Insider Insight: The Weather in San Francisco
There is an oft-repeated quote that is attributed to Mark Twain (although it’s also said that he didn’t say it) which goes something along the lines of “the coldest weather I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”. It doesn’t really matter who said it, it rings a little true for anyone who visits here in the summer because of the fact that they come with their Midwestern shorts and end up having to buy jackets or San Francisco fleeces to protect themselves from the chill. Once you live here, you get used to it more or less and can tell the subtle differences in the weather throughout the year.
Here’s what to expect on a normal day in San Francisco during any season:
The basic weather in San Francisco is somewhere around sixty degrees with only the tiniest hint of chill or humidity. For people (like me) who are from dry areas, it can feel a bit moist but those from wetter parts of the world say that it’s not so humid here. There’s fog during most days, although if you’re in certain parts of the city (like The Mission) you’ll find more sun.
The time to expect rain is at the beginning of the year. When I first moved here, it was January and it rained for a solid four months. Everyone told me it was an anomaly. And I’ve since found that to be true. It usually rains off and on throughout January and February and then tapers off. It’s not particularly cold at that time, but the wind and mist can make it feel chilly.
Springtime is nice. I wouldn’t exactly say that I take out my skirts (although sometimes I do) but the wind tapers off, the temperatures warm up just a little bit. By the time that the summer is about to start, you don’t usually need any sort of windbreaker if you’re going out during the daytime. And it’s fairly safe to plan some sort of picnic on a weekend in those early days of summer. This is when a lot of street fairs happen (Pride, Haight, North Beach Festival) and they’re usually great weather-wise.
It’s towards the middle or end of summer that the infamous summer chill seems to come in. Right about now it’s starting to get warm again. A few weeks ago people were cold. And it’s kind of relative. If you live here, you don’t notice it much. But if it’s August and 60 and you’re coming from a place that’s 90, it feels cold. But then fall comes along and it’s beautiful again. In fact it’s basically beautiful all the way through December before the rainy season starts again.
Leave a Reply