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.
Looking up The Geminids peak on the night of December 13–14, 2026, and the Ursids on December 21–22, 2026. The calendar, with the moon on each night ›
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