Flood zone: it depends on the exact parcel
There is no such thing as a flood zone for a whole city. Two houses on the same street can sit in different zones, and it is the single fact here that changes most over a short distance. So this page does not guess one.
Earthquake hazard high
Design category D
High seismic hazard. Strong ground shaking is expected over the life of a building. Substantial seismic-resistant design, detailing, and inspection are required by code. The ASCE 7 Seismic Design Category here is D. (Short-period design value Ss ≈ 0.971 g — the standard headline measure of ground-shaking hazard.)
USGS Seismic Design Web Services (ASCE 7), assuming Site Class D — stiff or unknown soil. Real soil conditions can move the category either way.
Typical weather
75° in September, 40.1° in December
Thirty-year averages, not a forecast. Any individual year can differ substantially.
| Month | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 64.7° | 41° | 2.74" |
| Feb | 64.8° | 42.5° | 2.85" |
| Mar | 66.3° | 44.3° | 2.56" |
| Apr | 68.1° | 45.4° | 0.93" |
| May | 69.3° | 48.7° | 0.36" |
| Jun | 71.3° | 51.6° | 0.06" |
| Jul | 73.3° | 54.9° | 0.03" |
| Aug | 73.8° | 55.1° | 0.01" |
| Sep | 75° | 53.7° | 0.07" |
| Oct | 74.6° | 49.8° | 0.54" |
| Nov | 70° | 44.3° | 1.12" |
| Dec | 64.3° | 40.1° | 2.05" |
This station records temperature and precipitation but not snowfall, so no snow column is shown. That is missing data, not a report of zero snow — Santa Maria may well get plenty.
NOAA/NCEI 1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals — station SANTA MARIA PUBLIC AP, CA US, 4 mi away.
Growing season zone 9b
315 frost-free days
Last spring frost around February 4, first fall frost around December 13. Roughly half of years see frost outside that window.
2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map and NOAA/NCEI 1991–2020 frost normals.
What this page does not tell you
- Nothing about a specific property — only the area around it.
- No flood zone, deliberately: that is parcel-level and this page would have to guess.
- Nothing about wildfire, radon, subsidence, soil or the building itself.
- Climate normals describe a typical year, not the year you are about to have.