All-time Record Hottest and Coldest Weather Temperatures Ever Recorded in San Diego, California

Weather temperatures have been officially kept in San Diego, California since 1874. These are the all-time record hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in San Diego since 1874.

Located along the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, the city of San Diego has a much milder climate than the extremes that can be found in the state of California. This is born out by the differences between the all-time hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in San Diego, compared to the all-time hottest and coldest temperatures recorded in California.

The difference between the all-time hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in San Diego is 86 degrees. The difference between the all-time hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in the state of California is 179 degrees; a whopping difference of 93 degrees.

California is one of the most extreme weather states in the United States by temperature.

Record Hottest and Coldest Temperatures Ever Recorded in San Diego, California

All-time Record Hottest Temperature Ever Recorded in San Diego is 111 Degrees

The hottest temperature ever officially recorded in the city of San Diego is 111 degrees, which occurred on September 26, 1963.

Despite such a record high temperature, days when the temperature reaches or exceeds 100 degrees are not overly common in San Diego. Since 1874, there have been a little over two dozen times when the temperature soared to 100 degrees or above in the city.

What is different about San Diego compared to most cities in the United States is that almost all the 100 degree days in the city's history have come in September and October. So San Diego gets hotter later in the year than most of the rest of United States does.

I've been to San Diego many times, and almost every time the weather in the city was great. Whether visiting the San Diego Zoo, or going to the beautiful beaches, or traveling to spots like Point Loma and Cabrillo National Monument for the views, or Del Mar for the horse racing, or SeaWorld San Diego, or even just watching the Navy ships moving around, you really can't beat the weather in San Diego.

• Hottest Temperature Ever Recorded in California is 134 Degrees 

The all-time record hottest temperature ever recorded in the state of California, and the world, is 134 degrees, which occurred on July 10, 1913, at the Greenland Ranch in Death Valley.

For many years a temperature reading of 136 degrees in Libya from 1922 was considered the hottest temperature on earth, but recent evidence has invalidated that temperature reading. Which means the 134 degree reading in Death Valley on July 10, 1913 is the hottest temperature ever recorded in the world.

Death Valley, which is 200 to 300 miles northeast of San Diego is a really cool place to visit, despite the heat. I visited Death Valley once in early summer when it was around 120 degrees, and when we got out of our air-conditioned car at Bad Water Basin, the heat blasted us like when you open a hot oven door.

The difference between the all-time hottest temperature ever recorded in San Diego (111) and the all-time hottest temperature ever recorded in the state of California (134) is 23 degrees. A pretty large statistical difference.

All-time Record Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded in San Diego is 25 Degrees

The coldest temperature ever officially recorded in San Diego is 25 degrees, which occurred on January 7, 1913.

Days when the temperature drops below freezing are exceedingly rare in San Diego. Since 1874, there have only been six times when the weather temperature dropped below 32 degrees. That is an astonishing fact to most people living in the rest of the United States.

• Coldest Temperature Ever Recorded in California is -45 Degrees 

The coldest temperature ever officially recorded in the state of California is -45 degrees, which occurred on January 20, 1937, in Boca.

The town of Boca was built along a railway line north of Lake Tahoe in the 1800s due to the cold winters found there. Boca was near the mouth of the Little Truckee River, and ice companies would fill railroad cars with ice they cut near Boca so that produce from California could be shipped all across the United States.

Most of the town of Boca got demolished in 1939 when Boca Dam was built on the Little Truckee River. Boca is located well over 500 miles north of San Diego.

The difference between the all-time coldest temperature ever recorded in San Diego (25) and the all-time coldest temperature ever recorded in the state of California (-45) is 70 degrees. A huge statistical difference.

Overall, the city of San Diego has a very mild climate, and a much more milder climate than the extremes found in California. Even though it can get pretty hot in San Diego, it gets a lot hotter in other parts of California, and it certainly gets a whole lot colder in other parts of the Golden State.