Does it snow in Los Angeles?

Known as the Entertainment Capital of the World, La-la-land, Tinseltown, or simply by its initials L.A., Los Angeles, the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States, stands as one of the main metropolises of the film industry throughout the Western World.

The City of Los Angeles is especially recognized worldwide for hosting one of the most influential and famous nerve centers of the film industry in the whole world: Hollywood.

Beyond the city's fame as the nerve center of the seventh art, the City of Los Angeles is home to all kinds of industries and businesses throughout its more than 500 square miles, from companies associated with entertainment (television, movies, video games, music, etc.) to companies related to fashion, technology, tourism and even the production of raw materials such as oil.

The City of Los Angeles boasts the second largest GDP in the United States and the third largest in the world, surpassed only by the cities of Tokyo (Japan) and New York (U.S.).

Despite having a very high population density and an exceptionally dizzying pace of life, the City of Los Angeles continues to be the favorite of thousands of tourists around the world, either for its spectacular beaches, museums, observatories or simply for the possibility of spotting a celebrity on any of its main streets.

Snow in Los Angeles? ❄

According to the archives of the Los Angeles Public Library, from January 21 to 22, 1962, Los Angeles County was hit by a snowstorm, which was not limited to the characteristic mountains and elevated regions of the county but also partially covered the city of Los Angeles. However, while slightly measurable, these snowfalls began to melt shortly after making contact with the ground.

The last recorded snowfall in the City of Los Angeles occurred on February 21, 2019. On this occasion, several inhabitants of regions of Southern California, such as Malibu, Pasadena, West Hollywood, Northridge, San Bernardino, and Thousand Oaks, expressed having seen light snowfall through social networks.

In total, since its founding, light snowfall has been recorded in the City of Los Angeles on six different winters:

• January 15-16, 1932.
• February 20, 1944.
• January 10-12, 1949.
• January 30, 1951.
• January 21-22, 1962.
• February 21, 2019.

The climate of Los Angeles ⛅

LOS ANGELES WEATHER

According to the Köppen climate classification, Los Angeles exhibits a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb) along the coast and part of the city center and a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa) in the interior of the city. Despite these differences, the weather behavior of Los Angeles could be summarized as follows:

• Summer: these generally range from hot to very hot, but, undoubtedly, their main characteristic is the almost complete absence of humidity.
• Winter: despite being the coldest season, winters in Los Angeles range from mild to slightly warm. Although winter frosts have occurred in Los Angeles, such as the one that occurred in December 1990, they are still a rare and exceptional phenomenon.
• Spring and Autumn: both seasons are barely perceptible. Indeed, these preserve the climatological behavior pattern of their predecessors.
• Rainfall: these occur primarily during winter and the first half of spring, as usual in Mediterranean climates.

Summer weather characteristics

• Highest record temperature: 121 °F / 49.4 °C (September 6, 2020)
• Mean maximum: 94.3 °F (34.6 °C)
• Average high: 81.55 °F (27.5 °C)
• Average low: 63.93 °F (17.7 °C)
• Mean minimum: 59.83 °F (15.4 °C)
• Average precipitation per summer month: 0.06 inches (0.15 cm)

Winter weather characteristics

• Lowest record temperature: 28 °F / -2.2 °C (January 4, 1949)
• Mean maximum: 83.15 °F (28.4 °C)
• Average high: 68.33 °F (20.1 °C)
• Average low: 49.88 °F (9.9 °C)
• Mean minimum: 42.55 °F (5.8 °C)
• Average precipitation per winter month: 2.91 inches (.)

Precipitation and other weather characteristics

• Range average annual precipitation: 5 – 20 inches (12.7 - 50.8 cm)
• Largest snowfall on record in the city center: 2 inches / 5 cm (January 15, 1932)

When does it snow in Los Angeles? 🌨

Does it snow in Los Angeles in December?

No, it does.

Does it snow in Los Angeles in January?

Yes, it might snow in January. Since 1932, four snowfalls have been recorded in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in January 1932, 1949, 1951, and 1962.

Does it snow in Los Angeles in February?

Yes, it might snow in February. Although the chances of spot snowfall in the City of Los Angeles during this month are slim to none, it has happened at least twice since 1932.

Does it snow in Los Angeles in March?

No, it does. 

How much does it snow in Los Angeles? 🌨

Due to the climatic characteristics of the City of Los Angeles and its intrinsic incompatibility with some meteorological phenomena, such as snowfall, it is not possible to answer the question posed in this section.

Although Los Angeles has experienced at least six snowfalls in the last hundred years, these are barely measurable (the largest snowfall on record in the city center reached 2 inches of accumulation), and, to top it off, they disappear shortly after making contact with the city's ground.