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Los Angeles weather by month: averages, rainfall & climate trends

Sun-soaked and spread between the Pacific and its mountains, Los Angeles enjoys a warm, dry Mediterranean climate of long rainless summers, soft grey 'June Gloom' mornings and winters that bring almost all of the year's rain. Los Angeles weather by month: average temperatures, rainfall, records and how the climate has changed since 1940.

Today vs average

+10.4°Fhigh well above average

91° / 72°Today
80° / 58°Average
see today in detail →

How it's changed

+3.2°Faverage temperature, 2016–2025 vs 1940–1949average temperature vs 1940–490frost days a year now (2016–2025) · 1 in the 1940sfrost days a year · 1 in the 1940s+3.2°F vs the 1940s · see how it's changed →
Weather by montha typical year, averaged over the full recordJanuary, rain 3.0 incheshigh 66°low 45°February, rain 3.1 incheshigh 67°low 47°March, rain 2.5 incheshigh 69°low 50°April, rain 1.1 incheshigh 73°low 52°May, rain 0.3 incheshigh 76°low 56°June, rain 0.1 incheshigh 81°low 60°July, rain 0.05 incheshigh 87°low 64°August, rain 0.1 incheshigh 88°low 65°September, rain 0.2 incheshigh 86°low 63°October, rain 0.5 incheshigh 80°low 58°November, rain 1.4 incheshigh 73°low 51°December, rain 2.2 incheshigh 67°low 46°wettest month February, 3.1 inches · 14.5 inches a yearsee month by month →

Right now

What it's doing today vs the historical average for this date.
Clear

Right now

76.5°

72°feels like
29%humidity
42°dew point
5 mphfrom NW
UV index0.0
sunrise07:00sunset18:16day length11h 16m
SatClear91°72°
TodayClear89°64°
MonClear86°61°
TueClear77°67°
WedDrizzle69°63°
ThuClear70°63°
FriClear74°64°

On this date: October 18

Today (forecast)
91° / 72°
Average for October 18
80° / 58°

High well above average · +10.4°F

  • Record high: 97.2° · 1940
  • Record low: 49.3° · 1946
  • One year ago: 84° / 57°

Every October 18 in history, coldest to hottest

▲ Daily highs▼ Daily lows

Dots show daily highs (top) and lows (bottom) for each October 18 on record (n = 87). Outlined dots are today's forecast.

Area we sample

Each city's history comes from one ERA5 grid cell, about 28 km across, shown by the dashed box. Near mountains or coasts, conditions can vary across the cell.

Location & data

Historical weather for Los Angeles is sampled from the ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at 34.05°N, 118.24°W, with daily records since 1940.

Coordinates
34.05°N, 118.24°W
Time zone
America/Los Angeles
Period
1940–2026
Data source
ERA5 (ECMWF)

Last 30 days

27 of the last 31 days were warmer than the historical average for that date. Average difference: +5.6°F.

Each bar is one day, from morning low to afternoon high. Warm-colored bars are days whose mean ran above average; cool bars ran below. The dot inside the bar is the daily mean. The shaded band is the typical 10–90% range expected for that date. Average = the day's mean temperature averaged across every year of record (1940–2026) for that calendar date.

This date over the years

One dot per year, showing the mean temperature on this calendar date. Dots are warmer or cooler than the long-term average (dashed line); the shaded band is the typical 10–90% range, and the highlighted dot is today's forecast. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Weather by month

Average temperatures and rainfall for each month: a typical year, from the full record.

Climate overview

Los Angeles sprawls across a coastal basin hemmed by the Pacific Ocean and the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains, a setting that gives it a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa/Csb) bordering on semi-arid. Summers are warm to hot and almost rainless, winters are mild with nearly all of the year's modest rainfall arriving between November and April, and a cool marine layer rolls in off the ocean to create the city's famous overcast 'May Gray' and 'June Gloom' mornings. The mountains and distance from the coast split the region into sharp microclimates, with the beaches running far cooler than the inland valleys.

The defining hazard is fire weather: hot, dry Santa Ana winds sweep down from the interior deserts in autumn and winter, parching the landscape and fanning wildfires. Multi-year droughts recur throughout the record, broken by the occasional very wet winter, while measurable snow at sea level is essentially unknown: the last fell in 1949.

The warmest month is August, with typical afternoon highs of 87.5°F and nights around 64.9°F. In a typical recent year, around 80 days reach 86°F or more. The coolest month is January, when afternoons reach about 65.8°F and overnight lows sit around 45.4°F. Frost is essentially unknown.

The yearly total for Los Angeles comes to about 14.5 inches; monthly amounts range from 0.05 inches in July up to 3.1 inches in February.

The record here starts in 1940, and since then the annual mean in Los Angeles has climbed 3.2°F from the first ten years to the last ten. The year-by-year charts below trace that shift in detail.

Sources:en.wikipedia.orgweather.govbritannica.com

Climate graph (climograph)

August is the warmest month, January the coolest: a yearly swing of 21°F. Wettest month: February (~3.1 in). Whole year averages ~14.5 inches of rain.

Bars = average monthly rainfall (right axis). Lines = average daily high and low (left axis). Average = each month's value averaged across every year of record (1940–2026).

Rainy days by month

About 26 rainy days a year: most in February (~5), fewest in July (almost none).

Bars = average number of days with ≥ 0.08 in per month. Hover for the monthly rainfall total.

Monthly wind

Average daily peak wind at 10 m, by month.

Monthly solar energy

Average daily incoming solar energy in megajoules per square metre: the record's own proxy for how sunny the month is.

Los Angeles month by month: what to expect

Typical conditions for each month, averaged across the full record (since 1940). Daylight is the time from sunrise to sunset. Record high/low are the most extreme values in the ERA5 dataset (modelled since 1940), so they can differ from official weather-station readings.

MonthAvg highAvg lowRainRainy daysDaylightRecord highRecord low
January65.8°45.4°3.0 in510.0 h89.5° (2003)28.1° (1949)
February67.2°47.1°3.1 in510.8 h90.2° (2016)29.9° (1990)
March69.1°49.5°2.5 in511.7 h97.4° (1988)32.9° (1945)
April73.2°52.4°1.1 in212.9 h104.3° (1989)37.6° (1945)
May76.1°56.1°0.3 in113.8 h108.0° (1984)45.0° (1964)
June80.8°59.8°0.1 in014.3 h112.6° (1990)48.0° (1950)
July86.5°64.0°0.05 in014.1 h113.4° (2018)53.8° (1948)
August87.5°64.9°0.1 in013.3 h107.9° (1997)55.4° (1947)
September86.0°63.5°0.2 in012.2 h112.8° (2020)50.2° (1948)
October80.3°58.2°0.5 in111.1 h107.2° (1991)38.6° (1971)
November72.9°51.0°1.4 in310.2 h97.4° (2010)34.4° (1964)
December66.5°45.9°2.2 in49.7 h89.2° (1958)27.7° (1978)

How it's changed

Year-by-year signals from 1940 to today.

Climate stripes

Annual mean shifted from 1940–1949 to 2016–2025 by +3.2°F.

Each vertical stripe is one year. Color encodes how much that year's annual mean differed from the long-term average. Average = each year's annual mean compared to the average of all years (1940–2026). cooler ← → warmer

Annual mean temperature

Long-term trend: +0.36°F per decade.

One point per year, showing the temperature averaged across the whole year. The dashed line is the least-squares long-term trend. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Seasonal warming

Dec–Feb is warming fastest: +0.53°F per decade.

Each faint line is one three-month period's average per year; the bold dashed line is its long-term trend. Different parts of the year often warm at different rates. Based on ERA5 reanalysis: modelled estimates, not station readings.

Hot days vs frost days

Days ≥ 86°F per year: 78.2 early in the record → 77.7 recently. Frost days: 1 → 0.

Thin lines are raw yearly counts; thick lines are the smoothed trend that removes year-to-year noise. The hot-day threshold is auto-picked per city so the line actually moves. Average = a centered 5-year rolling average to smooth weather noise.

Yearly hot & cold extremes

All-time high in 2018, all-time low in 1978: 113.4°F / 27.7°F.

One point per year: the single hottest and coldest day recorded that year.

Annual rainfall

~14.5 in/year on average. Last decade: +5% vs that average. Long-term trend: −0.03 in per decade.

One bar per year of total rainfall. Dashed line is the long-term average. Average = the average annual rainfall across every year of record (1940–2026).

Day-by-day grid

Each tiny square is one calendar day across the full record, about 30,000 days per city. Use the mode switch above the chart: Anomaly colors each day by how far it ran from the historical average for that date (red = warmer, blue = cooler), Daily mean temp shows the absolute mean temperature for the day (useful to see seasons and heatwaves), and Precipitation shows daily rainfall (useful to spot wet/dry seasons and droughts). Average = the long-term average for that calendar date (1940–2026).

Frequently asked questions about Los Angeles

Which is the warmest month in Los Angeles?
On long-term average, the warmest month in Los Angeles is August (mean daily temperature of about 74.6°F) and the coolest is January (about 53.9°F).
How does today's temperature in Los Angeles compare to the historical average?
On October 18, 2026, Los Angeles is forecast to reach a high of 90.5°F and a low of 71.6°F. The long-term average for this date (the full record since 1940) is a high of 80.1°F and a low of 58.0°F, so today's high is 10.4°F warmer than that average.
How much has Los Angeles warmed since 1940?
Comparing the first decade of the record (1940–1949) with the most recent (2016–2025), the annual mean temperature in Los Angeles is about 3.2°F warmer.
How much does it rain in Los Angeles?
Los Angeles receives about 14.5 inches of precipitation per year on long-term average, with February typically the wettest month.
What is the average temperature in Los Angeles?
Over the full record (since 1940), the annual mean temperature in Los Angeles is about 63.9°F. The warmest month is August and the coolest is January.
What are the average temperatures in Los Angeles by month?
Average daily highs and lows for each month in Los Angeles (°F, full record since 1940): January 66°/45°, February 67°/47°, March 69°/50°, April 73°/52°, May 76°/56°, June 81°/60°, July 87°/64°, August 88°/65°, September 86°/63°, October 80°/58°, November 73°/51°, December 67°/46°.
What is the weather like in Los Angeles in summer?
June to August is summer in Los Angeles, and it is dry and warm. It warms from 81°F by day and 60°F at night in June to 88°F and 65°F in August. Almost no rain.
What is the weather like in Los Angeles in winter?
In winter, December through February, Los Angeles is mild. Afternoons run 66–67°F and nights 45–47°F; January is the coldest month. Rain is steady at around 2.8 inches a month, spread over roughly 4 days. No season is wetter.
What is the weather like in Los Angeles in spring?
Spring in Los Angeles (March to May) is pleasantly warm. March starts at 69°F by day and 50°F at night; by May it is 76°F and 56°F. Rain eases through the season: 5 rainy days and 2.5 inches in March, 1 day and 0.3 inches in May.
What is the weather like in Los Angeles in autumn?
September to November is autumn in Los Angeles, and it is dry and warm. September is still 86°F by day and 63°F at night; by November it is down to 73°F and 51°F. Rain picks up through the season, 0.2 inches in September to 1.4 inches in November.
How many days a year does it rain in Los Angeles?
On long-term average, Los Angeles has about 26 days a year with at least 0.08 inches of rain or snow. The annual total is roughly 14.5 inches.

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