Spanish colonists founded Mission San Francisco de Asís on the site in 1776; the 1848 gold rush turned a settlement of about 1,000 people into a boomtown of 25,000 within a year. The city occupies a hilly, fog-prone peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, linked to Marin County by the Golden Gate Bridge, completed in 1937. Roughly 500 ships were abandoned in the harbor during the gold rush as crews deserted for the goldfields; many were scuttled and built over, their timbers still surfacing under downtown sites. Cable cars, steep hills and a compact 47-square-mile footprint shape a dense, walkable city now also the centre of the US AI and venture-capital industry.
Nights sit around 14°C and afternoons around 24°C, though some days reach 30°C.
The year in San Francisco moves gently: summer afternoons sit around 22°C, winter ones around 16°C.
Some summer days reach 27°C.
Most of the rain falls in winter, least in summer. In December it rains about 9 days in 30; in July, 0.
Wind is rarely an issue; most months sit between calm and a light breeze. Air quality is worth watching: December averages an AQI of 63, while July clears to 50.
Days stretch to about 14.6 hours of light in June and shrink to 9.4 in December — something to weigh if you work to a fixed timezone.
No month in San Francisco matches what you're after, so come for the place rather than the weather. Expect fast internet (345 Mbps) and a high cost of living (about €3850 a month).
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