San Pedro is a port neighborhood of the city of
Los Angeles,
California,
United States. It was
annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area. The town has grown from being dominated by the
fishing industry to become primarily a working class town within the City of Los Angeles. The name of the town is pronounced
/sæn'pi?dro?/ by its residents, even its
Hispanic residents, rather than by its
Spanish pronunciation
[sam'peð?o].
San Pedro is located at 33°44'9?N 118°17'32?W? / ?33.73583°N 118.29222°W? / 33.73583; -118.29222 (33.73583, -118.29139).[1]
The city is situated in a Mediterranean climate zone (Köppen climate classification), experiencing mild, wet winters and warm to hot summers. Breezes from the Pacific Ocean tend to keep the beach community cooler in summer and warmer in winter than those in further inland Los Angeles; summer temperatures can sometimes be as much as 18 °F (10 °C) warmer in the inland communities compared to that of San Pedro and other Los Angeles coastal communities. The area also sees a phenomenon known as the "marine layer," a dense cloud cover caused by the proximity of the ocean that helps keep the temperatures cooler throughout the year. When the marine layer becomes more common and pervades farther inland during the months of May and June, it is called June Gloom.
The site, at the southern end of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, on the west side of San Pedro Bay, was used by Spanish ships starting in the 1540s.
