Weather in San Francisco in July

Prime time. July is about as good as San Francisco gets. Highs average 22.8 °C, lows 12.5 °C, and rain falls on 0 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

July is the highest-scoring month of the twelve. The nearest rival is August, and the month at the other end of the year is December.

Rain is not a factor worth planning around this month. Nothing specialised needed — this is the month you pack for the trip rather than for the weather.

What the averages hide

The averages here are honest — no hidden extremes worth planning around. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest July day reached 33.9 °C and the coldest night fell to 9.9 °C.

July is dependably dry, and that reliability is the point: across the twenty years measured, the wettest July on record still only managed 8 mm, and the driest managed 0 mm. There is no meaningful variability to plan around, which makes this one of the few months anywhere that you can build a fixed outdoor itinerary against without a fallback. The wettest single day in twenty years of Julys brought 3 mm. Rain simply is not the variable that decides this trip — heat, crowds and cost are.

Wind is light at 8.5 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 74%.

How July sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 22.1 °C in June, 22.8 here, 23.6 in August. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in July

July is at or near the longest days of San Francisco's year: 14.5 hours of daylight, losing 0.6 hours across the month. Evenings are the real gain — dinner outdoors still happens in full light.

Sea temperature

The sea sits at about 14.5 °C in July — cold — a quick dip rather than a swim, and a wetsuit if you are in for longer. The sea peaks at 15.7 °C in September and bottoms out at 12.2 °C — water lags the air by a month or two, which is why the best swimming often comes after the best weather.

How busy it gets

Peak season. Expect the highest prices of the year and to be booking well ahead.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

July in San Francisco versus nearby

If San Francisco is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Napa is the weaker option in July — 11.1 °C warmer, the same number of rain days. San Jose is the weaker option in July — 8.4 °C warmer, the same number of rain days.

So: July is the answer for San Francisco. If it is booked out or priced out, August is the next best thing at 0 points behind, and December is the month to keep off the shortlist.

Every month in San Francisco

See all twelve months in San Francisco, or where else to go in July.