The Best Time to Visit Los Angeles Throughout the Year (2024)

Winter

Though winter is L.A.’s wettest season, you’re still unlikely to see rain more than a couple of days per month. The lows are often in the 50s (though chillierin the Valleys) while the highs average in the 60s, with some warm days still in the 70s and above. The cooler temperatures and traces of rain (drought permitting) turn L.A.’s hillsides green and cap its mountains with snow.

Crowds are pretty quiet during the winter; it’s not difficult to find an expanse of beach all to yourself on weekdays (as long as you’re willing to bundle up). Pasadena’s historic Rose Parade greets the new calendar year, while a slew of Chinese New Year celebrations mark the Lunar New Year. The start of the year also coincides withawards season, including the Oscars and Golden Globes.

Spring

The rain tapers off, the highs tick up into the 70s and the flowers are in bloom (you know, the ones that aren’t already during the rest of the year)as spring arrives in L.A. If the weather cooperates, you’ll find sopping wet waterfall hikesand a sublime poppy bloom.

Avoid the spring break crowds if you can,or join the herd forLA PrideandCoachella(when L.A. becomes a ghost town as all nightlife moves toPalm Springs).

Summer

Weather in L.A. becomes a matter of location during summer months. High temperatures along the ocean stay in the mid 70s, but days in the 90s are routine for the Valleys. No matter the location, expect cool temperatures in the 60s after sunset. Rain is simply nonexistent and sunshine is abundant (though gray mornings are routine during a month of “June Gloom”).

Long days and vacation time bring summer crowds to all of L.A.’s top attractions.On the downside: Disneylandand the beaches become packed. But on the upside, L.A. is teeming with outdoor movie screenings, music festivalsandfree summer concerts.

Fall

The crowds have thinned by the time autumn comes around, but L.A. is parched; expect punishingly hot and dry conditions as the Santa Ana Winds sweep through the region in the early fall, sometimes bringing triple digit temperatures in their wake. Relief begins to arrive by late October, when temperatures start to tumble toward their still-pleasant winter averages and thelikelihood of rain slightly rises above summer’s zero percent chance.

Look out for the L.A. County Fair each September and incredible Day of the Dead celebrations following Halloween.