Weather & Tides

 

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View of Point Reyes Beach Looking North-Northeast

View of Point Reyes Beach Looking North-Northeast from the Point Reyes Lighthouse Visitor Center. Image refreshes every fifteen minutes.

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Description of Typical Weather by Season

The moderating influence of the Pacific Ocean creates a climate with no great extremes of heat or cold. Any season can bring interesting weather during your visit to Point Reyes National Seashore. Come prepared!

Summer:

Although there is very little rain during summer months, there is often dense fog. If you are visiting Bear Valley or Tomales Bay, expect patchy morning fog to burn off by mid-day. Afternoons are often sunny and warm with a light breeze. By contrast, the beaches and headlands are often 20 degrees cooler with heavy fogs common throughout the day in July, August and September.

Fall:

The coastal areas of Point Reyes experience some of the clearest days in late September, October and early November. The occasional storm will start rolling through in late October, bringing clouds, wind, and rain. The strongest winds occur in November and December during occasional southerly gales.

Winter:

The heaviest rainfall occurs in the winter months. Come prepared for rain and drizzle to possibly last for several days. More rain falls east of Inverness Ridge than on the west side. In between winter rains, it is often sunny, calm, and cool.

Spring:

Most spring days are windy and even Bear Valley and Tomales Bay experience stiff breezes. Expect cool temperatures in March. By late May and early June, temperatures can be quite warm on the east side of Inverness Ridge.

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Precipitation and temperature at Bear Valley Visitor Center - January 2006–December 2015

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average Monthly Precipitation (inches)	4.1	5.4	4.1	2.6	0.8	0.4	0.0	0.0	0.3	1.9	2.9	6.3
Average Low Daily Temperature (°F)	40	42	43	44	47	50	52	52	51	49	44	40
Average High Daily Temperature (°F)	58	61	64	65	68	72	73	73	74	72	65	56
Minimum Temperature 2006 through 2015 (°F)	28	31	32	35	40	44	47	47	44	40	30	26
Maximum Temperature 2006 through 2015 (°F)	77	79	81	90	96	97	99	100	95	97	83	74

 

Precipitation and temperature at Bear Valley Visitor Center - January 2006–December 2015 (Metric)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average Monthly Precipitation (cm)	10.5	13.7	10.5	6.7	2.1	1.0	0.1	0.0	0.7	4.8	7.4	16.0
Average Low Daily Temperature (°C)	5	5	6	7	8	10	11	11	11	9	6	4
Average High Daily Temperature (°C)	15	16	17	18	20	22	23	23	23	22	18	14
Minimum Temperature 2006 through 2015 (°C)	-2	-1	0	2	5	7	8	8	7	5	-1	-4
Maximum Temperature 2006 through 2015 (°C)	25	26	27	33	36	36	38	38	35	36	29	24

 

Data source: PRISM Climate Group at http://www.prism.oregonstate.edu/explorer/
Recent data for NPS Olema Valley Weather Station available at http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/rawMAIN.pl?caCOLV

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Current Weather

Real-time weather conditions at Bear Valley Visitor Center
Weather conditions at the North District Operations Center (near North Beach and the north end of Drakes Estero) - updated every 10 minutes
Weather and marine conditions at buoy off of Chimney Rock - updated every 6 minutes

National Weather Service Forecasts

Bear Valley/Olema
Drakes Beach
Point Reyes Lighthouse

National Weather Service Marine Forecasts

Zone Area Forecast for coastal waters from Point Arena to Point Reyes (including Tomales Bay) out to 10 NM
Zone Area Forecast for coastal waters from Point Reyes (including Drakes Estero) to Pigeon Point out to 10 NM

National Weather Service Watches, Warnings, & Advisories

Coastal North Bay, including Point Reyes National Seashore
Coastal waters from Point Arena to Point Reyes (including Tomales Bay) out to 10 NM
Coastal waters from Point Reyes (including Drakes Estero) to Pigeon Point out to 10 NM

 

Air Quality

Current Air Quality Data

• At the Bear Valley Visitor Center
• At the Point Reyes Lighthouse Visitor Center (unavailable until further notice)
• At the Point Blue Conservation Science's Palomarin Field Station at the south end of Point Reyes National Seashore. (Updated every hour.)

Bay Area Air Quality Management District

• Current Air Quality
• Air Quality Forecasts

Environmental Protection Agency

• AirNow
  • San Rafael (Marin County) Current Conditions

For more information about this issue and how it impacts Point Reyes, visit our Nature > Environmental Factors > Air Quality page.

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For emergency road and weather conditions in West Marin, tune in to KWMR, 90.5 FM.

 

Tides

NOAA's Tides and Currents: Tide Predictions for Point Reyes
For tide predictions elsewhere in California, go to NOAA's Tides and Currents: California page and click on the appropriate link. Locations near Point Reyes, including multiple sites in Tomales Bay, can be found in the "Outer Coast, San Francisco" listings near the bottom of the page.

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Wind Forecasts

The following links are offered as two of many tools to determine the weather conditions at Point Reyes. Use them in conjunction with the other links above.
Sailflow: Wind Forecast Map
iWindsurf.com's Pt. Reyes Computer Forecast Table
The forecasts provided by iWindsurf.com seem to be rather reliable, with a bit of an adjustment. Park staff have observed that the wind speeds provided by these forecasts frequently need to be multipied by a factor of 1.5 to obtain the approximate average wind speed recorded at the Point Reyes Lighthouse and by a factor of 2 to obtain the approximate speed of maximum gusts. As an example, if the Forecast Table is indicating the wind speed is 10 mph, the average wind speed recorded at the Lighthouse will be approximately 15 mph and the gusts will be approximately 20 mph. If the Forecast Table is indicating wind speeds greater than 25 mph, visitors should be prepared to find that actual wind speeds at the Lighthouse are in excess of 40 mph, in which case the stairs leading down to the Lighthouse would be closed for visitors' safety. As with any weather forecast, what is predicted and what actually occurs may be very different. Every now and then, iWindsurf.com has predicted light winds when strong winds were actually recorded at the Lighthouse.

Tsunamis

National Weather Service's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

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