Los Angeles, California Climate Records and Averages

    Los Angeles possesses a Mediterranean / subtropical climate and lies on a hilly coastal plain with the Pacific Ocean as its southern and western boundaries. The city stretches north to the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains and is bounded by the San Gabriel Mountains to the east. Numerous canyons and valleys also characterize the region, making it an area of diverse climatic conditions. The predominant weather influence is the warm, moist Pacific air, keeping temperatures mild throughout the year. Summers are dry and sunny, the city averages 329 days of sun per year with most of the precipitation occurring during the winter months. Unusual weather phenomena include the Santa Ana winds, which bring hot, dusty winds of up to 50 miles per hour from the surrounding mountains, and the occasional flash floods in the canyon areas, causing mudslides.

Los Angeles averages 12.01 inches of precipitation annually, which mainly occurs during the winter and spring (November through April) with generally moderate rain showers, but usually as heavy rainfall and thunderstorms during winter storms. The coast gets slightly less rainfall, while the mountains get slightly more. The San Fernando Valley Region of Los Angeles can get between 16 and 20 inches of rain per year

Precipitation / Temperature

    Total Snowfall
  Avg. High Year Low Year 1 Day Max. >=
0.01 in.
>=
0.10 in.
>=
0.50 in.
>=
1.00 in.
Mean High Year
  in. in. - in. - in. dd/yyyy
or
yyyymmdd
# Days # Days # Days # Days in. in. -
January 2.70 12.71 1995 0.00 1972 4.56 26/1956 6 4 2 1 0.0 0.0 -
February 2.73 13.79 1998 0.00 1961 3.91 08/1962 6 4 2 1 0.0 0.0 -
March 1.82 6.37 1983 0.00 1956 3.10 07/1968 6 4 1 0 0.0 0.0 -
April 0.77 4.52 1965 0.00 1945 1.35 11/1999 3 2 1 0 0.0 0.0 -
May 0.17 2.55 1977 0.00 1945 1.67 08/1977 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 -
June 0.05 0.74 1993 0.00 1946 0.74 05/1993 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 -
July 0.02 0.32 1992 0.00 1945 0.28 12/1992 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 -
August 0.07 2.47 1977 0.00 1944 2.10 17/1977 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 -
September 0.16 1.91 1983 0.00 1944 1.66 30/1983 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 -
October 0.37 3.78 2004 0.00 1949 1.75 18/1972 2 1 0 0 0.0 0.0 -
November 1.41 7.92 1946 0.00 1948 5.60 21/1967 4 2 1 0 0.0 0.0 -
December 1.73 6.49 2004 0.00 1963 4.53 28/2004 5 3 1 0 0.0 0.0 -
   
Annual 12.01 29.46 1983 2.95 1947 5.60 19671121 34 21 8 3 0.0 0.0 -
 
Winter 7.17 21.43 1998 1.33 1961 4.56 19560126 17 12 5 2 0.0 0.0 -
Spring 2.76 9.59 1983 0.00 1997 3.10 19680307 10 6 2 0 0.0 0.0 -
Summer 0.14 2.47 1977 0.00 1946 2.10 19770817 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 -

Temperature

  Monthly Averages Daily Extremes Monthly Extremes
Temperatures
 in F
Max. Min. Avg High Date of 
daily extreme
 high
Low Date of
daily extreme
low
Highest
Avg
Year Lowest
Avg
Year
January 65.1 47.5 56.3 91 31/2003 27 04/1949 62.2 1986 47.0 1949
February 65.3 49.0 57.1 92 03/1963 34 12/1948 61.6 1995 51.4 1949
March 65.3 50.5 57.9 95 26/1988 35 05/1945 64.0 1959 53.0 1945
April 67.5 53.0 60.2 102 06/1989 42 04/1945 65.6 1992 56.0 1967
May 69.2 56.4 62.8 97 16/1956 45 07/1964 67.5 1997 58.4 1964
June 71.9 59.7 65.9 104 16/1981 48 08/1950 71.9 1981 62.1 1964
July 75.2 62.9 69.1 97 10/1959 52 06/1947 75.0 1959 65.7 1965
August 76.4 63.8 70.1 98 31/1955 51 09/1948 74.7 1994 65.9 1950
September 76.0 62.6 69.3 110 26/1963 47 26/1948 76.5 1984 65.3 1953
October 73.7 58.5 66.1 106 14/1961 43 30/1946 72.5 1958 61.6 1946
November 70.3 52.4 61.4 101 01/1966 38 23/1947 65.9 1976 56.8 1946
December 66.0 47.9 56.9 94 03/1958 32 21/1968 62.4 1958 52.7 1948
                     
Annual 70.2 55.3 62.8 110 1963/09/26 27 1949/01/04 66.4 1959 59.6 1948
Winter 65.5 48.1 56.8 94 1958/12/03 27 1949/01/04 60.5 1980 50.4 1949
Spring 67.3 53.3 60.3 102 1989/04/06 35 1945/03/05 65.0 1959 56.6 1945
Summer 74.5 62.1 68.3 104 1981/06/16 48 1950/06/08 72.9 1959 65.0 1948
Fall 73.3 57.8 65.6 110 1963/09/26 38 1947/11/23 69.7 1958 61.8 1944
 
California Top 10 climate extremes, averages in precipitation and temperature and Top 10 U.S climate extremes.
Winter = Dec, Jan, and Feb Spring = Mar, Apr, and May
Summer = Jun, Jul, and Aug. Fall = Sep, Oct, and Nov
Data period is 1944-2010, Los Angeles Airport (LAX). Source: Western Regional Climate Center