I have heard and seen some explanations about why San Francisco gets very little snow, yet other coastal cities like Vancouver, St John's, Boston and New York all get snow, and in the latter 3 especially, a lot of snow.
Is it that San Francisco keeps getting easterly winds blowing from Hawaii? Here in SF we had some storms and most of that wind was said to have come from Hawaii or somewhere else in the South Pacific, which I guess would be warm winds.
Likewise, I have heard that coastal cities like Boston, New York and St John's get lots of snow due to cold winds in the Atlantic. Would that be the main reason why they get snow, but we here in SF do not? Or is it mostly the latitude?
However, the latitude would not explain why places like Albuquerque and Flagstaff get lots of snow despite being far south of San Francisco.
In the US we generally have winds with prevailing westerly winds. So, generally you have air from the pacific ocean moving onto the west coast while the east coast can get colder air from Canada instead of the ocean. Even though the Pacific ocean is generally cooler than the Atlantic in similar latitudes it still regulates temperatures a great deal along the coast.
Flagstaff and Albuquerque are both high in elevation. Albuquerque is around 1 mile above sea level and Flagstaff is a little higher. Hope that helped!
Easterly winds do not blow to SF from Hawaii. The reason for the moderate climate is the California Current maintaining a ~steady temperature. Welcome to California.
Vancouver is far enough north to get occasional arctic air to support snow, despite its typical maritime climate. Boston and New York get continental westerly winds which get plenty cold. San Francisco climate is dominated by mild maritime air and is too far south for arctic air or air cold enough to support snow, except for maybe once every few decades.