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InsightHorizon Digest

How many inches of rain does San Francisco get

Author

James Bradley

Updated on March 31, 2026

San Francisco, CaliforniaUnited StatesRainfall24.6 in.38.1 in.Snowfall0.0 in.27.8 in.Precipitation72.3 days106.2 daysSunny259 days205 days

What is the rainiest month in San Francisco?

The driest month in San Francisco County is July with 0.04 inches of precipitation, and with 4.72 inches January is the wettest month.

How many rainy days does San Francisco have?

How much does it rain in San Francisco? Throughout the year, in San Francisco, there are 58.6 rainfall days, and 6.46″ (164mm) of precipitation is accumulated.

What is the precipitation scale in San Francisco?

In San Francisco, the climate is warm and temperate. In winter, there is much more rainfall in San Francisco than in summer. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is Csc. The average temperature in San Francisco is 13.5 °C | 56.4 °F. The annual rainfall is 581 mm | 22.9 inch.

Does it rain a lot in the Bay Area?

What About Rain? Being that San Francisco has a quasi-Mediterranean climate, 80% of the rain falls in 5 months, November through March. April is iffy; often sunny and warm, but can get rain. The entire rest of the year, May through October, only gets about 5% of the annual rainfall.

Why is San Francisco so cold?

Why is San Francisco cold all the time? The city is actually a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by cool water where the Pacific Ocean on the west meets the bay on the east. When warm air mixes with this cool water, it creates fog. This is what we like to refer to as our ‘natural air-conditioning’!

What is the coldest San Francisco gets?

These temperature extremes were measured in downtown San Francisco and go back to 1921. The lowest temperature recorded there during that period was 27 degrees Fahrenheit (-3 Celsius) on December 11, 1932.

Is San Francisco a good place to live?

San Francisco is a great area for meeting new people, as half of San Francisco’s population is single. The environment isn’t nearly as conducive to families, however. The high cost of living has made it difficult for families with children to settle down in San Francisco.

What is the normal weather in San Francisco?

In San Francisco, the summers are long, comfortable, arid, and mostly clear and the winters are short, cold, wet, and partly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 45°F to 72°F and is rarely below 39°F or above 83°F.

Does San Francisco get hot?

The Warmest Months in San Francisco September and October are usually the warmest and sunniest months, when San Francisco gets its Indian summer. April and May can also be warm and sunny. It doesn’t normally get hot in the city although spring and fall sometimes see temperatures in the 80’s.

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What's the rainiest city in the United States?

  • Mobile, AL.
  • Pensacola, FL.
  • New Orleans, LA.
  • West Palm Beach, FL.
  • Lafayette, LA.
  • Baton Rouge, LA.
  • Miami, FL.
  • Port Arthur, TX.

What's San Francisco known for?

A popular tourist destination, San Francisco is known for its cool summers, fog, steep rolling hills, eclectic mix of architecture, and landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, the former Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, Fisherman’s Wharf, and its Chinatown district.

Is San Francisco Safe?

Overall, San Francisco is a fairly safe city. However, we do have many of the same problems as other larger cities throughout the world. Due to our mild temperatures during almost all of the year, we also have a decent homeless population.

Why is San Francisco Bay water so cold?

The ocean temperatures off the coast of Northern California are cooler than Alaska’s. … Frigid waters and endless fog are all cyclical phenomena for the Bay Area, and they have to do with something called upwelling, which is when extremely cold water from deep in the ocean rises to the top.

Why is San Francisco so hilly?

The hills rise from the ocean on bedrock of Franciscan radiolarian chert – in the western, central and southern parts of the City – and serpentinite in the northern and eastern areas (3). Although two of San Francisco’s highest hills are called Mt. Davidson and Mt. Sutro, there are no true mountains within city limits.

Is San Francisco a dry climate?

San Francisco has a Mediterranean climate, with wet winters and dry summers. The water that surrounds San Francisco regulates its climate, meaning that the temperature does not change that much between seasons.

Is San Francisco safe to walk at night?

Walking in San Francisco at night can be safe, but we really wouldn’t recommend it. If you’re on a night out, stick with a big group of people and don’t wander off alone. Avoid the sketchy neighborhoods completely at night.

Did it ever snow in San Francisco?

Since 1900, there have been only two official reports of accumulating snow in downtown San Francisco: Dec. 11, 1932 (0.8”) and Jan. 15, 1952 (0.3”). However, photographic and anecdotal evidence shows that measurable snow fell at low elevations in the city on Feb.

What did Mark Twain say about San Francisco?

“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” This astute statement has often been attributed to legendary American storyteller Mark Twain, with his characteristic hyperbole. Whoever first said it, he or she knew from whence they spoke.

Why is San Francisco so small?

The population is under a million, so its not a huge city. However it has a small town feel to it in that it’s not very metropolitan, most everyone knows the same places and the degrees of separation between individuals are low.

Why is the Bay Area so foggy?

Although fog can occur sporadically year-round, it mainly blankets the coastal Bay Area in the summer when hot inland temperatures create a low-pressure zone over Northern California’s Central Valley. … This flow from the high to the low pressure zone pulls the fog through the Golden Gate passage and into the Bay.

Why is San Francisco colder than Seattle?

The geography of the area is quite different – San Francisco is right on the Pacific ocean, and receives a constant flow from the cold Pacific ocean – which is all the colder due to upwelling.

How cold is San Francisco Bay water?

Current ocean temperature in San Francisco Bay The average water temperature in San Francisco Bay in winter reaches 51.8°F, in spring 55.4°F, in summer the average temperature rises to 59°F, and in autumn it is 59°F.

Why is San Francisco so expensive?

It mostly comes down to housing costs. The region’s culture, economy and natural beauty makes it an appealing place, so there is great demand for living here. The housing supply has not caught up. Heavy regulation makes it incredibly expensive to build new housing in much of the Bay Area.

What is the hottest temperature in San Francisco?

The highest temperature ever recorded in San Francisco was 106 degrees on Sept. 1, 2017.

Why does San Francisco have so many homeless?

Reasons cited for homelessness in the 2019 survey commissioned by the City of San Francisco include job loss (26%), alcohol/drug use (18%), eviction (13%), argument/asked to leave by friend/family (12%), mental health issues (8%), and divorce/separation (5%).

Is SF more expensive than LA?

According to the Cost of Living Index, San Francisco has a 56.2 percent higher cost of living than Los Angeles.

Why is San Francisco so desirable?

It pretty much goes without saying that San Francisco is one of the most desired places to live in America. With a booming economy, great weather, a world class food scene, and endless options for getting outdoors and staying active, the Bay Area leaves little to be desired in a city, other than affordable real estate.

Can you poop in the streets in San Francisco?

SAN FRANCISCO – It’s official. The streets of San Francisco are now a public toilet as quality of life offenses will be ignored—as if they weren’t already! This is not compassion for the homeless. It’s condemning people to the consequences of squalor.

Is Seattle or SF better?

San Francisco is best known for its diversity, amazing cuisine, and exciting nightlife but it comes at a high cost. Seattle, by comparison, offers more affordable living and high-paying tech jobs with fewer cultural attractions and amenities.

Why is SF so windy?

San Francisco is windy because the ocean is cold and inland areas are hot; especially during the summer. Air always travels from high pressure (cold air) to low pressure (hot air). And air always wants to travel along the easiest path possible, which is to say around the mountains and through the city.