Please just tell me if it gets cold in LA (Burbank: home, store)

[Dark of the Moon]

As a recent transplant, I find the current temperatures to be very comfortable, and venture out (in the pre-dawn morning) in shirt sleeves. I do keep a pashmina in my bag just in case I get chilly, but I've only pulled it out twice so far. However, I notice that my neighbors are bundled in coats/jackets, sweatshirts, scarves, hats, etc., etc., etc., and they look at me like I'm crazy.

What can I say? I grew up in Connecticut (with a year in Maine), so 50° is NUTHIN' .....

[Jaymum]

Originally Posted by timelesschild

Yes! It is soooooo different from the Atlantic.

It is also clear, sort of a pastel green; rather than the brownish green of the Atlantic. Very pretty.

This is very true. The color is gorgeous and it really hits you when you're up in an oceanside highland like Palos Verdes or Big Sur. The water looks sort of Hawaiian. No surprise since it's the same ocean.

I would never call socal's water cold though. Yes, it gets down to the 60s in the winter, but during the long summer it's 70-75 and very comfortable. I think only someone used to south Florida or Hawaii water temperatures would call it cold. The Atlantic around NYC and the NJ shore is only warm in August and September. The rest of the year it's about 50-60, maybe lower on occasion.

Northern California has year-round cold water, but that's certainly not the case from LA on south.

[miranda104]

Yeah being from New York and New Jersey 50 degrees is a treat. FOr the California natives thats cold for an east cost guy I will go out with no jacket or sweater. Right now it is like 37 today here it is really annoying not to mention it is going to rain which makes it worse. The weather here will make you just want to stay inside because it is to harsh. I am happy thought because it is not sub zero weather yet. When February and March comes thats when I worry it will go down to the 20's and teens. At night it will get even colder. One will need several layers of clothing on a cold day here. If some one from the west coast comes they will probably die.

[happ]

Originally Posted by Jaymum

This is very true. The color is gorgeous and it really hits you when you're up in an oceanside highland like Palos Verdes or Big Sur. The water looks sort of Hawaiian. No surprise since it's the same ocean.

I would never call socal's water cold though. Yes, it gets down to the 60s in the winter, but during the long summer it's 70-75 and very comfortable. I think only someone used to south Florida or Hawaii water temperatures would call it cold. The Atlantic around NYC and the NJ shore is only warm in August and September. The rest of the year it's about 50-60, maybe lower on occasion.

Northern California has year-round cold water, but that's certainly not the case from LA on south.

The ocean temps in SoCal drop below 60F by the end of December. It only stays in the 60's during an El Nino. Summer ocean temps are comfortable but some like it warmer though the 90F ocean temps of Florida are too hot for me.
A warm current from Mexico moves up the coastline of SoCal & modifies the cold Pacific ocean.

As a kid I swam off the beaches of Santa Cruz & even Monterey [near the pier]. It would take a while just getting used to the cold temps but we would swim\bodysurf for hours. When we visited relatives in Long Beach the water temps at Seal Beach were so much warmer & my brothers & I loved it.

[Radical Raul]

The people in L.A. don't know what cold is. Ask someone who lives on the shores of the Great Lakes.

I've lived in the Los Angeles area most of my life, 3 years in Las Vegas, and I'm now in Colorado Springs and it is snowing. It can get cold here in Colorado Springs, but not as bad as Las Vegas in the winter when it's below 30 and winds out of Utah are blowing at 40mph.

Having real seasons is enlightening.

[KnoxTown]

I'd say it gets more chilly then cold.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

It was so cold this past Thanksgiving that I had to get the kids out of the pool early. In the summer they will be in the pool till 7 pm is we let them. With the sun going down earlier in the winter it is too cold for us to hang out by the pool in the evening this time of year.

[Jaymum]

Wow happ you swam in Santa Cruz and Monterey? You musta been a hearty kid! Actually I've always noticed kids seem to be more tolerant to cold water. I guess I need to recover that ability.

I've swam at Carmel, but I didn't last long because of the cold water. When I was in Pismo Beach the summer before last (about 100 miles further south), I found it to be tolerable, but nowhere near as warm as the LA area on down. It reminded me of the Jersey shore in June and July- warm air, lots of sun, but the water was only in the low 60s. Brrrr.

Travelling south from there, around Ventura I noticed it started getting close to ideal. By the time I hit Malibu (Santa Monica Bay FTW!) it felt like I was in Hawaii. Water temps around the mid 70s make it feel so refreshing to me without being too cold.

I need to do more of these central-to-south coast road trips.

[happ]

The water is relatively calm in Monterey but very chilly. We would dive for coins people threw off the pier because the water was clear. Carmel is much too dangerous with a strong undertow & steep drop-off. Also, sharks are regularly spotted in Carmel Bay. Probably swam in every beach from Santa Cruz\ Sea Cliff\ Capitola, down to Moss Landing. Now, I couldn't handle those barely 60F ocean temps. Once swam at Stinston Beach north of San Francisco & Avila Beach near San Luis Obispo.

[miranda104]

Santa Monica has beautiful weather I will hopefully move there in January.