Where to go in December
Two Decembers to choose between: the one with a fireplace and real snow outside it, or the one where you swim on the shortest day of the year.
Beach warm
3 places
Genuinely warm
13 places
- Lihue (Kauai) HI 79° / 69° Dark by dinner, wet by nature, warm regardless.
- Hilo HI 79° / 66° Short days, long rains, and not a cold night anywhere.
- Miami FL 78° / 64° Beach in the afternoon, jacket by the time dinner ends.
- Key West FL 78° / 68° The one December where the sunset crowd still wears shorts.
- Fort Lauderdale FL 78° / 65° Boat parade weather — warm afternoons, cool enough evenings.
- Fort Myers FL 77° / 57° Cool mornings, warm afternoons, cold water for the brave.
- Naples FL 77° / 59° Barely a cloud, and evenings that call for sleeves.
- Sarasota FL 75° / 55° Beach by day, heat lamps by dinner.
- South Padre Island TX 74° / 55° Palm trees in tinsel and a jacket after sundown.
- Tampa FL 74° / 56° Short sleeves at noon, second thoughts after sunset.
- Orlando FL 74° / 53° Mild and festive — pack one real jacket for the odd cold snap.
- Clearwater FL 73° / 56° Cool wind off the Gulf; pack a real jacket.
- Daytona Beach FL 72° / 52° A jacket at breakfast, forgotten by noon.
Mild
32 places
- Corpus Christi TX 70° / 50° Mild, easy, and startlingly empty along the seawall.
- Palm Springs CA 69° / 46° Big sun, low angle, and a properly cold hour after dark.
- St. Augustine FL 69° / 51° Cold by Florida standards, and glowing every evening.
- Anaheim CA 68° / 46° Cool, damp at times, and mobbed once school lets out.
- Los Angeles CA 67° / 48° Storm weeks and bright cold ones, in no fixed order.
- Panama City Beach FL 67° / 45° Off-season at its most literal — pack layers.
- Phoenix AZ 66° / 45° Mild, bright, and lit up for the holidays.
- San Diego CA 66° / 50° Short days, soft rain, and sunsets worth planning around.
- Destin FL 66° / 48° Grey days, cold nights, and a beach you'll share with nobody.
- Death Valley CA 66° / 41° Mild sun, frigid daybreak, and the darkest sky anywhere.
- Tucson AZ 66° / 41° Gentle days, cold evenings, and rain that actually arrives.
- Galveston TX 66° / 52° Grey, damp, and thoroughly Victorian at Christmas.
- Houston TX 65° / 46° Soft, damp winter — a coat some weeks, shirtsleeves others.
- Pensacola FL 65° / 46° Grey, wet, and cold enough to want a fire.
- San Antonio TX 65° / 42° Cool, damp at times, and the river lit end to end.
- Santa Barbara CA 64° / 40° Genuinely wet, and colder after dark than anyone packs for.
- Gulf Shores AL 64° / 45° The beach feels borrowed, and the nights get sharp.
- Austin TX 64° / 43° Mild enough to eat outside, damp enough to bring a jacket.
- Savannah GA 64° / 43° Lights in the live oaks, and a coat you'll carry.
- New Orleans LA 63° / 50° Bring a raincoat and stay out past dark anyway.
- Hilton Head Island SC 63° / 43° Cool and calm — the island half-empty and entirely pleasant.
- Monterey CA 62° / 43° Wet, dark, and quietly beautiful between the fronts.
- Charleston SC 61° / 47° Wreaths on the wrought iron, a coat after dark.
- Santa Cruz CA 61° / 39° Frosty inland nights, and the winter surf at full size.
- Myrtle Beach SC 59° / 40° Cold, still, and emptier than you'd think possible.
- San Francisco CA 58° / 47° Soggiest weeks of the lot, broken by fierce blue afternoons.
- Dallas TX 58° / 38° Grey and damp more often than cold and crisp.
- Sedona AZ 58° / 33° Chilly and quiet, with the odd white morning.
- El Paso TX 58° / 34° Crisp days, freezing nights, and a mountain that glows.
- Napa CA 57° / 38° Coldest nights, wettest weeks, and nobody on the Silverado Trail.
- Las Vegas NV 57° / 40° Chilly nights and cowboy hats in every casino.
- Atlanta GA 56° / 38° Damp and dark, with lights doing the heavy lifting.
Crisp
32 places
- Charlotte NC 55° / 35° A white Christmas here is mostly a rumor.
- Outer Banks NC 55° / 40° Grey, gusty, and unexpectedly moving if you like solitude.
- Virginia Beach VA 54° / 35° Real winter arrives, and the wind comes with it.
- Memphis TN 53° / 36° A wet cold that argues for barbecue and indoors.
- Williamsburg VA 53° / 34° Deep winter cold, and the town lit entirely by flame.
- Zion National Park UT 53° / 29° Cold, still, and occasionally dusted white on red rock.
- Nashville TN 52° / 33° More rain than snow, and more lights than either.
- Asheville NC 51° / 32° Cold, often wet, occasionally beautifully white.
- Gatlinburg TN 50° / 29° Snow up on the ridge, cold rain down in town.
- Ocean City MD 50° / 32° Mild by northern standards, and the boardwalk is entirely yours.
- Branson MO 49° / 30° Hard frost overnight, and every theater lit for Christmas.
- Washington, DC DC 49° / 35° Coat weather with a lit-up city as compensation.
- Atlantic City NJ 48° / 29° Winter proper, and the ocean sounds louder for it.
- Albuquerque NM 47° / 27° Cold and clear, with paper lanterns lining the walls.
- Seattle WA 47° / 37° Short daylight, long dinners, string lights doing heavy lifting.
- Portland OR 47° / 36° The year's soggiest stretch, and its most brightly lit.
- Reno NV 47° / 26° Snow on the valley floor, not just the peaks.
- Philadelphia PA 46° / 31° Bundle up. The city is at its most handsome now.
- Yosemite Valley CA 46° / 28° Snow on the domes, and storms queued up all month.
- Denver CO 46° / 18° Short days, dry cold, and a sky that stays absurdly blue.
- Cape Cod MA 45° / 29° Soggy, windswept, and the towns have gone properly quiet.
- Colorado Springs CO 45° / 19° The driest month of the year, and the stars show it.
- St. Louis MO 45° / 29° Cold enough to matter, rarely cold enough to stop you.
- New York City NY 44° / 34° Cold and often wet — the coat matters more than the snow.
- Moab UT 44° / 22° Snow on slickrock — rare, brief, and worth seeing.
- Santa Fe NM 44° / 20° Cold nights, candlelit walls, and the ski basin open.
- Newport RI 44° / 30° Candlelight mansion tours and a wind that finds every gap.
- Flagstaff AZ 43° / 17° Real winter, real snow, and freight trains through the frost.
- Grand Canyon AZ 43° / 18° Snow-dusted red rock and the shortest, sharpest days.
- South Lake Tahoe CA 43° / 18° Winter proper — carry chains whether or not you need them.
- Boston MA 42° / 29° Wet, dark, festive — the snow may or may not show.
- Bend OR 41° / 23° The lifts finally spin, and the town exhales.
Deep winter
22 places
- Durango CO 39° / 13° Hard freezes every night, and a sky full of stars.
- Salt Lake City UT 39° / 25° The valley goes dim while the mountains get everything.
- Boise ID 39° / 25° Low gray ceiling, occasional snow, Bogus lit up nightly.
- Portland, Maine ME 38° / 22° Snow returns in force; the dark arrives absurdly early.
- Park City UT 38° / 14° Christmas week arrives and the mountain finally has its base.
- Bar Harbor ME 38° / 22° More days with weather than without, and an early dark.
- Niagara Falls NY 37° / 24° Something falls nearly every day; the falls glow anyway.
- Chicago IL 37° / 24° Lights everywhere, and a lake that sharpens every block.
- Burlington VT 35° / 21° Winter properly returns, usually in time for the holidays.
- Juneau AK 35° / 26° Dark most of the day, and the snow settles in.
- Bozeman MT 33° / 15° The snowiest month, the shortest days, the best excuse.
- Traverse City MI 33° / 22° Lake-effect bands roll in and the season properly begins.
- Mackinac Island MI 33° / 18° Ice in the harbor and the whole island to yourself.
- Aspen CO 32° / 10° Deep winter arrives, and so does everyone with a reservation.
- Door County WI 31° / 19° Snow, lights in the villages, and a very cold bay.
- Yellowstone WY 30° / 12° Snowcoach season opens and the geyser basins go otherworldly.
- Minneapolis MN 29° / 15° Deep cold with a festive alibi, and snow that finally stays.
- Lake Placid NY 29° / 14° The snowiest month, and the sun barely bothers.
- Jackson Hole WY 26° / 7° Cold as it gets, dark early, snow piling up fast.
- Anchorage AK 25° / 14° Snowiest, darkest, and strangely the most festive month here.
- Denali National Park AK 14° / -2° A few hours of blue twilight, then stars again.
- Fairbanks AK 4° / -13° Daylight is a rumor; the aurora is not.
Warm water this month
Snow you can mostly count on
- Aspen 27.5 in
- Traverse City 24.6 in
- Lake Placid 22.7 in
- Burlington 19.5 in
- Flagstaff 18.5 in
- Anchorage 18.2 in
- Juneau 18.1 in
- Jackson Hole 16.4 in
- Bozeman 16.2 in
- Park City 15.9 in
- Portland, Maine 14.6 in
- Door County 13.7 in
- Yellowstone 12.6 in
- Denali National Park 12.4 in
- Salt Lake City 12.1 in
- Minneapolis 11.4 in
- Fairbanks 10.9 in
- Boston 9.0 in
- Grand Canyon 8.0 in
- Chicago 7.6 in
- Denver 6.6 in