Fog / Weather, San Francisco

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Favorite thing: San Francisco is a great city to walk in and around. The hilly streets give you a workout but also afford great views. There are numerous trails from which you can enjoy the city's spectacular setting as well as its justifiably famous red bridge.

Fondest memory: Longtime friends bring many special joys; for instance who can you reminisce with better? But they also present special challenges especially when you decide to do a trip with them. Likes often attract likes and I’ve certainly been drawn to my share of bull-headed people. Oh, did I mention I was a bit bull-headed myself?

Well, recently Doreen and I met up with my oldest friend and his new wife for a trip to San Francisco. I knew it would not be a particularly easy trip but I also knew we didn’t get to see each other much since we now live in different states over a thousand miles apart. So, we just did it and hoped for the best.

Staying in different parts of the city, we met up after breakfast the first day at Fisherman’s Wharf and I relented to doing some of the more touristy things. Doreen had not been there before so it was fun for her anyway and as crowded as the Wharf can get, it still has a hokey charm to it. We walked quite a bit and San Francisco being as hilly as it is, it took its toll on our friends legs as they don’t work out much. The next day we opted to spend the day apart and met up in the evening. They took a ferry to Tiburon and we did a huge walk to the Mission, through the Castro, up a few small peaks in Corona Heights and Buena Vista Parks and into the Haight, where we met them for a few brews at the Magnolia Brewery. (concluded below in Fondest Memory)

Favorite thing: After seeing a family in a tank top and jean shorts today in 51 degree weather, again, I really don't think it is well emphasized the interesting micro-climate weather we have here in San Francisco.

In the summer, it can be varying degrees, but more likely than not - you will be experiencing the coldest summer temperatures you will experience anywhere. 51 may not seem cold to you, but somehow, it chills you to the bone.

General rule of thumb in any San Francisco season: Please, I urge you to bring some pants and a jacket. Dress in layers. Even if it is hot in the day it will get cold at night. The micro-climates can vary the temperatures drastically. It's cold in one neighborhood, it's warmer in another. And then you travel outside of San Francisco a half an hour and it can be hot.

Another general clothing tip: people in San Francisco don't wear short-shorts. Even if it's 85 degrees out. More likely ladies will wear a cute summer dress they've been saving for a year to have the opportunity to wear. Guys just wear pants and a short-sleeve shirt.

Favorite thing: The City can experience more than its fair share of fog. This is especially true in the summer when the inland areas across the Bay heat up and Mother Nature decides to turn on the air conditioning. Some neighborhoods have the best of it, or the worst of it depending on your perspective, as for many locals fog is an acquired taste. The Sunset District, the Richmond District, Ocean Beach, the Presidio, the Marina, and Downtown can get socked in most often. Locations east of Mt. Davidson and Twin Peaks, like the Mission and Noe Valley, receive less fog. Keep the fog in mind when heading out to photograph a potentially obscured cityscape. When in doubt, bring a coat.

Favorite thing: san francisco is a very nice town to visit, walk around, and have a good night life. however, if you should know when to visit this nice city. because it's foggy most of the time and probably rainy, it is not a good treat to yourself if you're a first-time visitor. like myself, just wandering around in foggy and rainy october, it just makes it uncomfortable to move around, especially when i want to take photos.

there are seasons for every event in SF; summer is great for chilling out in the sun and taking good photo shots; autumn -oct, nov- is the opera season, and of course the halloween crazy balls.

so be prepared, and plan ahead when and why you want to visit SF. for me, wish i came here over the summer for clearer sky and sleeveless shirts:D

Fondest memory: in Golden Gate Park, it was very foggy that i could hardly seen a tower behind the fog. it's not my fondest memory but the foggest!

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Favorite thing: San Francisco's weather is as changeable as the seas, literally. Surrounded on all sides (save one) by ocean and bay, San Francisco's weather is also one of the hardest to forecast and changes drastically from neighborhood to neighborhood. Over four seasons, not one of which corresponds to its climatic expectations, San Francisco's weather can be difficult for visitors to predict, save that Fog City delivers majestic skies, trademark plumes of white fog and brilliant sunsets.

September to November is the best time to visit San Francisco. Daily temperatures are at their highest across the peninsula, usually in the mid to high 60s, but often reaching into the 80s and 90s, and make for a sweltering downtown and a jam-packed Golden Gate Park. A smooth, glassy bay and hot blasts from the Central Valley combine to make fall temperatures in San Francisco the best. During these months, Ocean Beach and Baker Beach are dotted with bikini-clad San Franciscans slathered in oil and soaking the sun like Los Angelians. Nights are warm and lend to summer dresses and short-sleeved shirts, while the sky is clear and stars are bright.

Favorite thing: I cannot stress this enough. Go to San Francisco in September or October even November. Autumn is really summer in San Francisco. If you go in May, June or July it is almost guaranteed to be cold and foggy. Yes there are some nice days in the summer but it's not the norm. I see so many tourists at Fisherman's Wharf wearing shorts and freezing in July. Plus without the fog you get spectacular view of the bay. What's the point of all those hills if you can't enjoy the view:)

Favorite thing: San Francisco is one AMAZING city, which has so much to offer. There are many great restaurants (i.e. around Chinatown, Little Italy/North Beach, Mission District, etc) and cultures to experience. The architecture ranges from victorian to ultra modern and the political atmosphere is mainly liberal. Whatever you're into, I can almost guarantee there is a group of people in San Francisco which will happily call you one of their own.

Fondest memory: I will never forget the feelings I experienced every time I drove on the Golden Gate or Bay Bridges...Such incredible views and sceneries---breathtakingly beautiful, in my opinion. I was fortunate to call San Francisco my temporary home, while in graduate school from 1996-2001. I would love to have a few more years of living there, and experiencing all that I missed during that time.

Fondest memory: There is fog in San Francisco just about every day. I don't know where it comes from but I heard it's really the steam from all the Chinese rice cookers in the city.

When driving in fog: never turn on your high-beams, it will cause the fog to glow and you will see less.

I know the streets like the back of my hand, but not in the fog. I got lost recently; the fog was so thick I could barely see the road. I ranover something. I don't think that it was a person, I don't know... I couldn't see anything. Both my tires and one side had blown and I bent my rims. I was angry. I think I hit a median in the road.

Lessen learned. No matter how well you know the streets always drive slow in the fog.

Favorite thing: If you want to know what the weather will be like when you come to visit… don’t watch the weather report. They’ll tell you it will be sunny and as soon as you step outside it’s foggy and rainy.

In San Francisco it’s best just to dress in layers since the weather is about as unpredictable as the people who live here. Many people come here thinking, "oh.. I'm gonna be in sunny Calfornia!" only to find themselves frozen like an Eskimo. Go down to Chinatown and by a few t-shirts for $10 and a few sweatshirts for $30. Bring your jacket from home.

Bundle up!

Favorite thing:
Well I never expected a fog like this one, and I wonder why London has this fame of foggy, after comparation... SF wins!!!!!

We try to come in different occasions, but on half way from Union Station, the fog always came to our lives LOL and I promise Union was ok...

It seems that is foggy season in August....