Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Average daytime temperatures at Galveston area beaches tend to range from the low 60s to low 70s from November through February. Water temperatures range from the mid-50s to high 60s from November through February. For late-winter fun, visit Galveston's annual Mardi Gras celebration scheduled either in late January or early February. In any Texas beach city, you won't see much rain in winter months. Summer and fall tend to be the rainiest season, because that's when tropical storms hit the state.
Corpus Christi's average daytime temperatures from November through February range from the mid-60s to mid-70s. Water temperatures off this coastal city, located south of Galveston, average 70 degrees in November, and drop to an average 59 degrees in January. The dress code tends to be shorts and T-shirts at the annual Harbor Lights Festival and Boat Parade in Corpus Christi the first week of December, and at the Tropical Christmas Festival in early December in nearby Rockport.
South Padre Island is the southernmost and warmest of the Texas Gulf Coast beach cities. Average winter daytime temperatures range from the high 70s in November to high 60s and low 70s in December, January and February. The average water temperature is 71 degrees in November, dropping to an average 58 degrees in January. Because so many people visit the state's southernmost and coastal cities for at least a few months each winter, locals created the label "Winter Texans" to describe these thousands of part-time residents.
Texas is known for occasional wild swings in winter weather, which doesn't have much impact on average beach water temperatures but can make a big difference in whether you wear a bathing suit or a coat to the beach. Cold fronts are rare. Corpus Christi's record winter low of 13 degrees was in 1989. In Brownsville, near South Padre Island, a record low of 15 degrees was reported in 1901.