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Hello Everyone
My husband just got promoted and he will be transferred to Seattle in a couple of months. I am looking forward to this move however after a few research, I'm starting to get worried about..yes THE WEATHER!
After extensive research and a lot of forum readings, I finally understand the "it rains a lot over here" theory; now my question is what about the 200+ days of gloomy and gray sky? What does that mean exactly? Does it mean you can't even get a glimpse of sunshine? Nothing? Nada? Rien?
Is it so bad that you can't even see the sun? Is the sun playing peek a boo? or is it like that for some days and other days are partly cloudy?
Also how is the "lack of sun" affect the kids? We have an 8 months old and I want to know how bad this is really.My husband worked really hard and this promotion is well deserved but I am a sun lover and doesn't do well without it....I'm getting really worried....
Thank you so much and please HONEST answers only
PS: I would like to know how friendly Seattle people are as I would like my little one to be able to play with the neighbors once older. Thank you
It's overcast ~85% of the time from Oct to July. You can expect 5 days or so per month of at least partly sunny weather from Oct to July. It will rain lightly most of the time. July to Oct is at least partly sunny ~75% of the time from July to Oct.
The cloudiness is what really gets to people, not the rain. The rain here is more of a drizzle that can just be annoying...it's not usually a downpour like what you'll find in other cities. On some days the clouds can make things gloomy or a little dark, but most of the time it's still bright out...just not sunny. It's kinda similar to how L.A. can be really bright but very hazy/cloudy/smoggy on most days. Only ours isn't pollution.
Your kids will be fine, if you permit them to go outside and play. Please don't keep them inside just because it's raining or not sunny outside. They won't melt! Just put a rain coat and some fun rain boots on them and they'll be fine - it'll teach them not to be wimps. And kids have a much easier time making new friends than their parents do, I think. I wouldn't worry about it.
Hello Everyone
My husband just got promoted and he will be transferred to Seattle in a couple of months. I am looking forward to this move however after a few research, I'm starting to get worried about..yes THE WEATHER!
After extensive research and a lot of forum readings, I finally understand the "it rains a lot over here" theory; now my question is what about the 200+ days of gloomy and gray sky? What does that mean exactly? Does it mean you can't even get a glimpse of sunshine? Nothing? Nada? Rien?
Is it so bad that you can't even see the sun? Is the sun playing peek a boo? or is it like that for some days and other days are partly cloudy?
Also how is the "lack of sun" affect the kids? We have an 8 months old and I want to know how bad this is really.My husband worked really hard and this promotion is well deserved but I am a sun lover and doesn't do well without it....I'm getting really worried....
Thank you so much and please HONEST answers only
PS: I would like to know how friendly Seattle people are as I would like my little one to be able to play with the neighbors once older. Thank you
It is fairly gray most of the "School year" (October to May/June) but it's never as bad as people may say. There is sunbreaks periodically through the day, may be short but they happen. The weather here is extremely unpredictable, Some days it's absolutely gorgeous and 4 hours later it can be raining. We have kind of a "Prepare for all elements" vibe in the city. Layering up with most likely be the best option. Most teenage boys wear sweat jackets and basketball shorts, many of them with socks and sandals. You can also find many women wearing a Northface, Comfy pants (Yoga Pants, leggings, sweatpants) and Boots (like Uggs). But i'm getting side tracked. As a kid who was born and raised in the Seattle Area, your kids shouldn't have an worries outside as long as you don't worry about them getting sick. I play youth soccer, ran track, and played football in very wet, windy, cold, conditions and loved it! Nothing better then getting inside after, getting a cup of hot chocolate and eating some soup! If you are a true sun worshiper then I would suggest making frequent visits over the mountains (2 hours by car). There weather is much dryer and sunnier getting 300 days of sun in someplaces. The Summers here are amazing so if you can deal through the fall and winter months then you should be fine! Going up to the mountains to ski is a great way to have fun and get alittle sun on a good day!
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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The hardest thing for many newcomers is when we get a long period in spring without sun, a couple of years ago there were 33 days straight without an appearance and rain every one of those days. Much of the year there will be what the news/traffic reporters call "sun breaks" with an hour or two of sun between showers. If you are a sun lover you will have a hard time here except July 5-mid September.
Kids here play outdoors all year, rain or not, they just have to dress appropriately. Schools send them out for recess unless there's rare lightning or snow.
#1 advice I can give--make sure your home is light, bright and positioned to receive any light that will shine. If you can afford to find a home that has a view of the Olympics, some type of water, or just an open territorial view...it will make you appreciate and at least enjoy the views from the comfort of your home.
Visit the home in the morning and evening to see where the light falls and how much there is.
Big picture windows, solar tubes, and skylights.
I struggle with the cloudy days but being able to 'see' the weather and the brief glimpses makes it a lot better. If you can, try finding a home with windows or glass doors that faces the sunsets... Sun tends to come out randomly in the evening and it's beautiful to watch.
#2 Invest in hooded, warm, light duty parkas, socks, and nice rainboots immediately. Set the tone from the beginning for yourself and your kids that you're going to get up and seize the day! If you're warm and dry it's actually very refreshing to be out in the weather...it smells so amazing and coming home feels so much better instead of feeling stuck in the house.
My kids don't necessarily love the rain to play in like a kid might in AZ or somewhere that rain is a joy...but kids here still do it all in the rain, ride bikes, muck around in the yard, etc. It's more about just making that effort to get out and do something...anything.
#3 Save money for trips to Eastern WA or back to sunny locales in February or March.
I wouldn't worry about the kids as the majority of children are adaptable. Quite frankly I think parenting is not that different than when I lived in the midwest, except instead of snow, we're avoiding rain. Rather, they avoid the rain.. I take advantage of any opportunity to get outside...
I think your concerns are quite valid and if you already profess yourself to be a sunworshiper then you are extremely likely to hate the climate. It's just a fact: loads of clouds for 7-9 months, lots of light rain. There are breaks, it can be peek-a-boo, you might even get some sun for a couple hours... but they didn't name places "Cloud City Cafe" and "Rain City Burgers" just for the sake of it.
As others have mentioned, the spring is the hardest. It's when people like me, who love this weather, feel like throwing ourselves out the window (the smarter, wealthier of us get on planes to Hawaii and Cabo).
I don't know what to tell you....
As for the kid thing. Well, for future reference I would suggest you consider Issaquah Highlands as a point of comparison for neighborhoods. It's kid city here. On nice days my kids can be outside for hours with 20 others.
When it rains or is overcast I like to go outside anyway. Call me a romantic (or maybe desperately seeking the silver lining), but the different layers of clouds interest me. It's the only city where you consistently get layers of cloud cover that billow / roll UP the hill from the coast, join really fast, dark clouds above, and then have something of a middle layer as well. In a way it is artistic.
Then the grayness hits home and you realize "cloudy day is cloudy." C'est la vie.
That's the reality of living here. You have to enjoy the sun when you can. People at work, if they can take it, go outside when the sun starts coming out.
Most of the time though the clouds aren't very thick and the sunlight is filtered through. The effect is what artists love, which is a uniform lighting without much in the way of shadows. It allows an unbiased view of things, even your house. That neat or cute color may look just peachy in the sun in the summer months where we go weeks and weeks without rain, but in the winter you realize "oh, that board is coming loose" or "gotta touch up that area there" and "those f8*@&ing pigeons bombed that spot!" Rarely do you have dark dark clouds that blot out the sun totally, like where I came from in the midwest, where thunderhead clouds turned day into night and literally fooled the street light sensors to thinking to turn on.
RE: kids, don't worry, 99% of kids go outside when it's cloudy anyway. Just the other day saw a high school team using the football field for practice in the mist.
I lived west of the Cascades for eight months and it was the worst eight months of my life due to weather. That said.....this is what I would do now. For a 25 years I lived in fear that I would be "offered" a promotion over there that I could NOT refuse. So this was my plan.
Slan 490 has the most important point. Get a light, airy house. Do NOT buy a home in the woods!!!
The other point that few mention but it really affected me is the bone chilling cold with the wind, high humidity, and temperatures in the 40's. So you really need a place to get warm...very warm at least some of the time.
I would get a house with a wood burning stove. Yeah, it pollutes but there is nothing like wood heat to chase that bone chilling cold away. Get a small greenhouse and outfit it with a table, recliners, etc. Get some electric heat in there. Stay out there as much as possible.
Find someplace to swim during the winter. There is nothing like swimming to chase away that cold.
Do your vacations in winter. January is a very cheap travel month. Find a place that you can spend two or three weeks away from Seattle. This means Hawaii or Mexico....San Diego area might make the grade.
Eastern Washington. Well, join the traffic jams coming over the mountains. We have a vacation rental outside Leavenworth and have families that spend three or four weekends a year just to get out of the weather. The problem is that we cannot promise clear skies every time someone books a stay. However, the worst weather day in eastern Washington is still better than the average weather day in western Washington.
I would find a campground, campspot or vacation rental that you visit frequently. That way you get a sense of weather over here. You have to learn to interpret weather forecasts......they are different. For example, a 50% chance of rain in Seattle means it will rain 50% of the time during the day. In eastern Washington 50% chance of rain, means exactly that. There is a 50% chance you will get NO RAIN. I don't worry about rain until the forecast hits 60% around here. Find some webcams over here and track them with forecast for the area.
Be aware that the weather is just as cloudy in eastern Washington in December and January as it is west of the Cascades. It really improves in mid-Feb and by mid-March is fairly sunny and pleasant.
IF and when you get a sunny day in Seattle. STOP work and go outside and sit in the sunshine. I made the mistake of waiting for the NEXT sunny day several times and it turned out to be months!!
I always wondered if my negative reaction to living west of the Cascades could have been tempered by some proactive moves. I thought long and hard about coping with it the NEXT time, but fortunately I got to retire prior to being transferred to the WET side.
Good luck. I would give it a go. The clouds might not affect you for a few years. Our daughter moved to Seattle five years ago. She is getting sick of it now. Not bad for a kid that was almost two before she saw it rain in eastern Washington!!
I would be concerned about the kids. We have noticed that kids from western Washington are "inside" kids. Many have never learned to play or do things outside. Our vacation rental is very kid friendly both inside and out and we have noticed that are most best clients are the kids. It is them that badger their parents to come over.....that changes at about 12....no cable, poor internet connections, and just a large meadow to explore does not have the attraction in the teen years.
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