According to famous San Francisco Chronicle
columnist Herb Caen, one of the best
lines Mark Twain never wrote was, "the coldest winter I ever
spent was one summer in San Francisco". He might as well have.
If you like fog, and more fog, and yet more fog, then San Francisco is
most definitely the city for you. The City is often one of the coldest cities in the Bay
area in the summer. While 30 miles inland the temperature is blistering,
San Francisco is often 20 degrees cooler. San Francisco is noted not for
its extreme temperatures but rather for its range of consistency. The
temperature rarely falls below 40 degrees F or rises above 85 degrees F.
The best time of the year to visit The City if you like warmer
temperatures is in the Fall. By then (sometimes) the fog disappears and The City
is unveiled with sunshine and clear skies. The temperatures are often a
bit higher in this season, even when compared to the summer months of
July and August. San Francisco receives about 20 inches of rain a year.
Most of this falls in the winter months however, fog drip in the summer
can cause one to need a raincoat year round.
There are often microclimates
within the City especially in the summer - for instance one part
of the City may have sunshine and another part may still be
socked in fog. If the City is clear but there is still fog in
the area, that fog will usually hang out on the Golden Gate
Bridge. A typical weather report in mid summer will sound something
like, "and its 100 in Livermore and here in the Castro were
checking in at 55 degrees". Oh yea baby.
Should you be visiting San Francisco in the winter,
expect temperatures during
the day to range from the high 40's to the mid to upper 50's. Because
San Francisco is located close to the ocean its temperatures are more
moderate in the winter than some of the surrounding inland areas which
often see frost and colder temperatures.
