California coast in winter?

For much of the coast February isn't going to be much different than Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan etc... Yes it will be a little cooler than the summer months in some spots and as such the winds wind will also be a little colder but still much nicer than most places. Good thing about that time of year is that the crowds are usually much smaller!

The other thing about the Calif coast is that the weather is fairly predictable -- NOAA can look out seven days or so, with pretty good accuracy, since our weather comes from the Aleutians in the winter. So if your timing is flexible, you can duck in a trip during a week of high pressure, in between rain storms.

I'm thinking Highway 1 might be a good thing to explore this winter. We have been in SF in March and had a great time since we like cool weather. So I'm wondering what your estimate of really bad (cold, slashing wind and rain) vs ok (cloudy, cool, occasional showers) might be based on your experience. I think we would range from Sf to Oxnard. Probably go in Feb. Thanks in advance!

Winter is often the best time weather wise to visit the coast. There is just about no place where the wind blows more than in Washoe Valley, Nevada. Even the great American author, Mark Twain, in his book 'Roughing It' talked about the Washoe Zephyrs, but that was in Washoe Valley Nevada not the California coast. He did add that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. Go in the winter to Bodega Bay and north and the weather is usually very mild. I have camped many times in winter and it has always been good. It can rain but that usually is for a short period. As you now live in Washoe Valley you will need to adjust when getting to the coast to the notion that a gentle afternoon breeze is not a 50 mph wind and it can be perfectly normal for the wind not to blow at all, unlike what it usually does at home.