So let's talk winter weather in the South Bay (San Jose: house, university)

[Wintermomma]

I'm mostly interested in South Peninsula/Mountainview/Cupertino/Santa Clara area...but always welcome any input.

I will preface this with the fact that I actually like cold and rainy weather, and not looking to complain.

I'm just wondering how cold does it really get say, December-February? Are mornings in the 50s or cooler? How about mid-day? And are rainy days cooler or warmer? And do we get torrential fall winds here?

Thank you.

[SickOfCalifornia]

I don't have any stats, but winter here brings rain in varying amounts between November and March. Of course, out here, 2-3 inches of rain is considered a big storm, and in other parts of the country it can dump that much in an hour or less. It does get cold, but only down into the 30s overnight occasionally. High40s-Mid50s sounds about right for winter, depending on how far inland you are. In my opinion, the rain brings warmer weather and the coldest days have no rain, but again no stats to back this up, only anecdotal evidence. Sometimes the wind really picks up in a storm and knocks out power in areas, but only a few times in my memory has the wind been really extreme. Some winters bring a ton of rain, we haven't had much the last couple of years. I think most native Californians would say we get some heinous storms some years, but if you've ever lived anywhere where they get real storms, you would probably disagree. The loudest thunder I've ever heard in the Bay Area is like a muffled fart compared to the nuclear cracks of thunder you hear in Texas, for example, and the rare lightning is nothing compared to the serious bolts you get in the NE states. It seems to hail maybe once or twice a year - but hail out here lasts for about 2 minutes and is tiny little specks - nothing approaching golfball hail in my lifetime in CA. I know this is a bit rambly, but overall the winters here are pretty mild compared to the rest of the country - enough that many out-of-staters move here and claim we barely have seasons.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by Wintermomma

I'm mostly interested in South Peninsula/Mountainview/Cupertino/Santa Clara area...but always welcome any input.

I will preface this with the fact that I actually like cold and rainy weather, and not looking to complain.

I think you might be more comfortable farther up the Peninsula. This area might be too mild for you.

Originally Posted by Wintermomma

I'm just wondering how cold does it really get say, December-February?

Normally 40-degrees, but it can get as low as 30-degrees.

Originally Posted by Wintermomma

Are mornings in the 50s or cooler?

Yes, but it could be warmer in the summertime.

Originally Posted by Wintermomma

How about mid-day?

Generally warmer.

Originally Posted by Wintermomma

And are rainy days cooler or warmer?

Slightly warmer.

Originally Posted by Wintermomma

And do we get torrential fall winds here?

No, but during El Nino, torrential rain and wind is a possibility in the wintertime.

[sonarrat]

We have two seasons.. rain and sun. The rainy season runs from November to April generally. Even within that season you'll have some lovely days in the 70's. Summer is completely dry and ranges from the 70's to about 95, with a rare triple digit day.

[zitsky]

Originally Posted by Wintermomma

I'm mostly interested in South Peninsula/Mountainview/Cupertino/Santa Clara area...but always welcome any input.

I will preface this with the fact that I actually like cold and rainy weather, and not looking to complain.

I'm just wondering how cold does it really get say, December-February? Are mornings in the 50s or cooler? How about mid-day? And are rainy days cooler or warmer? And do we get torrential fall winds here?

Thank you.

I don't know what torrential fall winds are exactly?? I think you mean something like the Santa Ana winds that keep going for weeks at a time? No, we don't get that, except maybe on the coast.

To give you some idea, I lived in a single story house in Mountain View with single pain windows. There were many days when I did not even turn on the heat in the winter. I would keep the temperature set to 68 on my thermostat. I'd wear a sweater and it was OK. It never really gets that bad here. It's nothing like what you get in Oregon, where I have also lived for a while.

[Wintermomma]

Originally Posted by zitsky

I don't know what torrential fall winds are exactly?? I think you mean something like the Santa Ana winds that keep going for weeks at a time?

Yep, those! The kind that if you lived in the mid-west you'd be certain a tornado was coming b/c your house is shaking and moving.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by Wintermomma

I'm mostly interested in South Peninsula/Mountainview/Cupertino/Santa Clara area...but always welcome any input.

I will preface this with the fact that I actually like cold and rainy weather, and not looking to complain.

I'm just wondering how cold does it really get say, December-February? Are mornings in the 50s or cooler? How about mid-day? And are rainy days cooler or warmer? And do we get torrential fall winds here?

Thank you.

Here are the weather stats for some South Bay/Peninsula Cities:

San Jose:

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - Climate Summary

Santa Clara:

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA - Climate Summary

Los Gatos:

LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA - Climate Summary

Palo Alto:

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA - Climate Summary


Typically the highs are in the mid to high 50s in Dec/Jan in all areas. Typical lows vary more...From the low 40s in locations near the bay to upper 30s further from the water. It hits freezing maybe 2 times a year near the water, but more like 20 days a year in places further from the Bay.

December and January are almost identical in terms of temperature, while February is still cool, but noticeably warmer (low 60s). Sometimes we get more cold weather/cold snaps in December than January. It seems to me we often get a warm spell in late Jan or early Feb where the temperature hits the high 60s or low 70s and then it goes back to being in the 50s. Sometimes the 55 to 60 degree weather persists well into March. Other years we've had 80 degree spells in March.

Typically, when it rains, the average temperature is the same but the difference between the high/low shrinks. So the high/low might be something like 54/44 instead of 59/39 on a sunny day. There are somtimes cold storms from the Gulf of Alaska that can be damp and chilly, where the normal high/low might be more like 48/38. And there are storms that come out of Hawaii (aka the Pineapple Express) where the high/low might be more like 60/50. And then there are storms that come in between those 2 extremes.

Typically, even on rainy days, there are breaks in the rain. The South Bay averages 58 days of rain a year. But that average can vary by a lot. Some years the rain never stops, and in other years, it's dry like SoCal. But compared with the rest of the Bay Area, the storms in the South Bay are less severe because the Sana Cruz Mountains block the heaviest rain and wind. The further north you go, the heavier the rainfall...although San Francisco only gets a few more days of rain on average than the South Bay.

One other tip, if you need a beach fix in the winter, the coast at Santa Cruz is often warmer on bright, sunny winter days than San Jose/South Bay because the cold night air gets trapped in the valley, whereas the warm ocean sweeps away the cold air at the coast. We're not talking a huge difference here, but it might be, say 62 in Santa Cruz on a sunny January afternoon, while only being 57 in San Jose. That makes a significant difference if you want to do some beach walking.


No, Fall is not normally windy here. Sometimes there are heat waves, but September/October are normally thought of as the Bay Area's best months in terms of weather.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Also, in the South Bay (like the North Bay) the mountains and orographics mean you can go from the micro desert of the northeastern hoods of S'vale, northern hoods of Santa Clara and Northwestern hoods of SJ, to the moss covered, damp lands of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Even the "altiplano" of Cupertino, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos and parts of SSJ gets around 25 - 30" per year.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by Wintermomma

Yep, those! The kind that if you lived in the mid-west you'd be certain a tornado was coming b/c your house is shaking and moving.

There is very little wind in the area you are looking at. This is a valley. And if it does get windy, it doesn't last very long.