Los Angeles (LA) weather in March
March in Los Angeles: nice, a little rain — an excellent time to visit.
Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis
#6 of 12 months in Los Angeles · #257 of 1413 destinations to visit in March · comfort 87/100 (tier A)
- Days
- 22°C
- Nights
- 11°C
- Wet days
- 6
- Sun
- 10 h
- Humidity
- 68%
- Daylight
- 12 h

What March is like in Los Angeles
The rain ends and the wildflowers start inland: the best month for the mountains and the desert parks.
blossomshoulder
confidence: high
Traveller notes on Los Angeles in March
LA forum regulars describe March as a coin flip rather than the reliable sun the city is known for: it's “towards the end of our rainy season,” so “if it's not raining it can be clear, cool, sunny and spectacular” — but a sweater for evenings is standard advice either way. The clearest warning is about the beach, not the city: “March is not beach weather... water too cold, air temps tend to be cooler too.” What March buys instead is the trade every poster mentions: “less expensive, less crowded” than the summer crush. Our record: 20.4°C days but only 8.1°C nights, 8.4 rain days and a 13.6°C sea — fine for a quick dip, not for lounging.
Other months in Los Angeles
June gloom is a daily timetable rather than a season. The marine layer forms offshore, sits over the coast at breakfast, burns off through the late morning, and marches back in from the ocean about five - and the beaches are the last to clear, sometimes not at all. A few blocks inland can be five to fifteen degrees warmer on the same afternoon, which is why downtown barely notices it. Our row averages the whole basin at 27.7C reading as 29C with 13.1 hours of sun, and the number that matters at the coast is a 17.5C sea. Rain has stopped, 1.8mm in the month. The record: humidity 59 percent, a dew point of 13.3C, a 13.8 kph wind and AQI 56.
Asked whether mid-April is beach weather here, regulars split the question: the sand yes, the water no. Our sea column is why - 14.7C, which is swimming for the committed and paddling for everyone else, under air of 24.2C. They also warn that the coast and the inland city are different places on the same day, the beach in the low seventies while Hollywood is in the eighties, so the decision about a sweater is made by geography rather than forecast. Rain has effectively stopped, 15.9mm across 1.9 days, with 11.5 hours of sun. Nights fall to 12.9C, which surprises people. The record: humidity 61 percent, a dew point of 8.3C, a 14.9 kph wind and AQI 79.
Los Angeles-forum threads on 'May Gray' describe a coastal-only phenomenon: morning low cloud and fog that can keep the beach socked in past midday, while neighborhoods five miles inland sit under blue sky and run 10-20 degrees warmer at the same hour. Regulars call it a legitimate pattern but say it barely changes anyone's plans - people still walk the boardwalk and play volleyball through it, and it typically burns off by early afternoon. May's record backs the two-zone read: 23.8C days, 14.2C nights, almost no precipitation at under two days, 12.1 hours of sun and a 16.7C sea still on the cool side of comfortable.
LA forum threads describe January as genuinely variable, with average highs around 65F but real swings possible from the 50s up toward 80F depending on the week - posters described three days of rain followed by a week of sun as entirely normal rather than unusual. Layering was the universal packing advice given how much the day-to-night and coast-to-inland temperature swing can be. Ocean water was described as too cold for swimming without a wetsuit and beach lounging generally isn't realistic this time of year, even on a warm, sunny day - the coast and the inland valleys can also run noticeably different from each other on the same day.
Year-round notes are on Los Angeles's overview. Add your own note from Los Angeles's card on the map.
Los Angeles climate normals — March
Monthly averages from ERA5 reanalysis. AQI is the mean US Air Quality Index for the month.
Crowds in Los Angeles in March
How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.
Busybetween the peaks, Academy Awards weekend, Wildflower season
Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet
Best months for Los Angeles's weather
Ranked by this destination's own climate comfort score across the year — a different thing from how busy it gets (see Crowds above).
Fair weatherLos Angeles's weather doesn't swing hard through the year — comfort stays fairly steady in every month.
What's on in Los Angeles in March
Recurring seasonal events, natural spectacles, closures and holidays — curated and sourced.
- Festival
Academy Awards weekend
25 Feb – 20 Mar · usuallyFilm festivalCrowdedClosuresHollywood Boulevard closes for the best part of a week around the ceremony, and the hotel and restaurant scene in the middle of the city behaves accordingly. Source ↗
- Nature
Wildflower season
1 Mar – 30 Apr · usuallyWildflowers & bloomsCrowdedAfter a wet winter the desert parks and the inland hills flower for a few weeks, and the roadsides at Antelope Valley and Walker Canyon jam solid. A dry winter cancels it. Source ↗
- Festival
Los Angeles Marathon
5–25 Mar · usuallySporting eventClosuresCrowdedTwenty-odd thousand runners on a Sunday in March, on a course that has been redrawn more than once. Whichever route it takes, a long diagonal of the city is shut to traffic until early afternoon. Source ↗
- Season
Winter rain season
1 Dec – 15 MarMonsoonRiskEffectively all of the year's rain falls in this window, in a handful of Pacific storms. It is also when the hills are green and the air is at its cleanest.
- Nature
Gray whale migration
15 Dec – 30 Apr · usuallyWhale seasonThe whole population passes offshore on its way to Baja and back, southbound around January and northbound with calves in March. Boats go from Long Beach and San Pedro. Source ↗
Nearby, and something's on
Within 300 km of Los Angeles — a day trip or a short hop — with something on this month. Never part of the comfort score.
Where is Los Angeles?
Los Angeles in March — FAQ
- Is March a good time to visit Los Angeles?
- March in Los Angeles: nice, a little rain — an excellent time to visit. It ranks #6 of 12 months for Los Angeles on SeasonMap's comfort score (87/100).
- What is the weather like in Los Angeles in March?
- In March, Los Angeles averages a daily high of 21.5°C and a low of 11°C, with about 77.7 mm of rain over roughly 6 rainy days.
- What is the air quality in Los Angeles in March?
- Los Angeles has a mean US Air Quality Index of about 68 in March.
Within 300 km: Laguna Beach's Patriots Day Parade around 7–15 Mar, and Santa Barbara's Backcountry wildflowers around 1 Mar – 25 Apr.