San Fran friends , I need your advice

[Tink3815]

Here is my dilemma. We are planning a fall trip. Flying into to San Jose from the east coast on Saturday. Plan to recoup from jet lag and visit the Winchester House on Sunday. Taking the rental car down to Monterey to see a bit of the coast and hopefully having time to visit the Redwood state park near San Jose on the drive back to San Fran. Thinking we would get back into San Fran on Tuesday or Wednesday and stay for the in the city until we leave on the following Monday.
Our dates right now are Nov 9th to Nov 18th. I am worried about the weather being too cold and rainy in Nov. We do have the option of switching to a month earlier Oct 12 to Oct 21, but the San Fran hotel cost will be double, (but doable for us). How much difference is their really in the weather in between the months. We won’t have a car in San Fran so a lot of walking. Also worried about the fog from the rain near the cost on the curvy mountain roads.
Any input would be great.

 

[gatorfreud]

Well, you pretty much have it right... October is usually our best weather. November can be really rainy... or not. I just depends. Also not 100% good weather in October. It's kind of a crap shoot really... better chances in October, but no givens. Fleet week is always one of the first Oct weekends (but I think no Blue angels this year, not sure about fleet week)... and most years it is GORGEOUS, but 2 of the past 10 or so it was so yucky and foggy the blue angels couldn't fly. I don't know if I would pay double to change.

I haven't been to Monterey in those months, but I think their weather is usually similar to ours. Again, unpredictable. You can always drive the main roads if needed. Best chance of non-foggy weather (where we are anyway) is between 12-3... sometimes takes awhile to burn off, and sometimes rolls right back in around 3!

I don't think that helps too much...

Kim

 

[pharmama]

I concur with PP.

October will likely be (significantly) better weather (Sept-Oct are usually our best months) but weather is never guaranteed here. Fleet week is indeed Oct 10-14 but, as PP mentioned, the Blue Angels are not flying so there will likely be reduced activity (however, this might be playing into your hotel rates going up). Monterey is generally a bit cooler than SF but similar. October also likely to be a fair bit better than November there too.

Also, in general, the fog here isn't so low as to cause issues with driving (though that can occur its not the norm).

One other note- if you want to talk like a local, we call San Francisco "The City" (not San Fran, or, even worse 'Frisco)