The Warmest Places in the US in Winter
Every travel blog has a gut-feel list. This is the ranking by the numbers — 35 years of NOAA data for the 25 warmest US cities in winter. The surprise isn’t the winner; it’s which one keeps you warm after dark.
If you want out of the cold this winter, the data points to five places — Honolulu, Miami, Key West, Fort Myers and the Rio Grande Valley — and only one of them actually keeps you warm after the sun goes down. Honolulu wins overall (81°F average December–February high). On the mainland, Miami edges Key West by day, 77.8°F to 77.6°F. But daytime warmth is the easy part. The quieter number is the overnight low, and there the order shifts: Key West averages a 66.8°F winter night — the warmest in the contiguous United States, three and a half degrees milder than Miami’s and within a degree of Honolulu’s. For warmth around the clock rather than just warm afternoons, Key West is the mainland answer.
Here is the full ranking of 25 US cities by their 1991–2026 winter average high, with the overnight low alongside — because the gap between those two columns is the difference between a place that’s pleasant at noon and a place that never really cools off.
The 25 warmest US cities in winter, ranked
Average high and low across December, January and February, 1991–2026, at each city’s primary NOAA airport gauge. Florida takes six of the top nine; Hawaii sits alone at the top; South Texas and the desert Southwest fill in behind.
| # | City | Avg winter high | Avg winter low |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honolulu, HI | 81.0°F | 67.8°F |
| 2 | Miami, FL | 77.8°F | 63.0°F |
| 3 | Key West, FL | 77.6°F | 66.8°F |
| 4 | Fort Myers, FL | 76.8°F | 56.5°F |
| 5 | Vero Beach, FL | 74.9°F | 54.4°F |
| 6 | McAllen, TX | 74.2°F | 53.3°F |
| 7 | Orlando, FL | 73.6°F | 52.3°F |
| 8 | Brownsville, TX | 73.4°F | 54.1°F |
| 9 | Tampa, FL | 72.6°F | 54.4°F |
| 10 | Laredo, TX | 71.9°F | 49.6°F |
| 11 | Yuma, AZ | 70.8°F | 48.3°F |
| 12 | Corpus Christi, TX | 70.0°F | 49.5°F |
| 13 | Phoenix, AZ | 68.7°F | 46.8°F |
| 14 | Tucson, AZ | 67.7°F | 40.9°F |
| 15 | Jacksonville, FL | 67.5°F | 44.4°F |
| 16 | Los Angeles, CA | 66.0°F | 49.5°F |
| 17 | San Diego, CA | 65.8°F | 49.9°F |
| 18 | San Antonio, TX | 65.8°F | 43.5°F |
| 19 | Houston, TX | 65.6°F | 45.4°F |
| 20 | New Orleans, LA | 65.0°F | 47.4°F |
| 21 | Austin, TX | 64.7°F | 39.4°F |
| 22 | Pensacola, FL | 64.2°F | 45.5°F |
| 23 | Mobile, AL | 63.9°F | 42.7°F |
| 24 | Savannah, GA | 63.8°F | 41.7°F |
| 25 | Charleston, SC | 62.4°F | 40.9°F |
Averages of all December, January and February days 1991–2026 at each city’s primary long-record airport gauge, from NOAA GHCN-Daily, excluding QC-flagged readings. Palm Springs and West Palm Beach are left off because our archive has no long-record airport gauge for them to compute from.
Warm days are easy; warm nights are the real test
The daytime ranking rewards the desert, where dry air and strong winter sun push afternoon highs into the 70s at Yuma and the upper 60s at Phoenix and Tucson. But the desert gives it all back overnight: Tucson drops to a 40.9°F average low, Phoenix to 46.8°F, because dry air radiates heat away fast after sunset. Coastal Florida does the opposite — the ocean banks heat and releases it slowly, so the nights barely cool. Re-rank the same cities by their overnight low and a different, shorter list rises to the top:
| Warmest winter nights | Avg winter low | Avg winter high |
|---|---|---|
| Honolulu, HI | 67.8°F | 81.0°F |
| Key West, FL | 66.8°F | 77.6°F |
| Miami, FL | 63.0°F | 77.8°F |
| Fort Myers, FL | 56.5°F | 76.8°F |
| Vero Beach, FL | 54.4°F | 74.9°F |
| Tampa, FL | 54.4°F | 72.6°F |
| Brownsville, TX | 54.1°F | 73.4°F |
| McAllen, TX | 53.3°F | 74.2°F |
Only three mainland places — Key West, Miami and Fort Myers — hold an average winter night above 55°F. If “warm” to you means stepping outside at 10 p.m. without a jacket, that is a much narrower list than the daytime table suggests, and it’s all in southern Florida.
Where to go, by region
Hawaii is the outright warmest, and the only place that is warm by day and night without a caveat — Honolulu 81°F / 67.8°F. It’s also the farthest and priciest to reach.
Florida owns the mainland. South Florida (Miami, Key West, Fort Myers) is the warmth-around-the-clock tier; the central peninsula (Orlando, Tampa, Vero Beach) runs a few degrees cooler but still averages low-to-mid-70s afternoons. North Florida (Jacksonville, 67.5°F) is noticeably cooler and can see genuine cold snaps.
South Texas is the underrated one. The Rio Grande Valley — McAllen (74.2°F), Brownsville (73.4°F), Laredo (71.9°F) — matches central Florida for daytime warmth at a fraction of the crowds, though its nights are cooler than the coast’s.
The Desert Southwest — Yuma, Phoenix, Tucson — is the choice for dry, sunny, warm days (and the reason the snowbird RV parks fill up there every winter), but you trade away the mild nights. Southern California (San Diego, Los Angeles, both ~66°F) splits the difference: moderate highs, mild nights, very little rain.
How we measured it
Every number here is the simple average of all December, January and February daily highs and lows from 1991 through 2026 at each city’s primary long-record airport weather station, drawn from NOAA’s GHCN-Daily dataset. We use the airport gauge deliberately: it has the longest, most consistent record, and a nearby cooperative or hilltop station can quietly bias a winter average by several degrees. That is the difference between this and a travel-blog list — the ranking is reproducible, not a vibe.
Staying stateside is one option; if you’re willing to fly farther, the same format maps the warmest places in Europe in winter. For the opposite problem — where to avoid — see the coldest cities in America, and for the summer flip side, the hottest states and cities. You can also look up the full winter record for any of these spots at our weather history lookup or dig into a specific trip window with the best time to visit Death Valley guide. If your hometown’s winter runs warmer than the gauge says, tell us — we read the replies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the warmest place in the US in winter?
Honolulu, Hawaii, with an average winter (December–February) high of 81°F and an overnight low of 67.8°F in NOAA records from 1991–2026. On the mainland, Miami, Florida is warmest by day at 77.8°F, essentially tied with Key West at 77.6°F. If you want warmth around the clock rather than just warm afternoons, Key West is the mainland pick — its 66.8°F average winter low is the warmest in the contiguous US.
What is the warmest state in winter?
Hawaii, then Florida. Hawaii is in a class of its own (Honolulu 81°F). Among the contiguous states Florida dominates the top of the ranking — Miami, Key West, Fort Myers, Vero Beach, Orlando and Tampa all average 72–78°F by day — with South Texas (McAllen, Brownsville, Laredo) and the Arizona/California desert the next-warmest.
Where is it warm in December in the US without going to Florida?
South Texas and the desert Southwest. McAllen (74.2°F), Brownsville (73.4°F) and Laredo (71.9°F) in the Rio Grande Valley rival central Florida for daytime warmth. In the desert, Yuma (70.8°F) and Phoenix (68.7°F) are warm by day — but their nights are much colder than Florida’s, dropping into the 40s, so pack for a big day-to-night swing.
Is Arizona or Florida warmer in winter?
It depends on the time of day. Phoenix’s winter afternoons (68.7°F) run a few degrees cooler than Orlando (73.6°F) and well below Miami (77.8°F), and the bigger gap is overnight: Phoenix averages a 46.8°F winter low and Tucson 40.9°F, while Miami stays at 63°F and Key West at 66.8°F. Florida is warmer around the clock; Arizona gives you warm, dry, sunny days and chilly nights.
Sources & Method
Winter (December–February) average highs and lows were computed October 29, 2026 from the site’s Neon copy of NOAA’s GHCN-Daily dataset, averaging all DJF daily readings 1991–2026 at each city’s primary long-record airport gauge (e.g. Honolulu Intl, Miami Intl, Key West NAS, Phoenix Sky Harbor, McCarran) and excluding readings flagged in NOAA’s quality-control file. Temperatures are stored in tenths of a degree Fahrenheit and converted to °F. Palm Springs and West Palm Beach are omitted because our archive lacks a long-record airport gauge for them.