Climate and average weather in Rancho Palos Verdes

In Rancho Palos Verdes, the weather is mild, fairly dry, and clear and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near mild levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around February.

Best: late April to late November

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Rancho Palos Verdes typically varies from 53°F to 71°F, and is rarely below 48°F or above 76°F. August is the hottest month of the year, while February is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Rancho Palos Verdes for warm-weather activities is from late April to late November.

Hottest
Aug
71°
Coldest
Feb
53°
Wettest
Feb
2.9 in
Driest
Aug
0.0 in
Rain / yr
11.3 in
29 wet days
Daylight
9.8–14.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
220 ft
33.7°N
Clearest
Aug
17% cloud

Rancho Palos Verdes is city in Los Angeles County, California, United States.

Density
1,225/km²
people per km²
Founded
1973

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Rancho Palos Verdes weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late April to late November.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Rancho Palos Verdes, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Rancho Palos Verdes stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is August, with an average high of 71°F and low of 65°F; the coolest is February, with an average low of 53°F and high of 61°F.

Days typically run about 7°F warmer than nights year-round.

40°50°60°70°80°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°F)Avg low (°F)
Jan6153
Feb6153
Mar6154
Apr6256
May6458
Jun6761
Jul7064
Aug7165
Sep7164
Oct6962
Nov6557
Dec6153

Average hourly temperature in Rancho Palos Verdes

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on August afternoons, near 71°F, and coldest before dawn in February, near 53°F.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Rancho Palos Verdes weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°F)Rainfall (inches)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan61° / 53°2.75.5105.8
Feb61° / 53°2.95.810.75.6
Mar61° / 54°1.74.311.76.0
Apr62° / 56°0.62.212.86.9
May64° / 58°0.21.113.77.6
Jun67° / 61°0.00.214.28.2
Jul70° / 64°0.10.3148.7
Aug71° / 65°0.00.113.39.1
Sep71° / 64°0.10.412.28.9
Oct69° / 62°0.51.611.28.4
Nov65° / 57°0.72.610.27.6
Dec61° / 53°1.94.69.86.1

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Rancho Palos Verdes gets about 11.3 in of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is mostly dry, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 4.8 months, from around Nov 17 to Apr 12, peaking in February at about 22% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 9.

February is the wettest month by volume, with 2.9 in over about 6 wet days; August is the driest, with 0.0 in.

0%10%20%30%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwetterdrierwettermostly drysome rainFeb 21 · 22%Aug 9 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan186
Feb206
Mar144
Apr72
May41
Jun10
Jul10
Aug00
Sep10
Oct52
Nov83
Dec155

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Rancho Palos Verdes collects about 11.3 in of rain across 29 wet days — roughly 0.9 in in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. February is the wettest month with 2.9 in, while August is the driest at just 0.0 in. The three wettest months alone bring about 66% of the year’s total.

00.511.522.533.5JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2.72.91.70.60.20.00.10.00.10.50.71.9
Rainfall (in)Rain days
Jan2.76
Feb2.96
Mar1.74
Apr0.62
May0.21
Jun0.00
Jul0.10
Aug0.00
Sep0.10
Oct0.52
Nov0.73
Dec1.95

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Rancho Palos Verdes, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around April 21 and lasts for 6.6 months, ending around November 6. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 95% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 7 and lasts for 5.4 months, ending around April 20. The cloudiest month is February, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 37% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 17 · 96%Feb 20 · 61%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan6436
Feb6337
Mar6931
Apr7723
May8317
Jun9010
Jul928
Aug955
Sep946
Oct8713
Nov7723
Dec6733

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 7, brings about 14 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 48 min — a swing of roughly 4 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.07:035:02
Feb10.76:465:31
Mar11.76:115:55
Apr12.85:296:19
May13.74:576:42
Jun14.24:477:01
Jul14.04:587:00
Aug13.35:206:36
Sep12.25:425:54
Oct11.26:045:13
Nov10.26:324:45
Dec9.86:574:43

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Rancho Palos Verdes averages about 20 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 14 and 27 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 5.2 months, from around Jun 4 to Nov 9. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 27 sunny days (brilliant).

The greyest month is February, down near 15 sunny days — about 44% fewer than the August peak.

051015202530JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantAug 1227 daysFeb 2314 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan15Bright
Feb14Bright
Mar16Bright
Apr19Bright
May20Bright
Jun23Bright
Jul26Brilliant
Aug27Brilliant
Sep26Brilliant
Oct23Bright
Nov19Bright
Dec17Bright

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Rancho Palos Verdes, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.9 months, from around June 24 to October 20. The muggiest month is August, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 74% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 21 to June 23, and March is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMar 22 · 100%Aug 27 · 22%muggyhumidcomfortabledrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)
Jan94600
Feb94600
Mar91900
Apr871300
May643510
Jun2365120
Jul245494
Aug0256510
Sep332559
Oct2747241
Nov702920
Dec93700

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Rancho Palos Verdes is steady company: average speeds sit near 7 mphcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmlight breezebreezyApr 14 · 8 mphOct 23 · 6 mph
Wind speed (mph)Feels
Jan7calm
Feb7calm
Mar8light breeze
Apr8light breeze
May7calm
Jun7calm
Jul7calm
Aug7calm
Sep7calm
Oct6calm
Nov6calm
Dec7calm

Best time to visit Rancho Palos Verdes

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Rancho Palos Verdes throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around early May, Rancho Palos Verdes is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 64°F and 82°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Rancho Palos Verdes for general outdoor tourist activities is from late April to late November, with a peak score in the third week of August.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 18 · 9.1

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan5.8good
Feb5.6good
Mar6.0good
Apr6.9good
May7.6ideal
Jun8.2ideal
Jul8.7ideal
Aug9.0ideal
Sep8.9ideal
Oct8.4ideal
Nov7.5ideal
Dec6.1good

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 75°F and 93°F. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Rancho Palos Verdes for hot-weather activities is from early July to mid October, with a peak score in the last week of August.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationAug 29 · 6.4

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Rancho Palos Verdes, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

Rancho Palos Verdes packs about the same all year — highs hold near 71°F. Across the year the things worth having are sun protection and a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Rancho Palos Verdes sees daytime highs around 71°F and nights near 65°F. Pack sun protection.

Sea temperature near Rancho Palos Verdes

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 8 mi away) is warmest in August at about 69°F and coldest in February near 59°F.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jul 25 to Sep 24 — about 2 months when the water holds above 68°F.

60°65°70°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshingcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°F)Comfort
Jan59Cool
Feb59Bracing
Mar59Cool
Apr60Cool
May62Cool
Jun65Cool
Jul68Cool
Aug69Refreshing
Sep69Refreshing
Oct67Cool
Nov64Cool
Dec60Cool

UV index (midday) in Rancho Palos Verdes by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Rancho Palos Verdes peaks around June 23 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 16 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 11 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateHighVery highExtremeVery highHighModerateJun 23UV 10Dec 16UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb5Moderate
Mar5Moderate
Apr7Very high
May8Very high
Jun11Extreme
Jul10Extreme
Aug10Very high
Sep8Very high
Oct5High
Nov3Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Rancho Palos Verdes

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in June the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan2.50
Feb40
Mar50
Apr73.5
May7.54
Jun8.56
Jul8.56
Aug85.5
Sep73.5
Oct50
Nov20
Dec00

Air quality in Rancho Palos Verdes by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Rancho Palos Verdes is worst in November — around 37 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 2.7× the cleanest month (May, 14 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

010203040JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateModerateNov 1736 µg/m³May 2114 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan26Moderate
Feb24Moderate
Mar22Moderate
Apr20Moderate
May14Moderate
Jun16Moderate
Jul24Moderate
Aug20Moderate
Sep32Moderate
Oct24Moderate
Nov37Poor
Dec27Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Rancho Palos Verdes is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 50°F)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 50°F: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Rancho Palos Verdes banks about 4,309 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

01,0002,0003,0004,0005,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°F·days)
Jan209
Feb190
Mar236
Apr270
May342
Jun407
Jul520
Aug561
Sep533
Oct481
Nov338
Dec220

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Rancho Palos Verdes receives about 5.6 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.9 and 8.0 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.3 months, from around Mar 20 to Sep 27. The brightest month is June, averaging about 7.9 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.0 kWh/m² — roughly 62% less than the June peak.

0123456789JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJun 268.0 kWhDec 162.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan3.2Moderate
Feb4.0Bright
Mar5.5Bright
Apr6.8Intense
May7.5Intense
Jun7.9Intense
Jul7.8Intense
Aug7.3Intense
Sep6.1Intense
Oct4.8Bright
Nov3.6Moderate
Dec3.0Moderate

Where is Rancho Palos Verdes?

Rancho Palos Verdes sits at 33.7°N, 118.4°W, 220 ft above sea level, in United States. The nearest listed city is Lomita, 5.6 mi away.

Topography around Rancho Palos Verdes

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 2, 10 and 50 miles of Rancho Palos Verdes.

Within 2 miles, the terrain around Rancho Palos Verdes has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,319 ft around an average of 387 ft above sea level; within 10 miles, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,499 ft; within 50 miles, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 7,992 ft.

The land around Rancho Palos Verdes is covered by water (42%) and artificial surfaces (24%) within 2 miles, water (69%) and artificial surfaces (24%) within 10 miles, and water (55%) and artificial surfaces (20%) within 50 miles.

2 miles
1,319 ft
10 miles
1,499 ft
50 miles
7,992 ft
treesshrubsgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Lomita 5.6 mi · San Pedro 5.6 mi · Torrance 6.8 mi · Redondo Beach 7.5 mi · Wilmington 7.5 mi · West Carson 7.5 mi · Hermosa Beach 8.1 mi · Carson 8.7 mi

United States travel facts

Power plugs
Type A / B
120 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 100% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$90,027
2025
Happiness
6.8 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
98%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
5.8
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
12.7
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
Religion
Protestant 47%unaffiliated 23%Roman Catholic 21%Jewish 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Rancho Palos Verdes (33.7445°, -118.387°, elevation 220 ft), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).