Is the weather here really this cold on average? (Seattle: home, university)

[Seahawksfan33]

It has been average below 50 in the past few weeks alone, and it's not even December yet!

[tobester]

Originally Posted by Seahawksfan33

It has been average below 50 in the past few weeks alone, and it's not even December yet!

How long have you lived here? This is very typical. IMO, November is the worst month of the year.

[Hemlock140]

Honestly, this has been one of the warmest falls I can remember in 22 years here. I'm in Sammamish at 600' elevation and we have not had any frost yet, normally we can have several frosts even by Halloween. This morning at 33 was the first time it went below about 39. Just wait, if you think below 50 is cold. I normally wear shorts at home any time it's 55 or higher. In a few weeks we can expect days below freezing, down to about 10F. I work in Seattle and it's always 4-6 degrees warmer there, but there is wind coming off the water that can make it feel colder. I consider November the worst too, not so much for the cold as the common damaging windstorms. We have had snow the week of Thanksgiving a few times, this morning it was very limited, but more areas could be expected to see it next Monday-Tuesday.

[mishigas73]

Originally Posted by tobester

How long have you lived here? This is very typical. IMO, November is the worst month of the year.

Agreed. This seems to be pretty "average" for November (at least in the past 8 years I've been here).

[MondoTime]

Nearly every day lately, the high temperature has been very near to the "average" high temp for the respective dates.

What has been missing has been the days which are significantly below-average temperature-wise.



In fact, on Friday, we failed to reach at least 50 degrees on a day for the first time in a record 285 consecutive days. (previous record had been 259 straight days of reaching at least 50 degrees). And even Friday's high temp was "49".

So while the temps have been "average", there just hasn't been anything pulling the averages down.


The 15-day forecast from this point has a whole lot of rain, and cooling temperatures, but generally cooling only slightly, as is normal for this point on the calendar.

[Polymorphist]

Cold?

Man, I came from cold and snow, it's anything BUT cold out this way. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just a wimp.

[homesinseattle]

I was in Vermont for university, -20 and -40 wind chill in winter. This is child's play.

[Hemlock140]

This morning we finally fell below freezing for the first time and had to defrost the car windshields, at 30F. Still OK in a light jacket.

[JasonJYoung]

For real, this is the BEST stretch of weather I've experienced in my life!

Gone are the days of oppressive Midwestern heat & humidity, ice storms, tornadoes, blizzards, hail storms, and sun/heat induced migraine headaches. You can actually breath fresh clean air here in Washington State and not feel like somebody rubbed a sticky cinnamon roll all over your body. Or, you step outside and your extremities go numb from the cold air.

The continuous days of cloudy, gloomy, drizzly weather are a dream come true. I'm being dead serious!

[Kayela]

For real, this is the BEST stretch of weather I've experienced in my life!

Gone are the days of oppressive Midwestern heat & humidity, ice storms, tornadoes, blizzards, hail storms, and sun/heat induced migraine headaches. You can actually breath fresh clean air here in Washington State and not feel like somebody rubbed a sticky cinnamon roll all over your body. Or, you step outside and your extremities go numb from the cold air.

The continuous days of cloudy, gloomy, drizzly weather are a dream come true. I'm being dead serious!

You are not alone. And if we didn't have that lovely, thick blanket of grey - things would be a lot colder. Many people forget just how far north Seattle really is due to the moderate temps.

However, the OP isn't alone either. There are many people here from warmer climes who can't wrap their head around anything under 70 degrees. And they are downright freezing at any temp below 45 (which you and I would likely still consider fleece jacket weather.

OP, I'm sorry to say but this is very typical (actually has felt a bit warm to me), and it's going to get colder over the next several months.