The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco. — falsely attributed to Mark Twain 1 This quote has become an inextricable part of the common lore of San Francisco. It is spoken so often it is beyond cliché, an urban epigram tossed out to explain our indecipherable weather patterns to the uninitiated – those summertime visitors who expect ‘sunny California’, only to be pummelled by swift winds and enveloped in fog. Despite this unpredictability, the lack of traditional seasons and the ubiquitous fog, we love our weather in San Francisco. And though we often complain about it, we get a secret joy from seeing tourists in July stranded on the cable cars, desperately clutching their Bermuda shorts and sun dresses against bitter damp winds. Our intimacy with the weather sets us apart from them – we draw our identity from our weather, just as a culture of shared hardship binds people in icy northeast winters, or the nine months of rain in Seattle. In our heroic narrative of survival, we tend to oversimplify the weather patterns of the Bay; fog and cold sticks in our minds, overshadowing a more complex and relatively benign climate. The temperature generally stays within 45-65° F [7-18°C], with many months in the lower 70’s, and rarely straying below 40 degrees [20/4°C]. While we do have our rare days where temperatures approach freezing, or the occasional ‘heat waves’ where several days can linger in the upper 80s [low 30sC], we can thank the stabilising presence of the water surrounding us on three sides for these comparatively mild fluctuations, and for the temperate climate that results. But climate, as a generalised description of average fluctuations in weather, does not tell the entire story. It does not, for instance, account for the often counter- intuitive timing of weather changes and the resulting subversion of traditional seasonal patterns. In the summer the unique mechanics of the marine layer produced by chilly arctic waters heading southward along our coast, combined with hot masses of air rising from the Central Valley, produces a fairly regular pattern of sunny days suddenly interrupted by evenings of stampeding fog. This heavy cloud blanket is sucked up into the Central Valley, where it lingers for a few too many days until it no longer feels welcome, then retreats back to the ocean, starting the pattern over again. This foggy season is bracketted by two ‘real’ summers: one in early May before the cycle starts, and another in late September as the waters finally warm up and high pressure lingers for weeks at a time. urbanism | public weather by christopher a roach weathervanes anticipating climate changes public space weather protection enclosure methodology comfort
La Boulange offers little sun or protection from wind, but still attracts a few diners. Café Claude uses the full array of wind screens, awnings, umbrellas, and heat lamps to keep diners cosy. DeLessio’s patio exhibits one of the more elaborate ‘temporary’ interventions on the public way, verging on fully enclosed space.
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On Site review 21: stormy weather
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