Year round sunshine and warmth are the two main characteristics of the weather on Padre Island. The national seashore is not quite so hot in winter as areas even further south along the Gulf Coast like Brownsville, or indeed the resort of South Padre Island - since being just 100 miles closer to the equator makes the average temperatures about 4 degrees higher - but sunbathing at the beach is possible any day of the year, with daytime highs usually above 70°F even in January and February. In late winter, places in this part of south Texas are sometimes the hottest in the whole USA, though the proximity to the coast means that they are soon overtaken by inland regions in spring, so that in summer, maximum temperatures on the island are rarely over 100°F, and tend to be 20 degrees or more lower than the extremes of the Southwest deserts. This heat also warms the ocean, and temperatures for the water range from 60 in January to 85 in August.

The conditions on the beach may be rather different to the mainland just a few miles from the coast. Most days see a warm sea breeze develop during the early afternoon, at a fairly constant 18 mph, which both moderates temperatures and keeps cloud away, though clouds and short, thundery showers are still quite likely during the tropical storm season from June to October. Hurricanes too may strike the Padre Island region at this time, such as the one in 1919 that devastated much of Corpus Christi, however most pass much further to the east; weather statistics record that the island receives one hurricane on average every 7.5 years.


Weather Forecast

Winter nights may fall below freezing, but the frost usually lasts only for a day or two whilst a cold front passes over. Snow almost never falls, despite the last recorded occasion being as recent as Christmas Day 2004, when Padre Island accumulated 4 inches. This was the first time for over a century that snow was seen in far Southeast Texas.

Average Padre Island Weather Conditions