Live forecast for Los Angeles, CA — updated in real time. Check today's temperature, UV index, hourly breakdown, and 14-day outlook.
Los Angeles has a Mediterranean climate — warm, dry summers and mild, wetter winters — but its real signature is variety. Squeezed between ocean and mountains and carved up by canyons, the L.A. basin is a patchwork of microclimates: the coast can be cool and foggy while the San Fernando Valley bakes 20°F (11°C) hotter on the very same afternoon.
Late spring brings the marine layer, a blanket of low cloud that rolls in off the Pacific and keeps mornings gray well into June — the local phenomenon known as "May Gray" and "June Gloom." It usually burns off by midday near the coast, while inland neighborhoods stay sunny throughout.
The most dangerous weather isn't rain but wind. In autumn, hot, bone-dry Santa Ana winds rush down from the interior deserts, plunging humidity and fanning fast-moving wildfires across the hills. These offshore winds can also push temperatures into the 90s°F (32°C+) in October, long after summer should be over.
Most of L.A.'s modest 14 inches (360 mm) of annual rain falls in just a few winter storms between December and March; the rest of the year is famously, relentlessly dry and sunny.
Los Angeles has a classic Mediterranean climate — dry, sunny summers and mild, wetter winters — but its microclimates are extreme: a foggy 68°F (20°C) beach afternoon can coincide with a 95°F (35°C) inland valley just 20 miles away.
The autumn Santa Ana winds define the city's danger season: hot, dry gusts roar down from the desert, spike temperatures, crash humidity, and turn any spark into a fast-moving wildfire. Rain is scarce and concentrated in a few winter storms, which after fires can trigger dangerous debris flows off the bare hillsides.
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