Valdez, AK vs. Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles, being much further south in latitude than Valdez, can be expected to have a much different climate. LA is located in southern California, where it is affected by maritime weather patterns, both polar and tropical, as well as the rare continental tropical air mass, which keep the annual temperatures relatively moderate for the majority of the time. Valdez and LA share the maritime location in common with each other, but other than that they are very dissimilar. LA experiences a thick layer of fog that develops over the city between the mountain range to the east, and LA also experiences a large inversion layer that traps the emissions from the second largest city in the US, causing the smog that LA is notorious for. Valdez does not have the inversion issue that LA does, but being tucked between large mountains and the sea, Valdez experience cold air pooling and occasional inversions. Both cities have mountain ranges to the east of them, but the effects of the mountain range on each city differs greatly. LA experiences a phenomenon known as the Santa Anna Winds, a warm easterly wind pattern created from a pressure gradient between the cold, high pressure areas between the Sierras and the Rockies, and the low pressure created by the more tropical climate of LA. One of the more obvious differences between the cities is that Valdez, due to the Chugach mountain range to the east, the high latitude, and its proximity to the Aleutian Low, sees record snowfall whereas LA will pretty much never experience white fluff on the ground.

Source: http://www.google.com/imgres?q=LA+smog&hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1045&bih=656&tbm=isch&tbnid=hsndkcxvqnQ8QM:&imgrefurl=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/10/la-vows-to-be-coalfree-by_n_229832.html&docid=az1GbgTeA_YreM&imgurl=http://i.huffpost.com/gen/92036/thumbs/s-LA-SMOG-large.jpg&w=260&h=190&ei=HC28TpvmPMSXiAL0p6n9BA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=806&vpy=346&dur=542&hovh=152&hovw=208&tx=113&ty=103&sig=115770540908780714939&page=1&tbnh=134&tbnw=181&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0

This is an image of the LA smog forming a brown cloud looming over the city

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdez,_Alaska

This is an image showing the proximity of Valdez to the Chugach mountain range, a factor that significantly influences Valdez's weather patterns and sets it apart from the weather of LA.

How Weather Effects Valdez, AK

Considering Valdez's extreme northern latitude nearly 60 degrees North, the people that live in Valdez experience a low average range of temperatures and drastic changes in sunlight from season to season. Though, Valdez is a port city that is very much influenced by the maritime conditions of the ocean, causing less variable weather than the inland areas. Below are charts of the annual temperature, precipitation, and daylight variances throughout the year.

Source: http://www.climate-charts.com/Locations/u/US70275005096861.php

Valdez, and Alaska as a whole, is greatly effected by the Aleutian Low that forms in the Bering Sea, and between the months of October and April this attracts hurricane-like, wet, windy storms that blow eastward from the ocean over Valdez. As the storms pass over Valdez, they are forced up and over the Chugach Mountain Range, about 5000 feet above sea level, which forces further precipitation out of the storm system. This explains why Valdez receives about 320 inches of snow annually while Fairbanks, further inland, sees only 68. Below is an image of the Aleutian Low:

Source: http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/snow-plough-clears-storm-4343-pictures.htm

A snowplow clearing the roads of Valdez, showing the effects of the Aleutian Low on the snowiest place on earth! The largest snowfall on record in Valdez from one storm happened in 2009, where they saw 5 feet 8 inches of snow. The snow ended up sinking a boat due to the heavy weight, and forced other boat owners to defend their boats from the storm with shovels.