Weather (READ THIS)

Mark Twain was not kidding when he said that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. The weather here changes rapidly. It can be 50 in July and 80 in November. The fog rolls in faster than the traffic. The beaches are not tropical and the water is always freezing (those of you from New England and Scandinavia can go right in but you Southerners be warned that you will freeze).

Here's how we deal with the weather:

1. Layers: Pack a sweater or light coat. We are not kidding. Do it or you'll be relegated to shopping for one or purchasing one of those tourist hoodies from the wharf. You will not regret packing and carrying the warm layers with you at all times. If anything, trust us on this tip. 
2. Varies by location: Often if it's sunny and hot in Silicon Valley it can be warm on the beach, it can also be thick as pea soup and chilly. Sun in Noe Valley can mean fog in the Sunset and on Alcatraz. So if you are in one location and love the weather don't think it will be that way in another part of town. Transversely if where you're at sucks weather-wise, wait 5 minutes or move to another part of town. 
3. The Bridge & fog: if it's sunny on the bay (near the Presidio and Alcatraz) get in your photos of the Golden Gate Bridge NOW! Because if you wait until later then you'll feel the full effect of what happens as stated in #2 above. 
4. Weather forecasts: You can check the weather online or watch the news but often the weather at any given moment at any given location can be way ahead of whatever technology is trying to track it. I sometimes check my Droid app for weather in HMB, however I've noticed that even if it says partly sunny for 94019 that doesn't mean the WHOLE part of HMB is partly sunny, it's more like an average of all the parts. In order to have a really accurate forecast it'd have to break down the whole peninsula by 10 block radii and report on each one and that's just insane.
5. Timing: The best time for sun is late morning to mid-afternoon. By 5 PM the fog can roll in (or not. It's sort of moody.) If you wake up and it's sunny take advantage of it---it may not last. However don't fret about morning fog, it could burn off (then again don't go to Vegas betting on SF weather patterns). In other words, don't EVER take any sunshine for granted!

Here's some other things to consider about our weather:

Most people like to go to the beach in June, July & August. Those of you who do this in Northern California will be sorry. June and July and some of August is foggy...very foggy. We recommend beach goers come late August through November. Sounds crazy, but trust us. And you don't have to swim in the frigid ocean to enjoy it. You can stand on the beach and watch the surfers swim in the frigid ocean. Regardless of the weather this place is freaking gorgeous. I've spent many an afternoon in jeans and cashmere on our beach and it's just as much fun.

It can be sunny in winter, when prices are lower and there's fewer tourists clogging up the sites and the cable car queue. February is a good time to ditch your snow shovel and east coast single digits and head west. No it won't be "summer hot" here but it may be sunny and 60. This is usually when we hit wine country (aka Napa Valley, Sonoma, Mendocino).

Unless you are in the East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley and other planets like Danville or Walnut Creek) or Silicon Valley (Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Mountain View or further south to San Jose) it will very very rarely be scorching hot. Scorching hot to us is 80 degrees. So if you live in a summer climate that's 90+ and humid, we do recommend summertime in SF.