LA weather in January, is it hot or cold? Could you tan in it? x (Palm Springs: beach)

[Cailín de Irlanda]

I heard January is the coolest month in in LA....is it 'sweater' weather or 'bikini' weather?...Could you get a tan in it if you sunbathed?

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Typically 60s during the day and 40s at night, and varying around that nominal. During a cold snap it's more like 50s during the day and 30s at night, and during a warm spell it's more like 70s during the day and 50s at night. There are periodic cold fronts bringing rain (and snow in the high country). Obviously the cold snap will hit right after a front comes through, then as a ridge moves through things warm gradually until the next front, or, if a protracted period of high pressure sets in, it may warm a little bit then slowly cool due to the still air and lack of moisture. As you can probably imagine the diurnal warming and cooling is less pronounced by the beach and most pronounced inland and in the high country. There is almost no coastal overcast this time of year. Water temperatures are in the 50s to mid 60s depending on location and nature of local upwelling.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Cailín de Irlanda

I heard January is the coolest month in in LA....is it 'sweater' weather or 'bikini' weather?...Could you get a tan in it if you sunbathed?

Yes you (a person of fair complexion) can get a tan if you sunbathed and in fact, winter is a good time to do it as the UV index is relatively low so you can enjoy the sun longer without as much sun damage. If you are in the sun for 10-15 minutes in summer you get burned, in winter, more like an hour or two.

[yamota]

The only people I see tanning on the beach in winter are European tourists, I can tell they're European because theyr'e wearing speedos

[jacobwilliam77]

Man...I've seen it 85 degrees in January before.

[bowneline]

There might be some nice beach days (75 degrees F), but even on those hot days (80-85 degrees F) referenced above, which do happen on occassion during January, its hard to get an actual tan.

Getting a tan is usually a factor of the angle of the sun, not the air temperature.

During January, even at high noon, the sun is going to be at a lowish angle in the sky, making its rays less strong, and therefore, making it hard to get a tan.

For example, I spent the weekend in Palm Springs this past week, and it was 80 degrees each day, and I spent several hours in the middle of the day out at the pool with no sun tan lotion, and I am pretty much just as white now as i was last week. The sun was just angled too low to really pack a punch, like it does in the summer.

Likewise, go to the tropics and even on a pleasant day, you can get burnt very quickly because the sun is so high in the sky closer to the equator.

[yowps3]

It's either sunny and warmish or foggy with a slight mist.. Thank god L.A summers are dry and don't get any rain. In Sydney Australia Summers would be very humid and heavy drenching showers are common throughout summer.. And winters would be virtually clear and sunny hahahaaa..

[yoyoma02]

This is only my 2nd winter in LA, but I remember last Jan we had days in the 70s and it was a perfect day for the beach!