United States / Texas
Padre Island
Padre Island is a 210 km-long beach facing east on the Gulf of Mexico, 57.7 km north-east of Raymondville (Texas, United States). The sea averages 29.0 °C in September, its warmest month, and 17.6 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in April–November.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Reference
Padre Island is the largest of the Texas barrier islands and the world's longest barrier island. The island is located along Texas's southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico and is noted for its white sandy beaches.
Wikidata item Q2046019 · classified as barrier island and island.
Month by month
October at Padre Island
Beach-day index 8.6/10 · United States median 4.5
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 18.0 °C | 17.6 °C | 18.8 °C | 21.8 °C | 25.1 °C | 27.7 °C | 28.1 °C | 28.5 °C | 29.0 °C | 26.8 °C | 23.1 °C | 20.2 °C |
| High °C | 19° | 19° | 20° | 23° | 26° | 28° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 27° | 24° | 21° |
| Low °C | 17° | 17° | 19° | 22° | 25° | 28° | 28° | 29° | 28° | 26° | 22° | 18° |
| Rain mm | 42 | 33 | 41 | 39 | 69 | 79 | 66 | 55 | 149 | 78 | 51 | 41 |
| Cloud % | 67 | 65 | 59 | 57 | 48 | 35 | 36 | 33 | 48 | 40 | 51 | 66 |
| Wind m/s | 6.8 | 6.6 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 6.3 | 6.2 | 5.5 | 5.8 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 6.9 |
| Daylight h | 10.6 | 11.2 | 12.0 | 12.8 | 13.5 | 13.8 | 13.7 | 13.1 | 12.4 | 11.6 | 10.9 | 10.5 |
| Record high/low | 23°/6° | 25°/5° | 25°/7° | 28°/14° | 28°/15° | 31°/25° | 30°/26° | 32°/25° | 32°/25° | 30°/14° | 28°/10° | 25°/8° |
| Beach index | 4.4 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 7.4 | 8.5 | 8.6 | 8.7 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 8.0 | 5.8 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in May–August and October; August scores 9.0/10 with highs of 29 °C, sea at 28.5 °C and 55 mm of rain.
In August that is 0.9 points above the median of the 2,466 beaches in United States covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 8.1 °C warmer than the United States median for September (20.9 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 23.7 °C, warmer than 73% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
September is the wettest month (149 mm) and February the driest (33 mm); the yearly total is about 740 mm.
Daylight runs from 10.5 hours in December to 13.8 hours in June; in mid-August the sun rises at 07:00 and sets at 20:07 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces east (80°). Open water fills about 42% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
At no time of year does the sun set over the sea here: sunset bearings run from 244° to 297°, behind the land.
Sunrise is over the sea in every month.
The opposite shore is only about 500 m away to the east, which keeps the water sheltered from big waves.
The sea floor is still within the shallow coastal margin 1 km out; 3 km offshore the depth is about 12 m. Behind the beach the ground is about 4 m above sea level 500 m inland and 2 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.
Within 1 km, the land is 64% wetland, 31% grassland and 4% bare ground, sand or rock (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a largely natural setting. Water makes up 9% of that circle.
- Wetland 64%
- Grass 31%
- Bare 4%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Photos
From above
Around the beach
Islands in view
- Padre Island 0 m E
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley International Airport Harlingen | HRL | 74.2 km | south-west |
| Corpus Christi International Airport Corpus Christi | CRP | 104 km | north |
| Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport Brownsville | BRO | 104 km | south |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
When people look it up
The EN Wikipedia article was read 38,024 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in July (3,672 views), with little seasonal swing.
Map
Loading map…
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 3.5 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2A_14RPQ_20230106_1_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.