This Is Summer in San Francisco

San Francisco is shivering through its coldest summer in decades, as persistent clouds and chilly winds leave locals and tourists alike reaching for extra layers. Daytime highs have hardly escaped the mid-60s and July's average temperature was just 59.3 degrees—about a degree below what's typical. San Jose is also feeling the chill, running two degrees below normal, while Oakland has hit 75 degrees or higher just once in July, fewer times than it did in February, per the Los Angeles Times. Meteorologists say a high-pressure system that usually brings warmth is positioned farther west than usual, while a persistent low-pressure system over the Pacific Northwest and California is keeping skies cloudy and temperatures subdued.

The result is pronounced ocean upwelling—a process where strong winds bring colder, deeper water to the surface, cooling the coast. Farther inland, places like Redding and Orleans are enduring triple-digit heat, with wildfires a constant threat. But along the coast, "we're basically locked in ... sitting here under drizzle, clouds, in the cold," National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Mehle tells the Times. As the New York Times reports, workers painting the Golden Gate Bridge have had to use heaters to warm up the steel "on most days this summers." The chill isn't expected to lift anytime soon, but experts warn not to count summer out just yet as a late-season heat surge remains possible. San Francisco's hottest day on record—a sweltering 106 degrees—arrived in September 2017.