Cities With Weather Like Los Angeles

There’s no doubt that Los Angeles offers some of the best weather in the United States. Located in the Mediterranean climate zone, it has moderate temperatures throughout the year, neither too hot in the summer nor too cold in the winter months.

But Los Angeles isn’t the only city with such an excellent climate. In this article I’ll share with you cities in the US as well as in the world that enjoy similar ideal weather.

What’s the Climate Like in Los Angeles?

Before we compare Los Angeles to other cities, let’s quickly define the local climate. What makes LA and Southern California have such a good weather?

Los Angeles has a relatively temperate climate which never goes into extremes. Out of the major climate types, it features a Mediterranean climate, though its low rainfall makes it have some characteristics of a semi-arid climate.

According to the National Weather Service, in the winter the city offers mild temperatures of 68 °F during the day and 48-50 °F at night. Sun is still abundant in these colder months, shining at least 70% of the time.

In the summer, average temperatures in Los Angeles may climb to 82-84 °F, with temperatures at night dropping to 64-65 °F. In the sunniest months, sun shines about 83-84% of the time.

Rain is very rare, with just 34 days of rain a year. It rains in small amounts and mostly in the winter months. Average yearly rainfall is 14.25 inches.

Compared to other cities in California, LA doesn’t have as cold winters as San Francisco (with winter temperatures as low as 58-60 °F) or San Jose, or other cities in Northern California. It’s also much drier and sunnier than this region.

It doesn’t have as consistently mild temperatures as San Diego (which is between 66-77 °F year round) or other nearby cities in Southern California like Chula Vista or Carlsbad.

In the summer, it’s much cooler than desert cities in California and in the winter, much warmer.

So, to sum up, cities that have weather like Los Angeles need to fit the following criteria to be considered as having a similar climate:

Winter temperatures reaching at least 64 °F or so.
Summer temperatures not going higher than 88 °F or so.
No more than about 50 days of rain a year.
Average yearly rainfall is not higher than about 20 inches.

Cities in the US With Weather Like Los Angeles

US Cities With Weather Like Los Angeles: San Diego

Are there any American cities that have weather like Los Angeles? While it’s hard to replicate exactly the same climate, there are still some options that will allow you to enjoy similarly great weather most of the time.

But… all these options are in California. That’s the only place in the United States where you can find similar climates. Other places, on both the West Coast and the East Coast are too cold, too hot, or too wet. Even if for some they offer ideal weather year round (like Florida), their climate is too different to be included in this article.

Note that I’m excluding all cities neighboring Los Angeles such as Pasadena, Long Beach, Torrance, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach or Irvine as they all form a part of the same metropolitan area.

San Diego

San Diego (and the neighboring towns and cities) is the most similar city to Los Angeles in terms of weather. Many would agree that it has ideal weather year round.

Winters have very similar temperatures of 66-67 °F during the day, with the average lowest temperature around 50 °F.

Summers in San Diego are cooler than in LA, reaching at most 77 °F in the warmest months as opposed to 84 °F in Los Angeles. But the city has slightly warmer nights, at 66-68 °F compared to 64-65 °F in Los Angeles.

San Diego gets even less rainfall than LA, at 9.79 inches compared to 14.25. It has more rainy days, though, recording 40 as opposed to 34 in Los Angeles.

For more climate data on San Diego, check out this article.

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara enjoys a similar climate to Los Angeles except it has slightly more rainfall and has cooler summers.

Winter temperatures in Santa Barbara are between 66-68 °F during the day and 46-47 °F at night.

While Los Angeles may sometimes have relatively hot summers, summers in Santa Barbara are milder. Temperatures are around 78 °F during the day and 60 °F at night.

Santa Barbara gets 18.98 inches of rain which is a few inches more than in Los Angeles. The number of rainy days doesn’t differ much, though, as it’s 37 compared to 34 in Los Angeles.

Ventura

Ventura has pretty much the same climate as Santa Barbara, like other cities and towns in this region of Southern California.

If you were to accept a few more days of rain than 50, Salinas may be another option, too. It gets 58 days of rain and records 64 °F during the winter and 74 °F during the summer. You may also want to check out my article on the warmest cities in California and find cities with similar temperatures. I also wrote an article on the best weather outside of California.

International Cities With Weather Like Los Angeles

You may find many places around the world that share the same general Mediterranean climate as Los Angeles. But it doesn’t mean that they have the same weather. As a reminder, we’re looking for cities that have very similar weather and so they meet the following requirements:

Winter temperatures reaching at least 64 °F or so.
Summer temperatures not going higher than 88 °F or so.
No more than about 50 days of rain a year.
Average yearly rainfall is not higher than about 20 inches.

Here are the places I’ve found that match these criteria. Note that usually neighboring cities and towns share the same climate. I decided to focus mostly on larger cities.

Alicante, Spain

Except for January, Alicante meets the temperature criteria for at least 64 °F during the winter. While summers are slightly hotter, they reach on average 86-87 °F.

Winter nights in Alicante are slightly cooler than in Los Angeles, while summer nights are a little hotter. The difference isn’t that big, though (just a few degrees Fahrenheit).

Alicante gets 35 days of rain, which is almost exactly as many as LA does (34). Its rainfall amount is also very similar, at 12.2 inches (2 inches fewer).

Almería, Spain

Almería has similar daytime temperatures to Alicante, while nights are warmer. The main difference is that it’s even drier. It gets only 26 days of rain and about 7.86 inches of rain.

Málaga, Spain

Like the previous Spanish cities, Málaga is a little colder than 64 °F in January but other months are 64 °F or warmer. Summers reach the same temperatures. With over 500,000 inhabitants, Málaga is the warmest big city in Europe.

Because of its Mediterranean climate, it’s wetter than the previous cities. It gets 42 days of rain and 21 inches of rain (just a little bit over our criteria).

Many other cities in southern Spain that neighbor the three mentioned cities can meet the requirements as well.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands has a hot desert climate that’s warm to hot year round. For Europeans, it’s one of the places in the continent that has virtually perfect weather year round.

Winter daytime temperatures are even slightly warmer than in Los Angeles, between 69-72 °F. Nights are also noticeably warmer, at 60-62 °F compared to about 50 °F in the City of Angels. Summers are a little cooler than in Los Angeles, with average high temperatures reaching at most 80-82 °F. Nights are warmer, though, at about 69-71 °F compared to 65 °F in the American city.

Las Palmas is a very dry city. It has only 22 days of rain, with 5.96 inches of precipitation a year.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the second of the two big cities in the Canary Islands. Winter temperatures are around 70-72 °F during the day and 60-62 °F at night. In the summer, it’s hotter than Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, reaching 84 °F like Los Angeles (and dropping to 70-71 °F at night).

Santa Cruz de Tenerife has a wetter climate than Las Palmas de Gran Canaria but still dry, with similarly dry summers as Los Angeles. It gets 29.7 days of rain, with 8.89 inches of precipitation.

Other coastal cities in the Canary Islands would also fit the requirements but they’re much smaller than Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Still, they offer the best climate in Europe if you’re looking for something like California’s warm weather.

Paphos, Cyprus

Paphos is one of the main cities of Cyprus that doesn’t get as hot in the summer as other cities. While daytime temperatures in January and February are around 63 °F, falling short of our criteria, the climate of Paphos is otherwise very similar to Los Angeles.

Winter months are between 63-65 °F during the day and 46-50 °F at night. Summers reach on average 86 °F during the day and up to 70 °F at night.

Like LA, Paphos gets virtually no rain during the summer. It records 46.8 rainy days with 15.23 inches of precipitation in total but it’s all concentrated between October and May.

City With Weather Like Los Angeles: Paphos

Tijuana, Mexico

Tijuana’s semi-arid climate has Mediterranean influences which makes it climate resemble Los Angeles.

Winter daytime temperatures are almost exactly the same, around 68-70 °F and 45-46 °F at night. Summer temperatures are also very similar. They climb to 82-83 °F during the day and fall to pleasant 62-64 °F at night.

Tijuana gets 32.7 days of rain and 9.09 inches of rainfall.

San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Because of its elevation, San Luis Potosí features a cold semi-arid climate. But despite being different than the climate of Los Angeles, it shares many of its weather characteristics.

Winters stay warm around 69-73 °F during the day (a bit warmer than LA) and 42-44 °F at night (a bit colder than LA). The hottest months record average temperatures of about 82-83 °F during the day and 57 °F at night.

The city has 53.2 rainy days which is slightly above our criteria. But its rainfall is only a bit higher than in LA, at 15.44 inches.

Ensenada, Mexico

Much like the rest of northwestern Baja California, Ensenada enjoys a mild semi-arid climate resembling the climate of Los Angeles.

Winter temperatures reach 68 °F during the day (exactly the same as in Los Angeles) and drop to 45-46 °F at night (slightly cooler than LA). Summer temperatures are milder than in Los Angeles, climbing to 79 °F during the day and dropping to 62-64 °F at night.

Ensenada has 37 days of rain (3 more than Los Angeles) and records 10.16 inches of precipitation.

Agadir, Morocco

Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Agadir enjoys a pleasant semi-arid climate which is never too hot or too cold.

In the winter, average high temperatures reach 69-71 °F and average low temperatures stay around 47-50 °F (very similar to LA). Summers temperatures get to 79-80 °F during the day and stay around 66 °F at night.

Agadir gets 39.4 days of rain, with 10.09 inches of precipitation.

Other Cities With Similar But Not Exactly the Same Weather

If we were to loosen our requirements a bit, whether by accepting cities with slightly colder winters, slightly hotter summers, or cities that get more rainfall, we would get many more options. Some of these would include:

Perth, Australia. Perth has a similar climate to LA but it has many more rainy days. While Los Angeles records 24 days of rain, Perth gets 108. It also gets double the amount of rainfall.
Marbella, Spain. It’s a little too cool in the winter and its rainfall is double the amount of LA’s. Many cities in Spain with Mediterranean climates would be similar in terms of climate to Los Angeles.
Cádiz, Spain. Winters are slightly too cold.
Valencia, Spain. Winters are slightly too cold.
Southern Algarve, Portugal. Cities including Faro, Albufeira, Lagos, Portimão, and Tavira are all slightly too cold in the winter (colder than southern Spain).
Madeira, Portugal. It has 87 days of rain and double the amount of rainfall compared to Los Angeles.
Santiago de Chile, Chile. Winters are too cold, particularly at night.
Antofagasta, Chile. It’s a little too cold in the winter and extremely dry.
Cape Town, South Africa. It’s too rainy, getting 104 days of rain.