Clothes at Stanford

<p>As I am now starting to pack all the items in my suitcase, I am wondering what kind of clothes I should take with me to Stanford. I heard the climate is generally warm, but could be cold in the nighttime. Any advice on clothes? I'm an international and not really familiar with the local climate, so any help is appreciated.</p>

<p>A student there told me that during the first 3 weeks or so, it'll be warm, so bring t-shirts and shorts. After that it'll start getting chilly, so layers and jeans will be good - you won't need any thick coats until the winter quarter, when it gets to be very cold (this is from someone used to Kuwaiti weather) so you can pack that during the Christmas break. You'd best hear from a local, though, cos this is only a secondary source :) Also, it depends on what you're used to I suppose - a friend of mine who lives in London now wears parkas in the springtime, so...</p>

<p>I've lived an hour and a half (ish) away from Stanford all my life, and I think my weather is probably pretty close to Stanford weather. Right now temperatures range from mid-70's to mid-90's during the day (it's a little cooler in the mornings and evenings), and that'll probably last a while... fall weather is gorgeous, warm-but-not-hot and breezy. Winter it gets a bit colder (50s/60s maybe? I don't pay that close attention) sometimes and rains. Spring is perfect weather again, and then summertime has some heat spells but thankfully no humidity and overall isn't too bad.</p>

<p>Basically... it's probably possible to get through the entire year in jeans and a t-shirt (just wear flip-flops when it gets warmer and a sweatshirt when it gets colder), though shorts/capris are nicer than jeans on warmer days. And you'll never need anything warmer than a sweatshirt (or jacket, or a couple layered shirts) and an umbrella.</p>

<p>Thank you all for the advice. I didn't know that I just need to bring sweatshirts for the cold season. Well, I've been used to the fairly rainy European climate with really cold winters, it's slightly hard to imagine what the actual life in Stanford would be like. Anyhow, thanks for the advice. They were very helpful.</p>

<p>Yeah, you won't need any serious winter-wear, especially because you're coming from someplace colder. This last March my school hosted some exchange students from Massachusetts (I know, random)... all the Californians were wearing sweatshirts or jackets and apologizing for how cold it was, and they were wearing flip-flops and thrilled by the weather. Anyway, point is, cold is in the eye of the beholder...</p>

<p>It does rain kinda hard (by our standards :p) sometimes, though. So bring an umbrella for sure, and a light jacket if you don't wanna wear a sweatshirt in the rain, hehe.</p>

<p>The rainy season is from September to February, and then it barely rains a drop of the rest of the year. Temperatures are pretty consistent and range from 55-75 during winter to 75-95 during summer. At night, it gets about 15-20 degrees cooler than it was during the day, so be sure to bring a jacket or coat. It almost never gets below freezing, so you don't need a heavy down jacket if you're from a cold place like Chicago.</p>

<p>Rain absolutely comes down during March and April, sometimes May too... I've been living here for 13 years and there has never been a March without rain. That said, im_blue is right about the temperatures.</p>

<p>My mistake about the rain. According to climate reports, the average days of precipitation per month are: 10, 9, 9, 5, 3, 1, 0, 0, 1, 3, 7, 9. So the rainy season is about November to April. In any case, it sure beats Chicago where it rains 10 days out of every month of the year!</p>