What to Wear in San Francisco in January

Pack for the switch. NOAA's figures for SFO make January the coldest month by a fraction, at 14.4°C by afternoon and 6.9°C at dawn, and give it 3.89 inches of rain on about 11 days. Seven of those days bring a tenth of an inch or more and two and a half bring half an inch, so a wet day is a real storm. The other 20 are dry, and in January the sun stays low all day. So the capsule has two jackets on one base. A hooded shell goes over a charcoal roll-neck for the storm days; a rust cord overshirt replaces it on the dry ones. Leather lug boots and a waxed bag work in both. From 20 to 23 January the king tides, the highest high tides of the year, peak at the Golden Gate in mid-morning.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Dark teal hooded rain shell, hip length

   Wear it on the storm days and leave it in the room on the clear ones. NOAA counts about 7 January days at SFO with a tenth of an inch of rain or more, and on those days the hills and crosswalks are wet all day. A hooded shell keeps your hands free for a cable car pole, and dark teal reads as a colour against the grey of a wet street without clashing with the rust overshirt.

2. 
   02

   Charcoal cable-knit roll-neck

   January edges December as the coldest month at SFO, and dawn averages 6.9°C with sunrise at about 7:25am in the first week, so breakfast happens in the cold and half-dark. A charcoal cable roll-neck covers the neck that a crew leaves bare under an open shell, and the wool stays warm when a sleeve gets wet. It goes under both jackets and dresses up with the oat wool trousers.

3. 
   03

   Rust wide-wale cord overshirt

   This is the jacket for the 20 dry days. On a bright 14°C afternoon a rain shell is too much and a knit alone is too little, and an unlined corduroy overshirt sits between them. Rust against charcoal gives the capsule its warm note, and the chest pockets carry a phone and a Clipper card for the hop between neighbourhoods.

4. 
   04

   Heather oat wool trousers, pleated, turn-up hem

   Wool is the fabric to wear on a 7°C morning that turns wet at eleven: it keeps its warmth when damp, where cotton chinos go cold and cling. Heather oat sits softly between the charcoal knit and the rust overshirt, the pleats give a 14°C afternoon room to move, and the turn-up hem stops at the ankle, clear of a wet kerb and showing off the boots. Wear them to dinner with the roll-neck.

5. 
   05

   Black straight-leg jeans

   Black denim hides a splash from a passing bus and a wet cable car seat, and a straight leg sits cleanly over a lace-up boot. These are the storm-day trousers, when a pale wool would show every splash, and the dry-day trousers with the cord overshirt when you want a darker base than oat.

6. 
   06

   Dark brown lace-up leather boots, lug sole

   One pair for eleven wet days and twenty dry ones. Smooth, sealed leather sheds a storm that would stain suede in a block, a stacked lug sole grips the wet hills between Nob Hill and North Beach, and laces hold the ankle steady on a steep descent. Dark brown works with both the oat wool and the black jeans.

7. 
   07

   Olive waxed-canvas crossbody

   Waxed canvas beads a shower off and the full flap keeps it out of the bag, which matters on a storm morning when your phone lives in it. Worn across the body it leaves both hands free for a cable car rail, and olive ties the teal shell, the rust overshirt and the brown boots together.

8. 
   08

   Olive cotton baseball cap

   The dry days are the reason. In mid-January the sun at noon stands only about 31 degrees above the horizon, so it sits low in your eyes along east-west streets through the afternoon. A soft olive cap puts a brim between your eyes and that glare, and it keeps drizzle off your face on a day that cannot decide.

A suggested look — dark teal hooded rain shell, charcoal cable roll-neck, black straight jeans, dark brown lace-up lug boots.

What to avoid

• Suede — about 7 January days bring a tenth of an inch of rain or more
• Canvas sneakers — soaked on the first storm morning
• A down parka — afternoons reach 14°C / 57°F
• Leaving the shell in the room on a clear morning — about 11 of 31 days are wet
• Boarding a cable car at Powell and Market without a prepaid fare — required from 8am to 8pm