Foggiest Place Not in the City/Pacifica/Half Moon Bay (San Jose: living, versus)

[04kL4nD]

San Bruno and Daly City come to mind. Berkeley and North Oakland as well.

[comingbacktocali]

ok, not in east bay nor populated but the top of san bruno mountain on Guadaloupe Canyon is ridiculously foggy and drippy. even when weather down below is stunning.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by Scorpion3510

Hi there!


What is the foggiest place and/or place with the most precipitation in the Bay Area? Specifically focusing on the East Bay.


I'm excluding the City, Pacifica, and Half-Moon Bay.


The more rain/fog the better!


Thanks!

There is barely any correlation between days / hours with coastal stratus and precip. For example, SF and Daly City at the 20 in precip line (which is the West Coast analog to the 100th Meridian, in the Great Plains).

Meanwhile, the highest precip spots are Kentfield and various unincorporated spots in the Santa Cruz Mts. While those spots get some coastal overcast, the amount they get is on par with Bayside communities and is far less than what you get at or near the beach.

Why is this?

Simply put, coastal overcast is a function of distance from the beach and / or position versus the fog gaps.

Precip is a function of orographic setting (e.g. are you on the western slope or ridges of mountains, eastern slope of mountains, on the flats east of mountains, on the flats west of mountains, impacted by the effect that bay has on air masses - it makes them descend due to the heat sinking effect, etc, etc).

[kgbnsf]

There is often a narrow line of fog that trails straight across the Golden Gate into the Berkeley area. I don't typically see a lot of fog in Alameda beyond the low clouds in the morning that most of the inner bay experiences, maybe the very northern (western) tip of the island.

Your definitely better off in SF or the peninsula for the fog.

[HockeyMac18]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

There is barely any correlation between days / hours with coastal stratus and precip. For example, SF and Daly City at the 20 in precip line (which is the West Coast analog to the 100th Meridian, in the Great Plains).

Meanwhile, the highest precip spots are Kentfield and various unincorporated spots in the Santa Cruz Mts. While those spots get some coastal overcast, the amount they get is on par with Bayside communities and is far less than what you get at or near the beach.

Why is this?

Simply put, coastal overcast is a function of distance from the beach and / or position versus the fog gaps.

Precip is a function of orographic setting (e.g. are you on the western slope or ridges of mountains, eastern slope of mountains, on the flats east of mountains, on the flats west of mountains, impacted by the effect that bay has on air masses - it makes them descend due to the heat sinking effect, etc, etc).

Here's your answer, OP. I was trying to explain this, but this is a more detailed (and scientifically-termed) answer.

Or, in other words, foggiest place (Probably Daly City along Skyline Blvd.) is not the same as wettest (somewhere in the mountains).


BayAreaHillbilly: do you know what the wettest "populated" area of the inner Bay Area is? I imagine a large percentage of the populated Bay Area cities sit in the rain shadows of the mountains to their west. This is why I was thinking places without any mountain shielding (SF or some of the East Bay cities directly east of the Golden Gate) might be near the highest?

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by HockeyMac18

Here's your answer, OP. I was trying to explain this, but this is a more detailed (and scientifically-termed) answer.

Or, in other words, foggiest place (Probably Daly City along Skyline Blvd.) is not the same as wettest (somewhere in the mountains).


BayAreaHillbilly: do you know what the wettest "populated" area of the inner Bay Area is? I imagine a large percentage of the populated Bay Area cities sit in the rain shadows of the mountains to their west. This is why I was thinking places without any mountain shielding (SF or some of the East Bay cities directly east of the Golden Gate) might be near the highest?

Kentfield normally wins the rain gauge award in any given rain event. Some other high-ish ones I've noticed (for some of these I'm stretching the definition of Bay Area a bit):
Santa Rosa
Boulder Creek
Scotts Valley
La Honda
Los Gatos
Woodacre
San Anselmo

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by HockeyMac18

That's a good question - there might be a bit more precipitation in the Berkeley/Oakland hills vs. the shoreline areas due to the slightly lowered temperatures as the clouds rise above the hills there. So, yes, I imagine the hills are slightly wetter.

My experience in these areas has mostly been in the flat areas.

El Cerrito, as well, especially the Berkeley side of it.

[49erfan916]

Daly City

[amyvegan]

are you considering renting or buying? maybe your question should be...which is the foggiest place that is AFFORDABLE? i live in pacifica....

[Scorpion3510]

Originally Posted by amyvegan

are you considering renting or buying? maybe your question should be...which is the foggiest place that is AFFORDABLE? i live in pacifica....

Was considering buying but I don't think "affordable" and "bay area" can go together in the same sentence. More of a intellectual pursuit at this point on what is the foggiest/wettest area that is not Pacifica or Daly City.