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I can tell you San Francisco in July felt a lot colder to me than London in September even though London wasn't even sunny for the most part. Also, the rest of the year in San Francisco can be much nicer than summers.
Yeah well that was London, go to the coast and the wind chill really sets in. Also London is warmer in September than SF in July.
People think Texas is always hot and miserable (I love the hot weather). But boy heidi, I'm telling you it gets COLD here. Remember the ICE STORM during the Superbowl a few years back.
Cold weather due in this weekend, lows of 27 flippin' degrees. I sooo hate it!
What would you guess the sunshine hours are in different areas of San Francisco?
Honestly, I can't even guess what it actually is - but I just know that when I lived there (in the Sunset District), sunshine was a VERY rare sight! Here's a funny blog post from someone in the Sunset:
“It was bad. Too bad for me; after our lease was up, my wife and I moved to the suburbs. Looking back, what bothered me most wasn’t the terrible climate—though I did hate it—but the vast difference between the Sunset’s weather and the weather everywhere else. Whatever meteorological patterns applied in normal parts of San Francisco didn’t seem to apply to the Sunset, which meant that forecasts for the city held no sway there. If the weatherman said it was going to be 80 and sunny, it was probably 55 and cloudy at my house.“
Personally I loved it, since I'm not a fan of the sun (being a natural redhead and all). It's not easy to drive in, though, and occasionally I'd need a downtown trip just to get my Vitamin D.
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The 3000 hours per year from the official NOAA site is where exactly?
You mean where is it measured? The weather station is on top of Twin Peaks, which is right in the middle of the city... that's where it's usually sunniest, hence my comments that it's skewed (when considering all microclimates and neighborhoods). If you want sun in SF, you pretty much HAVE to live around Twin Peaks, Noe Valley, or thereabouts.
No I haven't ever been there but you don't have to have visited a place to know what the climate is like and I'd love to go. I can assure you that I would feel very comfortable in that clothing, however I have experienced coastal summer temperatures in the UK similar to that and it is verging on getting some long trousers on. BUT, it must feel the same or even warmer at the same temperatures as it is a lower latitude, so the idea that it is freezing in summer is absolutely laughable.
The sunset District is the coolest place in SF, and yet it's still warm enough to wear shorts from March to November. I think they should go to the UK or even Alaska, then they'd know what cold is
Don't be silly, of course they'd wear shorts, when its warm like on MOST days of the year. It's currently 18°C on a WINTER's day. And you are telling me that no one wore shorts on it's record hottest day, 1 September this year. It was 41°C and there is video proof that most people were wearing shorts
For the most part of the year, San Francisco is less than 5°C cooler than San Diego, yet San Diego is hailed as ''paradise'' and San Francisco is labelled ''freezing'' despite having more sunny days . As it gets warmer with climate change (although 1981-2010 averages are colder than 1971-2000, 1991-2020 will likely be higher than 1971-2000) it will eventually be as warm as San Deigo today https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.15cd6281db89 and yet people will still deny it
I'd love to know where you get these numbers, because it's all nonsense coming from a local like me! My brother actually lived in San Diego for 10+ years, and there is no comparison to their weather vs SF. It's ALWAYS nice in San Diego, pretty much, and waaaaay more than 5C warmer on average. They also have microclimates, btw, depending on whether you're coastal or inland (sometimes as much as a 20-30F degree range). So maybe that's true if you're comparing central SF to coastal SD, but inland SD to coastal SF? BIG difference.
I'm telling you what I've lived through, and felt with my own body, not what some weather station perched on a sunny hilltop is telling you (who's never even been here). Of course it's never Alaska cold, but again, I'm only comparing our weather to what people perceive of California. Oh, and that picture you posted as "evidence?" It was taken in Marin County, which isn't even San Francisco, and has yet another climate altogether. Again, it's probably best if you don't argue with a local over our own weather. LOL
That being said, I suppose on the hottest day in recorded history, people managed to dig out a pair of shorts. But I literally don't even own a pair, and just wore jeans w/ a light t-shirt when it was 115F here in San Jose during that same week. Let me repeat: That was the HOTTEST DAY ON RECORD EVER in San Francisco, so you can hardly use that as an example. Generally speaking, you won't see San Franciscans wearing shorts very often (if ever). We actually refer to "San Francisco black" as our unofficial uniform, since most locals wear all black and/or jeans on a daily basis. Even in summer.
Now, don't let this discourage anyone from visiting, as it's still an amazing place with a relatively moderate climate! We're only discussing how people perceive the weather, versus how it actually feels, so I'm not saying it's too miserable to withstand. I managed just fine in the city for 5+ years, and sometimes wish I could escape the hotter south Bay to return there. It's a great city, really.
2. Seattle. Seattle grows some subtropical species giving a false impression of the climate, as most of those species are protected every winter to escape cold and heavy snowfalls. Turns out they get snow from October to May and most people living there are off during 6-7 months. Seattle has even less sunshine hours and much more cool rain than central England has.
Are you pulling our leg? While we get heavy snowfalls occasionally (every six to seven years), it is much more common to have only light snows, or no snow at all, in Seattle. Benefiting from the Japanese Current, our climate is very temperate, seldom either very cold or very hot. If anything, with global warming, we're trending to hotter summers and milder winters.
Seattle is also in the "rain shadow" of the Olympic Mountains, which means that, while we get lots of cloudy days, we don't get a lot of rain, contrary to our reputation. What we do get is a lot of "drizzle", but few downpours. Seattle (37") is wetter than Berlin (22"), London (23"), Paris (25"), or Oslo (31"), but drier than New York (43"), Boston (44"), Glascow (45"), Houston (48"), Miami (58"), New Orleans (60"), or Tokyo (60").
Seattle is roughly on the same latitude as Newfoundland, Paris/Northern France, and Mongolia, although south of London. As a result, it gets short dark days, often overcast, in the winter, and long bright, often sunny, in the summer.
2. Seattle. Seattle grows some subtropical species giving a false impression of the climate, as most of those species are protected every winter to escape cold and heavy snowfalls. Turns out they get snow from October to May and most people living there are off during 6-7 months. Seattle has even less sunshine hours and much more cool rain than central England has.
Are you pulling our leg? While we get heavy snowfalls occasionally (every six to seven years), it is much more common to have only light snows, or no snow at all, in Seattle. Benefiting from the Japanese Current, our climate is very temperate, seldom either very cold or very hot. If anything, with global warming, we're trending to hotter summers and milder winters.
Seattle is also in the "rain shadow" of the Olympic Mountains, which means that, while we get lots of cloudy days, we don't get a lot of rain, contrary to our reputation. What we do get is a lot of "drizzle", but few downpours. Seattle (35") is wetter than Berlin (22"), London (23"), Paris (25"), or Oslo (31"), but drier than New York (43"), Boston (44"), Glascow (45"), Houston (48"), Miami (58"), New Orleans (60"), or Tokyo (60"). After record rainfall last winter, Seattle is on track for 44" for 2017.
Seattle is roughly on the same latitude as Newfoundland, Paris/Northern France, and Mongolia, although south of London. As a result, it gets short dark days, often overcast, in the winter, and long bright, often sunny days, in the summer.
I am using stats that are available, the only sunshine stats that are available are for downtown. If you can prove there are significantly less sunny days (rather than just slightly less) elsewhere in SF then do so, but I really think its all down to exaggeration. It still doesn't change the facts that I put down about the sunny days, soon as anyone would assume I was comparing the downtown stations in all of the cities listed.
More people probably have a better idea of the weather in SF in the UK than Cali. We think most days are warm and sunny, which is correct. You think most days are foggy and chilly, which is incorrect.
I'll say it one more time, then leave the subject alone: I'm discussing the microclimates of San Francisco (and Bay Area in general), which can vary greatly within just a mile or so. You can't tell me I'm incorrect about the lack of sunshine in the Sunset District, when I lived there for long enough to say I'm correct. Why do you think it's called The SunSET? And even if you're right about the sunshine downtown, I was only saying that's not true about all of SF! Also, the northwest Peninsula (like Pacifica) is super foggy most of the year. I lived there as well, and they even have an annual Fog Day Celebration.
It really is beautiful in the snow! Pretty to look at, but not much fun for driving - or when you have to shovel it. We eventually just gave up, and told visitors to "walk (up our walkway) at your own risk."
I live in Vancouver and we have a similar climate to the UK with much more rainfall and I can tell you when I visited San Francisco in July and assumed it would be like a Vancouver summer, I was dead wrong. I was one of those hapless tourists shivering and had to buy a sweatshirt. It was an odd sensation to be burnt and shivering at the same time that trip. I won't make that same mistake if I go back again in the summer
People think Texas is always hot and miserable (I love the hot weather). But boy heidi, I'm telling you it gets COLD here. Remember the ICE STORM during the Superbowl a few years back.
Cold weather due in this weekend, lows of 27 flippin' degrees. I sooo hate it!
Depends on where you are in the state, the southern areas have relatively mild winters (albeit with cold snaps here and there).
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. As it gets warmer with climate change (although 1981-2010 averages are colder than 1971-2000, 1991-2020 will likely be higher than 1971-2000) it will eventually be as warm as San Deigo today 
