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Pack layers in every month. The city’s own visitor page says to always bring layers, including a warm jacket, because the weather changes by neighborhood and the coast is colder, windier and foggier. The table below turns NOAA’s monthly averages into a short packing line for each month.
The averages are NOAA’s. The packing lines are our suggestions, not an official list.
Temperatures and rain: NOAA 1991-2020 monthly normals, San Francisco downtown station, as printed on our When to Go page, which read the NOAA file on 27 October 2026. Layer advice: City of San Francisco visitor safety page, read 3 November 2026.
Packing by Month
| Month | High / low (°F) | Rain (in) | Pack | See |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58 / 47 | 4.40 | Warm layers and a hooded rain jacket. Shoes that can get wet. Long pants. | January events |
| February | 60 / 48 | 4.37 | Warm layers and a hooded rain jacket. Shoes that can get wet. | Events by month |
| March | 62 / 49 | 3.15 | Layers and a rain jacket. A sweater for evenings. | Events by month |
| April | 63 / 50 | 1.60 | Layers and a light jacket. A rain jacket in the bag, since showers still happen. | Events by month |
| May | 64 / 51 | 0.70 | A light jacket over a shirt, plus a sweater. Rain is rare, but evenings run cool. | Events by month |
| June | 66 / 53 | 0.20 | A warm jacket or fleece, even though it is summer. Long pants for the waterfront. | Events by month |
| July | 66 / 54 | 0.01 | A warm jacket or fleece and long pants. The driest month, and still cool. | Events by month |
| August | 68 / 56 | 0.06 | A warm jacket or fleece and long pants. Almost no rain. | Events by month |
| September | 70 / 56 | 0.10 | Shirts for the day and one warm layer for the evening. The warmest month. | September events |
| October | 70 / 54 | 0.94 | Shirts for the day and one warm layer. A light rain jacket just in case. | October events |
| November | 64 / 51 | 2.60 | A hooded rain jacket, a sweater, long pants and shoes that can get wet. | November events |
| December | 58 / 47 | 4.76 | Warm layers, a hooded rain jacket and shoes that can get wet. Rain is heaviest. | December events |
Every Month
Clothes
- Three layers you can add or shed
- A warm jacket
- Comfortable shoes for steep streets
- A hooded rain jacket from November to March
Papers and Phone
- Hotel address saved in your phone
- Ticket confirmations, offline copies
- Muni and Clipper plan (see the one-pager)
- AlertSF: text your ZIP to 888-777
For the Car
- Nothing valuable left inside
- Parking rules checked for your block
Before You Leave Home
- Check this week’s events
- Check closures for your dates
The shoe and ticket lines are our own practical advice. The layers and jacket line comes from the City of San Francisco’s visitor page. For the longer weather story, read San Francisco weather and what to wear.
What We Could Not Confirm
- NOAA’s averages are for the downtown station and hide microclimates and single bad weeks.
- Wind, sun and fog by month. We did not read a National Weather Service statement on them, so the table gives none.
- Event month pages exist only for September 2026 through January 2027. Other months link to the events-by-month hub.
- Anything medical or health-related. We leave it out on purpose.
Next step: fill in the one-page plan.
More Practical Pages
Sources
- NOAA NCEI, 1991-2020 monthly normals, San Francisco downtown: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/normals-monthly/1991-2020/access/USW00023272.csv (read 3 November 2026)
- City of San Francisco, Visitor safety information: https://www.sf.gov/visitor-safety-information-for-san-francisco (read 3 November 2026)