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San Francisco Weather

Temperatures by Month

Be it a morning rainstorm, a boiling hot mid-afternoon, or a surprisingly chilling night -- the weather in San Francisco is easily comparable to an indecisive pre-pubescent girl with a penchant for mood swings. In other words, San Francisco does what it wants, when it wants, where it wants in the foggiest way possible.

The weather will not only change depending on the time of day -- it'll also change depending on where in the city you are. If you're in the Avenues and you go past Arguello Street, you'll suddenly see that glowing orb in the sky that you haven't seen in months. Downtown is often hot -- acting as a sort of center of weather-reason, generally following regular seasonal patterns. The Sunset, contrary to its name, is so foggy you'll never actually see the sun setting -- while North Beach and Chinatown bathe in the glow of the nearby downtown sun.

The surrounding areas of San Francisco are also more or less seasonally accurate, making a trip to a place like Marin County the hardest bit of planning a San Franciscan can do. Why? Let's say it's summer and, as per usual, it's freezing in "The City." So, you grab three sweaters and a jacket and head to Marin where you're meeting a friend to play some frisbee golf and drink a soy vanilla machiatto. As you cross the Golden Gate Bridge, the clouds tip their hat, wish you well, and go on their merry way -- and suddenly, you're in the Sahara.

The change of weather from street to street, block to block and mile to mile is frustrating, to say the least, but a fact of life that the locals have come accustomed too.

Another thing the locals have come accustomed to is the low droning of the foghorn. While a tourist might think there's an air raid happening (that'll be every Tuesday at 12 pm), the foghorn is considered, by most of the people who live in the foggy city, the most relaxing sound they can imagine. It's like the singing of a cricket or the chirp of a bird -- when the gentle birrrr sounds softly in the wind, you smile, go to sleep and dream of a city that's so surreal it feels like it's straight out of a Tom Robbins novel.

For travelers looking to hit San Francisco at its sunniest, the fall months are usually your best bet (as you'll see by our chart below – which showcase the temperature for the last 50 years.) Still, we'd suggest not worrying about the weather -- when it's sunny, the City is glorious to look at, but it's the fog and rain that'll make you feel like you've suddenly fallen into a Humphrey Bogart novel.