Los Angeles: time, weather and climate

Los Angeles has a Mediterranean climate: dry, warm summers, mild winters, and almost all of the year's rain packed into a few winter months. Its clock runs on Pacific Time, three hours behind New York, which shapes the working day in a city that does business with every other time zone.

Climate overview

Los Angeles stretches from the Pacific coast across a broad basin to the San Gabriel Mountains, and its weather varies a great deal across that area. Coastal districts have a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb), while the inland valleys are hot-summer Mediterranean (Csa). The climate figures on this page come from Los Angeles International Airport, close to the ocean, so they describe the mild coastal end of that range.

At the coast, average highs only move from 19°C in January to 25°C in August, and lows from 10°C to 18°C. The cool Pacific keeps both summer and winter in check. Rainfall is low, about 311 mm a year on roughly 27 days, and almost all of it falls between November and March. February is the wettest month, at 76 mm, while high summer is close to completely dry.

Los Angeles through the seasons

Winter (December to February)

Winters are mild: January averages 19°C by day and 10°C at night at the coast. This is the rainy season, but rain tends to come in a few strong storms rather than steady drizzle, and sunny days are still common between them. Atmospheric rivers, long plumes of moist air from the tropical Pacific, can bring heavy rain that causes flooding and mudslides, especially on hillsides recently burned by wildfires. Snow dusts the San Gabriel Mountains in most winters, visible from the city on clear days.

Spring (March to May)

Spring is mild and increasingly dry, with highs of 19–21°C. "May Gray" brings overcast mornings to the coast, which usually clear by afternoon. After a wet winter, wildflowers bloom in the hills and the deserts beyond them.

Summer (June to August)

Summer is dry and warm at the coast, with highs of 22–25°C, and much hotter inland, where the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys regularly bake under clear skies. "June Gloom" brings cloudy mornings to the beaches early in the season. Rain is almost unheard of: July and August are close to completely dry.

Autumn (September to November)

Autumn is often the warmest time of year at the coast: September highs, at 25°C, are almost as high as August's, and the morning clouds of early summer have gone. This is also the start of Santa Ana season, when hot, dry and gusty winds can raise wildfire danger sharply. The first winter rains usually return in November.

What makes Los Angeles's weather distinctive

Microclimates define the weather here. On a summer day, the beach at Santa Monica can be cool and cloudy while the San Fernando Valley, a short drive inland, is far hotter and sunny. The cause is the marine layer, a sheet of cool, moist air over the ocean that pushes inland overnight and burns off during the day. It is behind both May Gray and June Gloom, and it rarely reaches the inland valleys.

The Santa Ana winds blow from the deserts towards the coast, mostly between October and March. They bring very dry air, unusual heat and strong gusts, which together greatly increase wildfire risk. The January 2025 fires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena were driven by an extreme Santa Ana event. If you are visiting during a Santa Ana episode, follow local fire warnings and road closures.

Best time to visit Los Angeles

September to November and March to May are the best times to visit Los Angeles. Autumn brings the warmest, clearest weather at the coast and fewer crowds than summer; spring is mild, green after the winter rain, and usually dry. Summer is good for the beaches, though coastal mornings can be grey and inland areas very hot. Winter is mild enough for sightseeing on most days, but plan an indoor alternative in case a storm comes through.

What to pack

• Light clothing plus a light jacket or jumper for cool coastal evenings
• Layers for grey beach mornings and hot inland afternoons
• Sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat all year
• A rain jacket from December to March
• Swimwear for the beach, and a wetsuit if you plan to surf: the Pacific here is cool

Time in Los Angeles

Los Angeles uses the America/Los_Angeles time zone and is currently on UTC−8. It keeps Pacific Standard Time (UTC−8) in winter and Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−7) from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, with the clocks changing at 2:00 a.m. local time. The next change forward is on 14 March 2027. The next change back is on 7 November 2027. These dates were set nationally by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and have applied since 2007.

Living on Los Angeles time

Pacific Time was one of the standard zones the North American railroads introduced in 1883, and Los Angeles has kept it ever since. In 2018 California voters approved Proposition 7, which lets the state legislature move to permanent daylight time. But federal law only allows states to stay on standard time all year, not daylight time, so nothing can change without an act of Congress. The federal Sunshine Protection Act passed the US Senate in 2022 but did not become law, and Los Angeles still changes its clocks twice a year.

Being three hours behind New York shapes the local workday. Anyone who works with East Coast markets or head offices starts early, because by the time Los Angeles opens for business New York has been at work for three hours. Entertainment and tech, on the other hand, often anchor their schedules to Pacific Time: many studios, streaming platforms and software companies are based in California, so midnight Pacific Time is a common global release time. That is 3 a.m. in New York and, for most of the year, 8 a.m. in London.

Los Angeles is also a gateway across the Pacific. Late afternoon in LA is already the next morning in Tokyo and Sydney, and flights to Asia cross the International Date Line: a Monday departure usually lands on Tuesday, and on the way back you can land before you took off.

Scheduling with Los Angeles

Los Angeles is 3 hours behind New York all year, because both cities change their clocks on the same dates, so the LA morning is the natural window for coast-to-coast calls. Europe is harder: right now LA is 8 hours behind London, which leaves only the early LA morning to meet the end of the London day. For Asia and Australia, the LA late afternoon lines up with the next morning in Tokyo and Sydney; LA is 19 hours behind Sydney. Our guide to managing remote teams across time zones has more on making these windows work.

Working hours taken as 09:00–18:00 on both sides, with today’s offsets (daylight saving included), from the IANA time zone database.

Calculated for this year from the city centre’s coordinates, in local clock time (daylight saving included). Hills and buildings can shift what you see by a few minutes.

Frequently asked questions

Does it rain in Los Angeles?

Mostly in winter. About 311 mm falls in an average year, mainly from November to March, while summers are almost completely dry.

What are the Santa Ana winds?

Hot, dry, gusty winds that blow from the inland deserts towards the coast, mostly in autumn and winter. They bring very dry air and sharply increase wildfire risk.

Why is it cloudy in Los Angeles in May and June?

The marine layer, cool and moist air over the Pacific, forms low morning clouds along the coast known as May Gray and June Gloom. They usually clear by the afternoon.

What is the time difference between Los Angeles and New York?

Los Angeles is always three hours behind New York, because both cities change their clocks on the same dates.

Does Los Angeles observe daylight saving time?

Yes. Clocks go forward to Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−7) on the second Sunday in March and back to Pacific Standard Time (UTC−8) on the first Sunday in November.