San Diego in early March 2023

February 4, 2023 8:52 AM

For a weekend in San Diego in early March what should we expect for weather THIS year? Asking for hunches from SoCal resident types instead of relying on averages from Google.

Google searches say it probably will be nice out. But we wondered if there is anything specific this year, ranging from, say smoke from faraway fires to more than usual rain, that we should know about in our planning. Because the weather isn't what it used to be.

posted by ojocaliente to Travel & Transportation around San Diego, CA (8 answers total)

Smoke is unlikely in March. I wouldn't worry about that. This year or any year, that's really not the smoke season, anything is possible of course but you'd be very unlucky.

This year, who knows about rain. In general, in socal, people mostly just assume it won't rain. Even this year, most people just plan on outdoor activities all year round and if they happen to get rained out they say "I know we really needed this rain but..." before complaining vociferously about the rain.
posted by potrzebie at 9:34 AM on February 4 [4 favorites]

Weatherspark is pretty spot on for San Diego. For this winter we’ve had a higher rain total so far, not sure if that will continue into spring.

https://weatherspark.com/y/1816/Average-Weather-in-San-Diego-California-United-States-Year-Round
posted by escher at 9:55 AM on February 4

Early March in San Diego is still in the "rainy season" so it could be in the low 50s and raining, all the way to the 100s and very dry if we have Santa Ana conditions.

So far, 2023 has felt wetter & colder than usual, and based on that I'd expect early March to be on the colder/wetter side.

Smoke seems very unlikely given how wet it's been.

Also, specific location really matters: the temperature (and cloud cover) varies dramatically with distance from the ocean - it can be 70F and overcast at the beach while dry sunny & 100F just a few miles inland.
posted by soylent00FF00 at 9:57 AM on February 4 [2 favorites]

How do you personally define nice weather and what activities are you planning for? Soylent has a great summary.
posted by gryphonlover at 3:05 PM on February 4

Response by poster: How do you personally define nice weather and what activities are you planning for?

Basically we just want a break from freezing, bleak east coast winter & to be able to enjoy the outdoors - it's fine if it rains a bit, fine if it's not totally warm/beach weather, but we don't want to be forced to spend the whole couple of days indoors.
posted by ojocaliente at 9:27 PM on February 4

It’s been noticeably cooler and wetter than usual this winter, but it’s certainly possible that it will not rain at all, or just drizzle before dawn. A rainy day can be in the 50s, but 60s are more normal and will probably be here more regularly by March. A jacket will almost certainly be necessary in the evening even if it’s nice. I’m a few miles from the ocean; it would be drier and warmer further inland, but I wouldn’t expect much risk of being actually hot this time of year unless you’re going to the desert.
posted by kite at 12:56 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]

I can promise you with no reservations whatsoever that you will not be snowed in :) and rain isn't likely to last all day if it happens.
posted by potrzebie at 11:16 AM on February 5

Update. Looking kinda wet and cool: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=32.71568000000008&lon=-117.16170999999997#.Y_a4aEmIbDs
posted by notyou at 4:51 PM on February 22