Monthly Climate
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Best time to visit San Francisco

October is the best time to visit San Francisco for general sightseeing, with average highs of 21 °C and about 3 wet days. The comfortable season runs roughly May to October.

It depends what you are going for

One month rarely wins on everything. These are the best months on each measure taken on its own.

If you want Best month On that measure
Sightseeing and walking October comfort 94/100
A beach holiday September sea 14 °C
The least cloud September 33 % average cloud cover
The least rain July 0 mm
Warmth September 23 °C
Cooler weather December 14 °C

Ranked by comfort

# Month Comfort / 100 Avg high Wet days Beach
1 October 94 21 °C 3 49
2 September 94 23 °C 0 56
3 August 93 22 °C 0 53
4 July 92 21 °C 0 50
5 June 92 21 °C 1 49
6 May 87 19 °C 3 42
7 November 80 17 °C 6 29
8 April 80 17 °C 5 32
9 March 71 16 °C 9 20
10 February 66 15 °C 9 15
11 December 63 14 °C 9 12
12 January 62 14 °C 10 12

For a beach holiday

September scores highest, with a sea temperature of 14 °C and air temperatures around 23 °C. The sea never reaches 20 °C here.

Month Sea Air Sunshine Beach score
January 12 °C 14 °C 62 % 12
February 12 °C 15 °C 60 % 15
March 12 °C 16 °C 58 % 20
April 12 °C 17 °C 48 % 32
May 12 °C 19 °C 45 % 42
June 12 °C 21 °C 35 % 49
July 13 °C 21 °C 38 % 50
August 14 °C 22 °C 39 % 53
September 14 °C 23 °C 33 % 56
October 14 °C 21 °C 38 % 49
November 13 °C 17 °C 51 % 29
December 12 °C 14 °C 58 % 12

When to think twice

January scores lowest with about 10 wet days and highs near 14 °C. That does not make it a bad month — it depends entirely on what you are travelling for. The numbers are all here; the judgement is yours.

The full year

Month Avg high Rainfall Cloud
January 13.9 °C 97 mm 62 %
February 15.0 °C 100 mm 60 %
March 16.1 °C 75 mm 58 %
April 17.3 °C 37 mm 48 %
May 18.9 °C 18 mm 45 %
June 21.0 °C 3 mm 35 %
July 21.4 °C under 1 mm 38 %
August 21.9 °C 1 mm 39 %
September 22.7 °C 2 mm 33 %
October 21.2 °C 21 mm 38 %
November 16.9 °C 46 mm 51 %
December 13.8 °C 90 mm 58 %

Data sources and method

Normal period
1991–2020
Dataset version
era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: comfort score, beach score, season boundaries. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.