Damn, is it chilly.
Even in a city known for frigid summers, the last few months have been unseasonably cold. The period from May to mid-July was the region’s coldest in more than 30 years, according to Roger Gass, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
So all you twentysomethings, layer up: You’re living through the coolest San Francisco summer of your lives.
“We’re not seeing any considerable warm-up in the near future,” Gass said. “I would expect us to get some warm events in August and September, but it’s very hard to predict this far out.”
Downtown San Francisco this month has seen an average temperature of 59 degrees, NWS data shows. Gass said a low-pressure system over the coast is pushing chilly ocean air into the city, which typically heats up in the late summer as offshore winds start to push out the marine layer.
Locals are feeling the effects. So are visitors.
Nick Brooks, who manages the $10 Hoodie Store at Fisherman’s Wharf, has seen the weather phenomenon Gass explained firsthand. He said unprepared tourists often flock to his shop after being caught layerless.
“That water gets cold, and when the wind comes up, it comes right down this block like a river,” Brooks said from Jefferson Street. “It’s freezing, especially when it gets later in the day.”
Even residents of the city’s typically toastier neighborhoods are feeling the chill.
“I have so many cute summer tops that I can’t wear,” said Isabella Borkovic, a 22-year-old software engineer who lives in the Lower Haight.
The South Bay native, who moved to the city a year ago, said she has started dropping the phrase “June gloom” in conversations daily.
“There’s not even a corresponding phrase for July, but there should be,” Borkovic said while on a break from work in the Mission. “All my coworkers, every time I complain, they’re like, ‘Just wait, Isabella, it’ll get better in August.’ But I’m starting to not believe them.”
(Bad news, Isabella: They’re lying to you.)
Not everyone is daunted by the diminished temperatures. Pete Sferra, a nudist who frequents the Castro, said it’s been business as usual for him and his layer-averse comrades.
“I’ve actually been enjoying quite a few nude strolls this year,” he said. “I just pick and choose the days.”
Sferra has logged 963 nude walks in his journal. He expects to hit 1,000 by the end of the year. But even he is selective about nude-strolling weather.
“I’m not going to be out there on the street if it’s freezing,” he said, “but we get plenty of weather that’s nice enough to go roam around au naturel.”
