month?
Average daily highs and lows for each month in Sacramento (°F, full record since 1940): January 57°/40°, February 62°/43°, March 67°/46°, April 74°/49°, May 81°/54°, June 89°/59°, July 93°/60°, August 91°/60°, September 88°/59°, October 79°/53°, November 65°/46°, December 57°/41°.
What is the weather like in Sacramento in summer?
June to August is summer in Sacramento, and it is dry and hot. Afternoons run 89–93°F and nights 59–60°F; July is the warmest month. Hardly any rain falls.
What is the weather like in Sacramento in winter?
December to February is winter in Sacramento, and it is wet and cool. Expect 57–62°F by day and 40–43°F at night, with January the coldest month. Rain is steady at around 4.2 inches a month, spread over roughly 8 days. It is the wettest season of the year.
What is the weather like in Sacramento in spring?
Spring in Sacramento (March to May) is pleasantly warm. It warms from 67°F by day and 46°F at night in March to 81°F and 54°F in May. Rain falls off from 3.6 inches on 8 days in March to 0.8 inches on 2 days in May.
What is the weather like in Sacramento in autumn?
Autumn in Sacramento (September to November) is pleasantly warm. September is still 88°F by day and 59°F at night; by November it is down to 65°F and 46°F. Rain picks up through the season: 1 rainy day and 0.2 inches in September, 6 days and 2.9 inches in November.
How many days a year does it rain in Sacramento?
On long-term average, Sacramento has about 49 days a year with at least 0.08 inches of rain or snow. The annual total is roughly 23.4 inches.

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