West Coast cruising weather

[gsocruisers]

Thinking of sailing out of San Diego for a cruise. For the Caribbean we know the hurricane patterns, what about west coast?

 

Are there months we should try to avoid due to weather?

 

Thanks

[yogi2929]

Usually February is our rainy month in SoCal, but we can get storms any time of the year. It even rains one day in July or August. For Baja and points south August seems to be when big storms arrive. But not all the time or every year like the Carribbean.

 

It will be hotter and more humid (90F & 90%) in the summer months than in the winter months, but November can be like this in some ports.

 

Going north will be a bit rougher than going south because of the currents.

[Happy ks]

Typically, hurricane season is during the summer, with strongest months being August - September.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Not sure about San Diego, but in LA, we have what's called "June Gloom." Overcast mornings usually between April and June. But once you get past Cabo, you'll usually get warm weather.

[tea4ular]

The nicest weather I've had for "consistently" beautiful weather out of So Cal has been both mid/late May & mid/late September. Hardly needed a sweater, except they keep the insides of the ships so cold! Strangest was in Dec, left So Cal in sweaters, jeans, and turtlenecks, worked our way down the coast and turned into shorts and tank tops, then back into jeans, etc. on the way back up.

[jagoodbar]

Here in San Diego, we have May Gray and June Gloom. Mornings are usually overcast but it clears in the afternoon. No worry about hurricanes here. They don't happen. Usually, not much humidity here either, although the last couple of years we've had some humidity in the summer. Usually our best weather is September thru early November. San Diego has some of the best weather in the U.S.A. IMHO, better than Florida. Florida has lots of humidity and humidity brings bugs. Not a lot of problems with bugs around here.

 

Jon

[EddiesToys]

Thinking of sailing out of San Diego for a cruise. For the Caribbean we know the hurricane patterns, what about west coast?

 

Are there months we should try to avoid due to weather?

 

Thanks

Every day we have weather in San Diego! Most days is warm and dry. This afternoon it was warm and shakey (6.9 earthquake). ...Won't have to dust this week. It felt like a shaggy dog drying off!

 

The seas around San Diego are beautiful. Centuries ago it was named the "Pacific Ocean".

 

Eddie M

[Bruin Steve]

Okay...Bruin Steve, neighborhood Geographer and Climatologist here...

 

First of all, on the typical Mexican Riviera cruise, you pass through multiple climate zones...in fact, you pass through several zones just driving across town...

 

Realize that Southern California is a region where you have several coastal mountain ranges, so, there are different climate zones ranging from a true "Mediterranean" climate at the coast, then you go through a series of inland valleys and low mountains and higher mountains before ending up in the inland desert areas...all have slightly different characteristics...

 

All are really variations of a true "desert" climate--where evaporation exceeds precipitation...You generally have only about 11 inches of rain per year on the average TOTAL...Rainy season, what there is of it, is typically between October and March...but is really limited to about 15 days of rain per year with 350 days of sunshine...When, exactly, the 15 days will come during that long rainy season, is anyone's guess...You are just as likely to get sunny 80 degree days in January as you are cold and rain...

 

April to September are generally very dry...hot, but with little humidity...August is the hottest month...but usually a quite comfortable heat...

 

"June Gloom", as it were, usually refers to a mostly morning slight overcast, usually burning off by early afternoon--mostly found in the coastal areas...

 

Temperatures in May/June are typically very pleasant...

 

The desert climate continues down the Baja through Cabo--which is very much a desert climate...

 

But, as you get south of there--to Puerto Vallarta--you enter a subtropical climate--quite different than the north...suddenly, it is much more humid and can get a bit hotter, muggier and rainier...

 

You also get a "Typhoon Season" (No, it is NOT a "hurricane" in the Pacific!)...

Typhoons seldom have the force--or anything close--to the Atlantic/Caribbean hurricanes...Ususally it just means a lot of thunderstorm and rain downpours...obviously can interfere a bit with some of your excursions...though we've gone in July/August and usually had nice, though hot and muggy, mornings with the showers coming late in the day...

 

Typhoon Season general starts around mid July in PV and lasts through September/October...

 

Still, nothing as bad as the Caribbean...but, if you can choose when you cruise, I'd say to go between April and the Fourth of July...though those end of June, beginning of July cruises will have a LOT of families with a lot of kids since school gets out and the typhoons haven't yet arrived...

[EddiesToys]

Great report...thanks, Steve. I'm stealing it if you don't mind to post on a couple other threads.

 

Eddie M