PREVIOUS ARTICLE
Every Friday, we feature comics by illustrators we love. Here’s today’s, by Grace Farris…
P.S. Seasonal dressing and weekend plans.
San Francisco Summers
Subscribe
36 Comments
I used to hate the cold. That was before hot flashes. Now I love our Boston winters. I wish they’d last half the year, with autumn for the other half. I would love to live in San Francisco. Or maybe Siberia . . . .
I live in San Francisco now and I am from Phoenix. Let me tell you that San Francisco is nowhere near as cold as any grocery store, office, mall, you name it, indoors in Phoenix in July.
I am from SF and I had to move because of the high cost of living after ~40 yrs late this past summer. I’ve never lived anywhere else except for 4 yrs of college when I was not far away, in foggy a coastal town. I MISS THE WEATHER IN SF SO MUCH! Everyone who hates summer in SF, pls move away and let it be cheaper for those of us who appreciate its damp, soggy charms. Wearing shorts this coming summer is going to be SO WEIRD. I long for the 50s & 60s all year round.
Summer in Oxford UK. British summers were though on a Mediterranean girl like me. I truly suffered when I needed to wear tights under my skirt in July or not being able to eat outside as it was so chilly or rainy. Well there were heat waves here or there couple of days in July or August and then autumn again. Now living in Midwest US but not sure if I like very humid and hot summers here either though!!!!
Oh, the San Francisco fog! I lived in SF for 22 years and just moved to LA last summer. I miss some things about SF (including the cool ocean breeze when it’s 95 or 100 degrees and stifling in LA) but the summer is one of the main reasons we left. We had our highest heating bills in the summer. Wore heavy wool sweaters. Didn’t see the sun for days. Never owned a pair of shorts or sandals. You’d go to a baseball game at night and bring a puffer jacket, a beanie, and buy a hot chocolate, and you’d still be cold. It’s truly weird weather that is hard to believe if you haven’t lived there.
But if you drive 30 minutes south out of the city it’s 30 degrees warmer and also not so many entitled tech DBs. :)
Being from the east coast, my parents have always associated California with all things sunny and tropical, including San Francisco. They held onto this belief even after my brother moved there and reported back about the frigid summers, foggy mornings, and the fact he still had to wear layers. And even jackets. (Gasp!)
They just can’t accept it isn’t warm there, and even packed summery clothing when we all visited a few years ago, despite warnings from me and my brother. They were surprised (and freezing) the entire time, and I’m sure to this day still think the chilly weather was a fluke. :P
Your comment made me laugh. I think your parents would find this map interesting. It places West Coast Cities where they would be on the East Coast. SF is not too far south from Washington DC.
That is so funny Ro!
Jeanne, Washington DC summers are hot and very humid. Don’t show that map to Ro’s parents, they will never pack appropriately!
My in-laws would always visit and never even pack a jacket or pair of pants!
Yes. Many years ago on a family vacation, we went to Candlestick Park to watch a baseball game….in the evening…with thin sweatshirts. Frozen to the bone.
Spring in Boston is the cruelest joke (although the flowers are good.)
I’m guessing Mark Twain never spent January/February in Ottawa, Canada.
Winter in Michigan is 100% colder than summer in San Francisco. Sometimes it literally hurts to open my eyes outside. I’ve also gotten frostbite. It was -30 for 3 days this winter – so miserable.
::chuckles from Boston, while putting a sweatshirt on::
Springtime in Boston so true!
YES! I am from SF but spent 10 years in Boston, so very very true!
As a person from the Bay currently living in Boston with an officemate that kept the heat off ALL winter, THIS IS MY LIFE.
Another person from the Bay living in Boston, perpetually cold. I feel you! Sending you all the warm cozy thoughts for the rest of the chilly spring. We’re almost there!!!
I have to politely but firmly disagree. I lived in San Francisco for the past 10 years, and summer can be truly miserable. I vividly remember being out and about one June, huddling against the wind in our winter jackets, and my friend saying, “Really, San Francisco?!”. I just moved to Portland, OR, and I’m told we can actually eat dinner outside in the summer!! I am honestly so excited.
I only wore shorts ONCE in the year I lived in Berkeley and worked in SF! And a winter coat like year round. But I do miss it, the nature and the ocean.
You can indeed eat outside in Portland during the summer! We’ve had some hot ones the past few years, but I’d take that over the humidity of the East Coast and the Midwest anytime.
I visited San Francisco for the first time in early August fully expecting it to be gorg! I didn’t pack a sweatshirt and found myself, along with my sister, soaking wet and freezing cold on the top deck of a tour bus. That’s when we learned that October is apparently a beautiful time to visit. I won’t go back during the summer! Enjoy the warm Portland weather!
I worked in a San Francisco after school/summer program and at a planning meeting for summer one of the parents referred to, “The dead of July.” It remains one of my favorite quotes about San Francisco summer.
In almost 30 years of living here, I’ve probably been able to go out in the evening without a jacket less than once a year.
Also, summer in San Francisco is mid-September to mid-October – without a doubt the warmest weather of the year. But you still need a jacket at night.
Haha, yes… but the summer will be the only time and the rest of the year it’ll be raining!
I grew up in Kansas and then lived in Michigan for 15 year but the ONLY time I have EVER worn my winter jacket to watch the fireworks on the 4th of July was in the San Francisco area. We couldn’t believe how cold we were!
False; Twain had it right. Nothing is colder than a San Francisco summer. As a recent SF transplant from upstate NY, who moved in MAY, **literally** the worst thing I went through were the months of June, July and August in San Francisco. I WORE A COAT! IN JULY! When I should have been sweating bullets just putting on my shorts! Where was the heat? Where was the humidity? Where was the SUN?! And everyone in San Francisco was like “Oh just wait for September and October, you’ll love it then…” WHATEVER – everyone on the East Coast still has beautiful heat in those months too! What makes San Francisco special?! LITERALLY FOG (that you tried to make cute by naming it – come on SF, do better)?! That just makes it cold and damp! WHO REALLY ACTUALLY LIKES BEING COLD AND DAMP? NO ONE!
My husband tried to explain the joy of Northern California to me, and I get it, but I still can’t bring myself to love San Francisco for this exact reason.
(Let’s all acknowledge that this was not **actually** the worst thing, but for the sake of this satirical post…)
Spring in Boston is gorgeous (the tulips!)… and summer in sf is miserable… I lived about 5 years in both places lol.
hahhaa.. I chucked at the rage in this comment :)
I have only been to SF for a short visit, but I do remember trekking up to look at the GG bridge, and then not finding it there! I actually thought I was looking in the wrong direction because how can a bridge disappear, but then my uber driver confirmed that yes the bridge is still there and yes the fog has totally made it disappear.
Raises hand: I love the fog. I love the fog at Ocean Beach.
It’s not for everyone, and it can be a downer at times, that’s true. But there is so much beauty and delight that can be had in the fog and the damp. Plus, all you have to do is go east towards the Mission to get your sun in the summer. Natural A/C? Yes, thank you.
-SF native
I think the thing that makes SF in summer feel especially cold is that it’s summer most everywhere else so the stores are selling swim suits and everyone you know who lives across the country is at a BBQ and you are digging out a puffy jacket to shiver away at a park. It creates a mental hurdle that can result in some resentfulness. The upside is that SF is it’s very own climate so you can hop in the car to wine country or my personal favorite the Yuba and be baking away in the sun in no time.
Micro climates are the worst!! And cold every day at 4 pm if you were lucky to have sunshine in the middle of the day! I feel ya, girl.
I moved to New Orleans a year and a half ago after 23 years in SF. I miss Karl the Fog. Especially in the summer :)
I’m a native of Bay Area (I live in East Bay); laughing so much at your comment. Lolol
I am currently wearing a thick ass wool sweater drinking a hot cup of tea. This is pretty much my morning routine, YEAR-ROUND. Hahahaha
As a gardener, can’t beat this weather though :-) Almost everything grows so well.
Currently sitting outside while children and dogs frolic in the Montana springtime. It’s snowing and a balmy 34°. It’s really not that bad. At least it’s not below zero. And the song birds are all back and singing (complaining? It’s hard to tell) loudly.
I’m a native of the Bay area and Mark Twain had it right. San Francisco is perpetually a spring or fall climate. My Father (who is originally from Philadelphia) always reminds us from childhood to bring a jacket no matter what time of year it is. Kinda sucks, but drive across either of the bridges and your 10, 20, even 30 degrees warmer with fantastic summer nights!
Perfect! I live in Boston and work at a university. I was in the elevator today with a visiting family looking at schools. They were from California. I was bopping along thinking what a nice mild day it is, snowdrops & crocus are starting to bloom, and they were bundled up in winter coats and wondering why it was so cold.
More to Love
Alex recently took Anton out to dinner, and they decided to dress up...
147 COMMENTS
Including a make-you-gasp memoir and the pretty shirt I keep spotting.
87 COMMENTS
A grump has been handed one wild, precious life and found it unsatisfactory.
192 COMMENTS
Where we stayed, ate and hung out — plus, reader recommendations.
271 COMMENTS