Cold Snap Forecast for California: The Next Arctic Blast
In Los Angeles the coldest week is usually Dec 18 to 24, with a normal low of 49°F, and the coldest night of the last 10 winters was 39°F on Feb 24, 2022.
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for Los Angeles.
Normals and records at Los Angeles International Airport
The coldest week in California, station by station
The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at California reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
Los AngelesLos Angeles International Airport, USW00023174
Dec 18 to 24
49°F
39°FFeb 24, 2022
None in 10 winters
27°FJan 4, 1949records since 1944
San DiegoSan Diego Lindbergh Field, USW00023188
Dec 19 to 25
49°F
38°FJan 10, 2026
None in 10 winters
29°FJan 4, 1949records since 1939
SacramentoSacramento 5 ESE, USW00023271
Dec 22 to 28
40°F
30°FJan 26, 2021, 9 winters on record
Jan 14 (6 of 9 winters)
17°FDec 11, 1932records since 1877
FresnoFresno Yosemite International Airport, USW00093193
Dec 18 to 24
39°F
29°FDec 22, 2017
Dec 17 (5 of 10 winters)
18°FTwice, last on Dec 23, 1990records since 1948
Tahoe CityTahoe City, USC00048758
Dec 22 to 28
20°F
1°FJan 31, 2023
Sep 22
−16°FDec 11, 1972records since 1909
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Los Angeles against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 5 California reference stations.
At Los Angeles it is usually Dec 18 to 24, with a normal low of 49°F. At the other reference stations: San Diego Dec 19 to 25 (49°F), Sacramento Dec 22 to 28 (40°F), Fresno Dec 18 to 24 (39°F) and Tahoe City Dec 22 to 28 (20°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
Rarely. The normal low at Los Angeles bottoms out at 49°F, and none of the last 10 winters brought a night at 32°F or colder there.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Los Angeles was 39°F on Feb 24, 2022, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 41°F. Elsewhere: San Diego 38°F on Jan 10, 2026, Sacramento 30°F on Jan 26, 2021 (9 winters on record) and Fresno 29°F on Dec 22, 2017. The record at the Los Angeles station is 27°F, on Jan 4, 1949, in daily records since 1944.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Los Angeles International Airport (USW00023174), San Diego Lindbergh Field (USW00023188), Sacramento 5 ESE (USW00023271), Fresno Yosemite International Airport (USW00093193) and Tahoe City (USC00048758). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
