San Diego weather in March
March in San Diego: nice, a little rain, with muggy air — a great time to visit.
Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis
#9 of 12 months in San Diego · #605 of 1413 destinations to visit in March · comfort 78/100 (tier B)
- Days
- 19°C
- Nights
- 12°C
- Wet days
- 6
- Sun
- 10.1 h
- Humidity
- 78%
- Daylight
- 12 h

Traveller notes on San Diego in March
Other months in San Diego
Regulars explain the region's forecast confusion with a specific structure: four distinct zones each day - coast (coolest), inland (at least 10 degrees warmer), mountains (more rain, occasional snow) and desert - so a single citywide number always hides real variation. Our row backs the pleasant coastal read this month, 24.6C over 16.3C nights, with rain minimal at 6.1mm across under a day. Regulars call this one of the best months overall, generally clear, dry, sunny and warm, with the occasional Santa Ana condition pushing dry desert winds and temperatures into the 80s Fahrenheit even on the coast. The sea is cooling toward 19.2C, on the cold side for a swim by regulars' own standards. The record: humidity 75 percent, 10.2 hours of sun, a 14.3 kph wind and AQI 63.
Regulars call September the best month here and give two reasons that have nothing to do with the air. The ocean is at its warmest of the year - they put it in the low seventies Fahrenheit and our column reads 20.3C - and the crowds go home after Labour Day while the weather carries on unchanged. Our row gives 25.8C reading as 27C over 19.4C nights, with 5.5mm of rain in the whole month and 11.1 hours of sun. The marine layer that shapes June has gone by now. Humidity is high at 77 percent but the sea breeze at 14.9 kph handles it. The record: a dew point of 16.7C and AQI 53.
May Gray and June Gloom are the local names for a marine layer that can sit over the city all day in late spring, and regulars say it weakens through June and is usually gone by July. What replaces it is a daily cycle rather than a season: cloud overnight, burning off through the morning and clear by about noon, with the cloud rolling back in off the ocean in the evening. Some years the layer does hang on into July, which they call unusual. Our row is as maritime as that sounds - 24.7C days and 19.4C nights, five degrees apart - with 1mm of rain, 13 hours of sun and a 20C sea. The record: humidity 78 percent, a 14.6 kph wind and AQI 51.
San Diego forum regulars keep December's range wide but genuinely mild: “highs will be somewhere between 50 and 80 and the lows between 35 and 55,” with a more typical read “temps in the 60s°F during the day” and chilly mornings and evenings. Rain totals for the whole month run modest — “about 1.3 inches” — but nobody can tell more than a week or 10 days out whether a given trip lands wet or dry. Standard packing: jeans with a long-sleeve tee or light jacket by day, a proper coat once the sun drops, and regulars specifically say to leave the umbrella at home since rain is infrequent enough not to be worth the space. Our record: 17.6°C days, 9.8°C nights, 6 rain days and 59.7mm of rain — mild and mostly dry, matching the “generally sunny and cool, occasional wet week” read.
Year-round notes are on San Diego's overview. Add your own note from San Diego's card on the map.
San Diego climate normals — March
Monthly averages from ERA5 reanalysis. AQI is the mean US Air Quality Index for the month.
Crowds in San Diego in March
How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.
BusySpring break in United States(estimated)
Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet
Best months for San Diego's weather
Ranked by this destination's own climate comfort score across the year — a different thing from how busy it gets (see Crowds above).
Fair weatherSan Diego's weather peaks July–September, best around August.
Best weatherFair weatherToughest weather
What's on in San Diego in March
Recurring seasonal events, natural spectacles, closures and holidays — curated and sourced.
- Nature
Gray whale migration
15 Dec – 15 Apr · usuallyWhale seasonTwenty thousand gray whales pass the coast between Alaska and the Baja lagoons, close enough to watch from the cliffs at Cabrillo. Mid-January is the southbound peak.
Nearby, and something's on
Within 300 km of San Diego — a day trip or a short hop — with something on this month. Never part of the comfort score.
Where is San Diego?
San Diego in March — FAQ
- Is March a good time to visit San Diego?
- March in San Diego: nice, a little rain, with muggy air — a great time to visit. It ranks #9 of 12 months for San Diego on SeasonMap's comfort score (78/100).
- What is the weather like in San Diego in March?
- In March, San Diego averages a daily high of 19.3°C and a low of 12°C, with about 42.3 mm of rain over roughly 6.1 rainy days.
- What is the air quality in San Diego in March?
- San Diego has a mean US Air Quality Index of about 59 in March.
Within 300 km: Laguna Beach's Patriots Day Parade around 7–15 Mar, and Joshua Tree National Park's Desert bloom around 15 Feb – 30 Apr.