The Bay Area only has two seasons. (Which one is your favorite?) (San Jose: how much, to live in)

[PixelatedTherapy]

The bay has 6 months of moderate warm weather and sunshine with two or 3 small periods of WTF HEAT, during this time the weather bounces from 70-80 or 70-90 if you're inland (not counting the rouge 100+ WTF HEAT DAY.) Directly after that we get overcast, fog, light rain, with two or small period of WTF STORM. During this time the weather bounces around 40-60 on average. Which period do you like better?

[BurnInTheMil]

The overcast (now months) are by far my favorite. While I do enjoy sun & blue sky, I also hate the fact that it’s super dry, brown, ugly, and never rains. There are definitely perks of the weather here, but I vote for the “gloomy” weather.

Being originally from an area that receives an average of 45”-50” of rain and 15”-25” of snowfall makes me miss it even more. I miss thunderstorms, rain on a metal roof, etc...

[bmw335xi]

The bay area's weather is too diverse to lump it together.

For example, SF is cool 10 months, warm 2 months which is different from San Jose which is different from Oakland.

[the topper]

Originally Posted by Greg10556

The overcast (now months) are by far my favorite. While I do enjoy sun & blue sky, I also hate the fact that it’s super dry, brown, ugly, and never rains. There are definitely perks of the weather here, but I vote for the “gloomy” weather.

Being originally from an area that receives an average of 45”-50” of rain and 15”-25” of snowfall makes me miss it even more. I miss thunderstorms, rain on a metal roof, etc...

It's a lot of fun: Houston with 54 inches of rain and thunderstorm. It has high heat and humidity. San Jose weather is boring

[tstieber]

Do keep in mind that the Cloudy 6 months are not cloudy everyday like the sunny 6 months are Sunny everyday. the rainy season brings about 65 days of rain scattered throughout six months, and it's just generally more varied but with periods of rain versus sun. I suppose that makes the rainy season more interesting, but I generally prefer the warmer weather of the dry season.

[04kL4nD]

I think I like mid March-May the best. The hills are green, it isn't raining as often as during Dec/Jan/Feb, it starts getting dark later, and it's not so cold. I used to like September/October weather best, but I never want to deal with another heatwave like we had this past year again.

[HockeyMac18]

Originally Posted by tstieber

Do keep in mind that the Cloudy 6 months are not cloudy everyday like the sunny 6 months are Sunny everyday. the rainy season brings about 65 days of rain scattered throughout six months, and it's just generally more varied but with periods of rain versus sun. I suppose that makes the rainy season more interesting, but I generally prefer the warmer weather of the dry season.

I think it is a big stretch to call our "rainy season" 6 months long. It's generally more consistently only about 4-5 months, and even then it is not unheard of to have significant stretches with no precipitation and tons of sun (think days or even week-long stretches)...

Outside of Nov - Feb, precipitation is not as consistent. The shoulder months of October and March have some rain, but it is certainly not consistent. And there is a lot of sunshine in those months.

There's also a great deal of sunshine during the "Rainy season", too. So I have a hard time thinking of this period as the "overcast 6 months"...

The really big differences between our seasons I'd say has to do with the microclimates and how much variation there is. For instance, in the middle of the summer months, it can be 40 degrees between the foggy coast, and hot and sunny valleys of the outer East Bay. The weather in the middle of the winter is more uniform across the region (with some variation at night, with coasts being warmer than the inland valleys).



If I were to pick a favorite time of the year, weather wise, I'd go with late winter/early spring (~March-April). The skies are clean from all of the storms of winter. The grass is green. The coasts are generally clear of fog. The temperatures are starting to warm up a bit, but are still moderate enough where I can exercise outside in all parts of the region and don't have to worry about being cold or overheated. And the sun is starting to set later than the earlier months.

February can often be a really nice month, too (we seem to always have a good heatwave in mid-Feb).


Once May rolls around, the fog machine starts kicking in, and the microclimate extremes start building (and exercising in the warmer parts of the region starts becoming uncomfortable for me).

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

I think I like mid March-May the best. The hills are green, it isn't raining as often as during Dec/Jan/Feb, it starts getting dark later, and it's not so cold. I used to like September/October weather best, but I never want to deal with another heatwave like we had this past year again.

This. I think our "Indian Summer" is a bit overrated...I have no desire to do anything outside in 90-100 degree heat. And the air quality is usually really bad since you're getting an offshore wind blowing from the Central Valley.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

I think I like mid March-May the best. The hills are green, it isn't raining as often as during Dec/Jan/Feb, it starts getting dark later, and it's not so cold. I used to like September/October weather best, but I never want to deal with another heatwave like we had this past year again.

I love hot weather, but not when I don't have A/C lol

[tstieber]

Spot on. Thank you for accurate info. Because if you add up all the sunshine for the entire year, then you'll find we have some of the sunniest weather in the country, except for parts of SoCal and the desert.

Originally Posted by HockeyMac18

I think it is a big stretch to call our "rainy season" 6 months long. It's generally more consistently only about 4-5 months, and even then it is not unheard of to have significant stretches with no precipitation and tons of sun (think days or even week-long stretches)...

Outside of Nov - Feb, precipitation is not as consistent. The shoulder months of October and March have some rain, but it is certainly not consistent. And there is a lot of sunshine in those months.

There's also a great deal of sunshine during the "Rainy season", too. So I have a hard time thinking of this period as the "overcast 6 months"...

The really big differences between our seasons I'd say has to do with the microclimates and how much variation there is. For instance, in the middle of the summer months, it can be 40 degrees between the foggy coast, and hot and sunny valleys of the outer East Bay. The weather in the middle of the winter is more uniform across the region (with some variation at night, with coasts being warmer than the inland valleys).



If I were to pick a favorite time of the year, weather wise, I'd go with late winter/early spring (~March-April). The skies are clean from all of the storms of winter. The grass is green. The coasts are generally clear of fog. The temperatures are starting to warm up a bit, but are still moderate enough where I can exercise outside in all parts of the region and don't have to worry about being cold or overheated. And the sun is starting to set later than the earlier months.

February can often be a really nice month, too (we seem to always have a good heatwave in mid-Feb).


Once May rolls around, the fog machine starts kicking in, and the microclimate extremes start building (and exercising in the warmer parts of the region starts becoming uncomfortable for me).




This. I think our "Indian Summer" is a bit overrated...I have no desire to do anything outside in 90-100 degree heat. And the air quality is usually really bad since you're getting an offshore wind blowing from the Central Valley.

[04kL4nD]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

I love hot weather, but not when I don't have A/C lol

Hot weather is OK for the beach, boating, or by the pool where you can cool off, but I would never want to live in a place like Arizona where you can't go outside for 3-4 months because of extreme heat. And no, a "dry heat" isn't more tolerable than humid heat imo. 90 degrees is Bangkok is just as miserable as 110 in Phoenix.

The inner East Bay has some of the best weather in the world, truth be told.