The climate of Los Angeles
Csa Hot-summer Mediterranean. Dry, hot summers and mild, wetter winters. The classic Mediterranean pattern: summers are dry and hot, and the rain arrives in the milder months. Olives, vines and citrus do well.
Los Angeles is north of the equator, so summer falls in June to August and winter in December to February. The 1901 to 1930 map puts Los Angeles in the same zone, Csa.
Los Angeles: then, now and by 2100
| Map | Climate zone | Compared with now |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 to 1930 | Csa Hot-summer Mediterranean | Same as now |
| 1991 to 2020 (now) | Csa Hot-summer Mediterranean | - |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP1-2.6 (low emissions) | Csa Hot-summer Mediterranean | Same as now |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP2-4.5 (middle of the road) | BSh Hot semi-arid (steppe) | Different from now |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP5-8.5 (high emissions) | BSh Hot semi-arid (steppe) | Different from now |
The 2071 to 2099 rows are model projections under three emissions scenarios, not forecasts. The 1901 to 1930 row is a reconstruction. All come from Beck et al. (2023).
Under the middle-of-the-road scenario (SSP2-4.5), the model puts Los Angeles in BSh (hot semi-arid (steppe)) in 2071 to 2099, instead of Csa now. Under the high-emissions scenario (SSP5-8.5) it is BSh (hot semi-arid (steppe)).
Cities with the same climate as Los Angeles
Other big cities that are Csa (hot-summer mediterranean) in 1991 to 2020, at most two per country:
Where Los Angeles's future climate exists today
In the SSP2-4.5 map for 2071 to 2099, Los Angeles is BSh. These cities are BSh in 1991 to 2020, so they give a rough idea of the future climate (the real conditions would differ in many ways).
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Population of Los Angeles from GeoNames: 3,820,914 (rank 101 in our list of 1,000). Climate data: Beck et al. (2023), CC BY 4.0. Data sources and licences.