Holiday time in the San Francisco microclimates

Poinsettia! Full grown! In the Mission! 

The cheerful resident said its been here at least 20 years.

Yes, those red "petals" are actually "bracts", the little yellow things are the flowers. 

You can use that little fact to impress people at your holiday gathering, tell them you got it from your microclimate nerd realtor.  Ooh, and here's a cool microclimate weather forecast, (whole Bay Area) and here's that great app (SF only) to help you dress in the morning.

And then there's these guys...

Prickly pear and Bougainvillea. 

And on the west side of town, where these things will not grow...

Times are not easy and there is much suffering in the world. In lieu of more news about bidding battles I offer a little San Francisco Beauty as a tonic and as nutrition...  with my wishes for blessed holidays for all.

Foggy Foggy Foggy

SF Gate- Solar panels and fog

It's that time of year in San Francisco again, and even though I've lived in and out of the fog all my life, and blogged about it ad nauseum, it is still a shock and a clothing challenge every time I go from summer to winter, or winter to summer, in the same day.

SFGate

At a recent open house there was much discussion of where the fog line is. One man who'd lived on Schrader for years thought that was the line, others Masonic, and still others lobbied for Divisadero. As the marine layer expands and contracts the line moves, so it is hard to make accurate generalizations.

For you house hunters, here's one attempt at mapping the fog lines:

EnergySavvy

I'm also partial to this "super scientific" one from HeyNeighborhood:

Adrift, the magical fog video that went viral a few weeks ago is lovely if you haven't seen it.

Bernalwood Karl Eats Bernal

Settlers and Location Location Location

Inspired by today's open house on the sunny hidden culdesac of Houston Street in North Beach (er, technically Russian Hill), I am thinking about microclimate and historic settlement.

JK Hendricks

Did you know that Washington Square in North Beach was Jauna Briones's corral? She spent much of her youth in the El Polin Springs area. She and her husband moved to that funny little indent in the Lyon Wall on the east end of the Presidio- when her husband proved abusive, the resourceful Jauna moved to the east to farm in the sheltered valley near Yerba Buena Cove (which was closer to the water at that point) and later moved her ranch to the sunny climes of the Los Altos/Palo Alto area, which were more suited to ranching once the gold rush hit.

google books

To find the friendliest local microclimates, one can often look to the very earliest buildings. Once the boom and bust cycle hit San Francisco, real estate speculation encouraged construction beyond the most salubrious locations, but since the earliest settlers (unlike the soldiers in the Presidio) had the choice, they chose sunny sheltered relatively level spots near water. At Point Reyes, where real estate speculation was stopped by creation of the national park, you'll find the old homesteads, and remnants of homesteads, in beautiful sheltered dells.

PRWeb.com

National Weather Service Confirms- We Live in Super Microclimate Land!

The Comet Program

Scientists confirm (here) we live in Micro-Climate Landia! "Even during quiescent periods of mild and dry weather, the complex topography of our forecast area results in some interesting small-scale variations in weather conditions."

But you knew that. I have discussed it ad nauseum, in this post and many others. As have many other people. It's part of the glory that is this place. Being in the bright sun adjacent to fog, hearing foghorns and gulls and smelling the ocean can be so magical. Here is yet another explanation of fog behavior.

SF MOMA

Just yesterday someone told me about an area of 6 houses in a mini banana belt near Twin Peaks. You'll be happy if you chat up the neighbors about the climate, before you make that competitive offer. Not that you don't want to live in the fog, but you'll want to know you'll be living in the fog. or not.

Far Out Flora

In other news, the plant genious's that are Far Out Flora are back, and here's a great shot one of them took on their way into town, on one of those incredibly beautiful days early this week.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Why Winter is a Great Time to Look at Property Part 2


Yes yes, I know this is nothing compared to so many snow covered "real winter" places. My favorite Christmas card came from beloveds at Denali National Park in Alaska who say that the "only lights they see right now are the aurora borealis kind."  Sounds so magical, but brrrrr! Good thing they are snow people.

Still, within our own range of expected temperatures, it is cold right now, so naturally my thoughts turn to microclimate. Let us review what makes a home location colder or warmer within the range we expect here in the San Francisco Bay Area. We all know this intuitively somewhat, but I love to spell it out because I am a microclimate real estate nerd.

Wikipedia

Elevation: Cold air sinks. Besides being blocked from the sun by the surrounding hills, bottoms of valleys are where the cold air sits, and they are the first to frost. Large buildings can also act as hills creating canyon light and weather regimes.

Aspect: the direction the land faces determines how much light/heat it gets throughout the day, depending on the time of year.

Proximity to large bodies of water:  The ocean and San Francisco Bay have a moderating effect on the temperature. Closer to them it does not get as hot or as cold as it does farther away.

If you seek a frosty location for say, peony growing, a valley blocked from the immediate maritime influence might suit you. In that case you'll ideally want to be on the south facing slope, in a solid house with a thrifty furnace. Wherever you choose to live, there will be microclimate variables. If you want to grow things, you'll factor in the climate needs for your priority plants. If you're not a plant person, you'll still want to contemplate your personal warmth and light and wind (or lack thereof) preferences.

NBC Bay Area Weather

So again I say, it's a great time of year to be sussing out locations. No need to intellectualize it, your body will understand individual microclimates just fine.

Oh Fogust

I love the fog. Really I do. Except when it feels interminable and omnipotent. Swaddled in cottony cool grey it seems unbelievable there there is another green and sunny world a short drive away. From black and white world to color, and back again.  This time of year it is good to work on both sides of the bridge, if only to keep the vitamin D up. Bay Area microclimates continue to amaze me, in spite of spending most of my life here. Bill Martin, the Channel 2 Weather guy, says the marine layer is 2000 ft. thick and I believe him. Brrrr.

Bill Martin Meteorologist

I suppose it could be worse. I could just drive or bus or bike a few miles and be in the uplifting summer sunshine. Here's a photo from a friend who's been trying to get out of Antarctica for almost a week. That's some macroclimate for you.

David Rothstein

Why It's Chilly in San Francisco

KQED News

Driving back from Tahoe on Sunday, I looked longingly at the cloud wall over our fair city, so happy to be heading into the cool fog. Once here though, I felt like in the Wizard of Oz, only in reverse, from color to black and white. Unloading the car in the freezing wind in my summer clothes I felt more compassion for the underdressed tourists I passed on the way off the bridge.Oh boy, time to layer up and find some socks and some hot tea.

SFGate

Though I have lived with the fog phenomenon all my life, it never fails to shock me how quickly and dramatically the temperature can change. Thank heaven I had a t-shirt with me today, when my turtleneck sweater went from cozy to suffocating in about 5 minutes. KQED recently summed up the reasons for this, rather succinctly, but no matter how much I understand it, nor how familiar it becomes, it's still pretty nuts. Still, I'll take it over the heat elsewhere. and now, for the next twenty minutes at least, it's clear. and cool. Blessed be the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area.

Microclimates in Fogtown

Today in microclimate blather, we bring to you a video  from the Exploratorium's Science in the City. Most of what he is saying applies to Marin as well. Go over the other side of a hill from the coast, and you can usually get out of the fog. This spring and summer so far it's been mostly about wind.  Looks like warm and breezy for awhile, so make hay while the sun shines! For visual of the more or less real time wind situation, go to San Francisco Bay Wind Patterns. (This is a snapshot of June 27th I've inserted after realizing that since this image changes, linking to it on the site does not work.)

Pam Peirce sums it up pretty well too, and her book is really helpful to gardeners here. If you are in the real estate search, and you have dreams of growing food here, you may want to take a look. If you are set on tomatoes, I'd avoid purchasing property in most areas of 1,2,3 and 4, or else plan on a green house. Peas and chard and lettuce and kale grow great though. Same story in Marin. Forget tomatoes (maybe, in the most sheltered spots you'll have good luck with cherry tomatoes) in Bolinas, but on the east side of Tam have at it. Plenty of heat on the east side, especially in inland locations that lack direct gaps where wind and fog come through, like San Rafael and Novato.

Pam Peirce. Golden Gate Gardening: Year-Round Food Gardening in the San Francisco Bay Area and Coastal California. Sasquatch Books. 2002 

Happy Friday, whatever microclimate you find yourself in.

City Farmer News

Spring Winds

GGNPC

Please forgive my blogging sloth, I've gotten just a little bit involved (bless all the busy bees who are doing the real work) in the run up to the big celebration for the Golden Gate Bridge's 75th birthday, and real estate has been very interesting and time consuming of late. Also my grand plan to summarize micro-climate by real estate zone has been a little more complex then I first realized. It is pretty easy to do for places one has lived, but is harder to summarize accurately based on visits, as it changes with the seasons and the level of intensity in the fog cycle. Of course now we are firmly in the spring wind upwelling cycle which can be a little exhausting, though it is the reason we have such abundant sea life all around us.

My new plan for the area's I have not lived to is take walks with local experts to confirm my theories. While I am obviously obsessed with microclimates, and hope to provide helpful guidance, it is always a good idea to chat up the neighbors when you are looking at property. If you are a gardener, look at what plants are flourishing in the immediate surroundings. Even if plants are not your thing - befriend that long time resident with the well established garden, they will know the climate better then almost anyone.

Kate Campbell

Today's brief microclimate summary: Using my cool Weather Underground app and clicking on the weather station icon (online works also)   I see that it is 57 degrees with 33 mph NW winds blowing (gusting to 45 I would wager) at the Outer Richmond weather station. It is 69 degrees with minimal wind in the Financial District. I can also hear the roar of the wind and creaking of the building I am in near the beach. You can bet it is howling at the bridge. Forecasts predict the wind will mellow before the party, but bring your layers if you're coming.

Anne+MathiasMywedding.com

Macro Microclimate

Sometimes it just comes down to foggy at the coast, and clear inland. Simple as that.

Everything more micro is nuance, as the fog, wind and topography do their dance. Happy Friday folks, hope your climate suits you this evening.

Photo via

Bill Martin 2Meteorologist

about an hour ago

"This is a Visible Satellite image. Most images you see are Infrared images which use tempertures to create clouds. Visible Satellites just flat out take a photo graph. "

Microclimate - Outer Richmond

cocoi_m's photo stream

As promised, "microclimate by real estate zone" posts hereby begin. Here is the real estate zone map, via the Zephyr site, where you can see that Zone 1E is the in the far northwest corner of the city, extending west of 32nd Avenue out to Ocean Beach. It is surrounded by parks (GGNRA's Lands End to the north, and Golden Gate Park to the south) and ocean on three sides. 1E is one of the coolest parts of the city, temperature-wise, with fog often moving in from the beach, and pouring in the Golden Gate.

SFGate

The spring winds from the northwest hit this area first, and sometimes with the most force, because the wind accelerates when it finds the gap of the Gate, so both the north coast and Ocean Beach sides get plenty of wind. The new Lands End Lookout is brilliantly oriented with its back to the wind, which creates a wonderfully sheltered outdoor space in the lee of the building, and on days like today you can enjoy the awesome views from your cozy spot inside.

SFVA

There are some areas that are more sheltered than others, such as the coveted blocks of Sutro Heights, near Sutro Heights Park (below) on the south facing hillside below the far west end of Geary. Washington High School is at the top of the other large hill in the district, there are some warmer pockets east and south of there, and on each block there are more or less sheltered areas. Here is the Kelly's Cove weather station, for your use, should you be sweating in the Mission and thinking about the beach. Today's 33 mph winds probably nixed that idea. Kite surfers were happy though.

Poetic Shutterbug

If you are a heat lover, you may not be happy in the Outer Richmond. If you like it cool and fresh and quiet, with seagull sounds and salty air, and appreciate good food and a fun theater, 1E is for you. If you are park and ocean minded, you will love it. Many winter days are lovely, with sparkling clear skies, and less wind than in the spring. In the summer, the fog and sun dance can be very entertaining, and the fall, well, it's pretty heavenly.

Microclimate

During the Native Plant Garden tour hours yesterday I visited a beautiful garden in the outer Richmond district.  Chatting with the gardener (the talented Julie Swift of Wild Natives), talk turned to microclimate (surprise!) and she pointed out how many microclimates there are just within the property we were on. Most visually dramatic were two coffee berry plants, bought from the same nursery at the same time, and planted on opposite sides of the house. I got excitable in my microclimate nerdiness, and whipped out my phone to document this phenomena.

This little coffee berry is in the back yard, east of the two story house.

This big fat coffee berry is in the front, on the west side of the house, exposed to long hours of afternoon sun, unlike its small friend in the back yard. This was taken from further away- I shall have to perfect this microclimate comparison photography I see. But you get the gist- microclimate makes a difference!

The Bloom Continues - Native Plants and Succulents

My case of spring fever continues. So, apropos of microclimate perhaps more than real estate, here's a heads up on some weekend events for the plant minded. The California Native Plant Societies SF (Yerba Buena) Chapters Annual Garden Tour takes place this Sunday from 11-3, and it is a great opportunity to look at what grows well, where, in San Francisco.

Gwen Kelaidis Saxon Holt

On Saturday, from 10-4, in Marin, is the 36th Annual Native Plant Sale and Nursery Grand Opening. Also, Saturday in the Outer Sunset, the aforementioned Far Out Flora folks are having their moving sale, it starts at 9:00.

 

PlantedEarth

Native plants and succulents are often drought tolerant and tough, and do well in our climate with minimal care. Not to mention that many are SO gorgeous.

Spring Flora!

All this rain has sure greened things up at last. Birds singing, flowers blooming, time to garden! I was so sad to learn recently that the Far Out Flora bloggers are moving back to Wisconsin. Their enthusiasm and skill with plants adapted to Bay Area microclimates  is so inspiring. Their garden is/was in the Outer Sunset in  San Francisco. Meghan worked in Richmond at Annies Annuals and Matti worked at Flora Grubb Gardens  on the sunnier east side of SF in the Bayview.  Two of my favorite nursery's, so creative both Flora and Annie.  Their exposure to what really works in these seriously differing microclimates, plus their artistic backgrounds, make them a wonderful resource, and they will be seriously missed.

SF Botanical Garden

As a plant ecologist for years, I kept my passion for flashy horticultural joys a little under wraps, in favor of our magnificent native flora. These days, I can freely appreciate the beauty and function of "cultivars" ("a race or variety of a plant that has been created or selected intentionally and maintained through cultivation") as well as our lovely California wildflowers.

Alan Grinberg Mori Point

Speaking of cultivation, mark your calendars for the largest plant sale in California,  at the San Francisco Botanic Garden (Strybing). Also, the Larner Seeds awesome native wildflower demonstration garden in Bolinas is going off, if you feel like a field trip. Here are more resources for growing native plants, and here, here and here are resources for field viewing of the spring bloom.

BAWSCA

For you many food growers, Golden Gate Gardening is so helpful for our microclimates. As is the latest version of the Sunset classic Western Garden Book, which now has a plastic cover, the better for using with muddy hands. Their climate zones are more useful here than those of the USDA, being finer grained and including humidity, latitude and elevation, which give you a clearer idea of what you can really grow. They also have a fun on-line plant finder.

Happy Spring!

DavesGarden Cottage Garden Xeriscape

Build It Green - Community Design

OK, our final component of a green home, Community Design, and then we can get back to microclimate and trees.  While improving the efficiency and health of a tract home in a large suburban sprawl development is a good thing, even better is good community design in the first place, or adaptation of less efficient community structure to concentrate services, improve pedestrian access and expand open space.

SFStreetsBlog

"Livable communities enhance the quality of life while reducing impact on the environment. Pedestrian and bicycle friendly neighborhoods provide opportunities for exercising and meeting neighbors.  High density areas where work, shopping and school are all close by allow for less time driving and fewer greenhouse gas emissions from cars." The "new urbanism" everyone's transforming old cities with these days is our 5th green home component. There are multiple benefits to human and environmental health, not to mention enhanced real estate values.

SafeRoutesToSchools

 One of the major attractions of Marin and San Francisco is the abundance of open space adjacent to wonderful walkable communities. While a Google search will turn up conflicting rankings of healthiest cities, our fair metropolis is often touted as the "most walkable".  Preservation efforts, both of wildlands and historic character, by many valiant individuals over the years, have enhanced the quality of life here immeasurably. Worthy organizations such as SPUR, the Marin and San Francisco Bicycle Coalitions, Safe Routes to Schools and many others, continue to work to improve our communities usability and quality of life.

Livablecities.org

Warren Hellman's Farewell and Microclimate

Yesterdays miraculous beauty out at the beach for Warren Hellmans Memorial concert was such a gift. So many transcendent moments.  Not least among the gifts was the microclimate I was blessed to share with friends at the Banjo Stage, which had its back to the wind.

Funcheap

I'm such a microclimate nerd that I found a perfect lessons on the basics of golden gate microclimate at a beautiful memorial event (please forgive me Warren).

Wikipedia

Cold NW Wind, less beastly then the day before, nevertheless slowly built throughout the day. Our location was in the lee of the sturdy tent that was the Banjo Stage, just to the south of its shadow, and therefore with my back bathed in sun, and my face sheltered from the wind. In the Brant Ward photo below our spot was between the stage and the sound board.

The Chronicle

A visit to the banners, (along the fence at the end of Golden Gate Park) with all the pictures of Warren and his life, had me putting my jacket and scarf back on. Then taking them off again when back to our spot in the warm lee of the tent, no doubt annoying my friends with my repeated glee about our locations microclimate.

Warrens Banners

Microclimate really is micro. It is true that it is generally warmer on the east side (in the lee) of Mt. Tam and Twin and other peaks, but within each neighborhood, each block, each property, even each house there are warmer and cooler, sheltered and less sheltered spots. If you live here you know this already, if only unconsciously. When making the major investment of golden gate real estate, you'll be glad if you think about microclimate consciously before closing escrow.