Karl The Fog: You’re Doing Amazing (at Keeping Us Cool), Sweetie
A microclimate flex brought to you by the SF Bay Area’s foremost marine layer
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Europe is on fire. Record temperatures are being recorded across the United States. Southeast Asia continues observing some of the most searing forecasts ever recorded on earth; 120F highs hit New Dehli this month, which are capable of causing hyperthermia in as little as 10 minutes.
But here in San Francisco? Thanks to Karl The Fog’s ever-welcomed embrace over the city, our expected high today, July 21st, remains around 65F.
ABC7 meteorologist Drew Tuma — who remains the utmost cheeky source for San Francisco weather forecasting — pointed out the glaring difference between SF’s temps and others expected in the country today on Twitter. Tuma’s caption connected to a screenshot splaying forecasted high temperatures for major cities in the United States was simple, yet effective: “lol San Francisco.”
And laugh-out-loud, indeed. But this, too, is also a moment to reflect just how vulnerable our 49-square-mile city is to the climate crisis.
Since the 1950s, Todd Dawson, a professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley who looked at historical fog records from coastal stations and airports, found a 33% reduction in fog frequency since the early 20th century. SF’s famous fog also returns to San Francisco in shorter intervals; the region’s fog lingers about three hours less per day than it did in the 1950s; “Fogseason,” which generally runs from June through August, has also become increasingly short, especially since the 2000s.
