🇺🇸 Portland vs 🇺🇸 San Francisco

Portland in the Willamette Valley between the Coast Range and Cascades has a classic Pacific Northwest marine climate. The city is famous for its mild, rainy winters and warm, sunny summers. The 2021 Heat Dome brought temperatures to 116°F, shattering records and causing hundreds of deaths — an extreme event showing climate change impacts on a city with minimal air conditioning.

San Francisco's climate is shaped by its position on a peninsula surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. The coastal fog (Karl the Fog) rolls in through the Golden Gate each summer afternoon, keeping temperatures mild year-round. The city has dramatically different microclimates — the Sunset District fog-bound while the Mission basks in sun on the same day.