Los Angeles or New York: which climate?
Los Angeles (United States) has a hot-summer mediterranean climate, whereas New York (United States) has a hot-summer humid continental climate, according to the Köppen-Geiger classification.
The values compared here are normals computed over 86 complete calendar years, from 1940 to 2025, using ERA5 reanalysis data from the Copernicus programme. The same method and the same period apply to Los Angeles and to New York.
Los Angeles is warmer than New York by 5.3 °C in annual average: 17.4 °C against 12.1 °C.
New York gets more rain than Los Angeles: 1,098 mm per year against 352 mm.
Los Angeles gets 11.2 hours of sunshine per day on average, against 8.8 hours in New York.
Los Angeles and New York are warming at the same rate: about +1.7 °C between 1940 and 2025 on both sides.
Los Angeles averages 62 hot days (≥ 30 °C) and 1 frost days per year; New York averages 20 and 75.
Data from ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus Climate Change Service), redistributed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence. Normals are recomputed whenever the archive is updated.
| Indicator | Los Angeles | New York | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily temperature | 17.4 °C | 12.1 °C | -5.3 °C |
| Average daily high | 23.9 °C | 15.7 °C | -8.2 °C |
| Average daily low | 12.4 °C | 8.6 °C | -3.8 °C |
| Annual rainfall | 352 mm | 1,098 mm | +746 mm |
| Sunshine / day | 11.2 h | 8.8 h | -2.4 h |
| Hot days (≥ 30 °C) | 62 d/yr | 20 d/yr | -42 d/yr |
| Frost days (< 0 °C) | 1 d/yr | 75 d/yr | +74 d/yr |
| Rainy days (≥ 1 mm) | 31 d/yr | 118 d/yr | +87 d/yr |
| Mean relative humidity | 63 % | 71 % | +8 % |
| Average peak wind | 13.3 km/h | 17.4 km/h | +4.1 km/h |
A difference is only reported when it exceeds the resolution of the data. ERA5 is a reanalysis on a grid of about 31 km: two nearby cities often fall in the same cell, and below half a degree you are reading the grid, not the climate.