February is Los Angeles' rainy season (such as it is…)
Los Angeles does average a little over 12 inches of rain per year -- that's more than a foot! And February qualifies as the month with the highest average rainfall at 2.99 inches.
LOS ANGELES -- At first blush, picking Los Angeles for a site of a Super Bowl in the winter is a slam dunk.
Generally speaking, you're probably right, but maybe it's not quite a slam dunk as a short layup -- it's going to work out fine a vast majority of the time. And the stadium is mostly covered anyway.
But…
There are quite a few outdoor Super Bowl-related events. 2022 is the first time Los Angeles is hosting a Super Bowl in February, and February is considered Los Angeles' rainy season.
Such as it is…
Los Angeles does average a little over 12 inches of rain per year -- that's more than a foot! And February qualifies as the month with the highest average rainfall at 2.99 inches.
(FOX Weather)
Looking at Feb. 13 in particular, it has rained 19 times on that date at nearby Los Angeles Airport in the past 76 years -- or about once every four years on average.
Eight of those years had at least a quarter-inch of rain, and there have been four Feb. 13's that have had over 1.50 inches of rain -- including 1954 which had 3.28 inches and 1980 that had 2.63 inches.
Over the entire year, Feb. 13 ranks No. 10 as the date on the calendar that has seen measurable rainfall.
But the NFL has lucked out so far. In the seven prior Super Bowls hosted in the Los Angeles area (be it at the Los Angeles Coliseum or the Rose Bowl in Pasadena), it hasn't rained on any of them except for a trace of rain reported on the day the Rose Bowl hosted Super Bowl XXVII in 1993.
How about this year?
Well, the NFL will luck out again. There is no rain in the forecast for Sunday for the Los Angeles area.
If anything, they'll lean too far the other way with temperatures flirting with record highs for Thursday right up through game time on Sunday. Forecasted highs are in the low-mid 80s each day; the record high on Feb. 13 is 86.
California expecting record-breaking temperatures by Thursday
Potential record-high temperatures for California Thursday as an area of high pressure remains stuck in place in the west.
And the stadium has covered stands even if it did rain.
But don't think that weather never could be a factor in Los Angeles. SoFi Stadium was home to one of the two lightning-caused delays during the 2021 NFL season.