Advice from other Desert Dwellers (better, used, catch)

[glwillia]

Originally Posted by meramos

Thank you! This is so helpful. I wonder if it's as bad as getting depressed by the constant sun here. It's so hot, I find it unpleasant to enjoy the outdoors from May-September, then it's nice in October (although this year it was 90's til the middle of October. November is crap shoot, usually nice. December to February can be cold, sometimes a few weeks in the 60's. It's beautiful right now, and April is nice but often windy. And then we start the cycle all over again. Sometimes May is nice, but I've seen plenty of Mays in the 90's.

I really want more variety of weather and more outdoorsy stuff. I just am scared off by the "9 months of gray" I see so much on the boards. I think that would depress most anyone!

I was way more depressed weather-wise in Phoenix than here (it doesn't help that I'm very white and sunburn within 10 minutes of being outside). It's slightly annoying when it rains because I can't really go hiking, but I find other things to do, and the summers here are great. I do take Vitamin D though, per my doctor's recommendations.

[Wheatridger]

I feel your pain, meramos. Here in Denver, it seems like summer's heat follows winter's cold after only a hint of Spring. That's why I've come to appreciate Seattle's climate. I've visited Puget Sound four or five times in the past two years as my daughter's settled into college in Tacoma. In that short time, I've seen several "wettest day in history" events, but it wasn't the rain I remember-- it's the lush vegetation, green all year, the freshness of the air with a welcome absence of dust, and the gorgeous sunbreaks and rainbows. The only time I wasn't happy with the weather was last August, when drought bred fires that spread all over the area. That reminded me too much of Denver. It's ironic how a long string of "perfect" days adds up to a natural disaster.

I just came back from a week up there when the sun was shining (mostly) and rain was absent (almost). Local weather guru Cliff Mass announced that Spring had sprung, and it would last 4 1/2 months. That sounds like heaven to me. I'm not a Goth, a bloodsucker or a miserable depressed person, but I do enjoy a little rain and cloudiness... and I'm up for trying out a lot of rain in fact, after several decades in a semi-arid environment. I grew up in the South, them moved away forever- but it wasn't because of the rain. If you're feeling like this, you just ought to try a year or two of PNW weather and see how it suits you.

[Adamson865]

Portland native, now in desert central, Palm Springs. Temps are already starting to ramp up; we've already hit 90 a few times in February and it was 92 today. But, there's a possibility that I'll be looking at a great job opportunity somewhere in the Brier - Mountlake Terrace vicinity this summer. I'm working through the dread of packing a moving truck when it's 115 out, but I'm also having serious thoughts about whether I can handle the NW again. Obnoxious posts above aside, there are some of us who genuinely have a seasonal disorder - yes, I saw the doctors, and I have the T-shirt and the medical bills to prove it - and my choice to alleviate my SAD was to move somewhere sunny. So, the job opportunity is going to have to be extra special and the pay will have to be commensurate (Seattle is more expensive than Palm Springs) to allow me to consider light therapy. Yes, there are some people who sit and whine when it rains, but SAD is real and the obnoxious "walk it off" type comments aren't helpful.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by rah62

Portland native, now in desert central, Palm Springs. Temps are already starting to ramp up; we've already hit 90 a few times in February and it was 92 today. But, there's a possibility that I'll be looking at a great job opportunity somewhere in the Brier - Mountlake Terrace vicinity this summer. I'm working through the dread of packing a moving truck when it's 115 out, but I'm also having serious thoughts about whether I can handle the NW again. Obnoxious posts above aside, there are some of us who genuinely have a seasonal disorder - yes, I saw the doctors, and I have the T-shirt and the medical bills to prove it - and my choice to alleviate my SAD was to move somewhere sunny. So, the job opportunity is going to have to be extra special and the pay will have to be commensurate (Seattle is more expensive than Palm Springs) to allow me to consider light therapy. Yes, there are some people who sit and whine when it rains, but SAD is real and the obnoxious "walk it off" type comments aren't helpful.

It makes no sense to move back if you have SAD. No sense at all. There are places in the middle, you don't have to go from one extreme to the other.

[Adamson865]

Originally Posted by Seacove

It makes no sense to move back if you have SAD. No sense at all. There are places in the middle, you don't have to go from one extreme to the other.

No, there are no places in the middle when it comes to this particular job opportunity, which is only available in one location. The climate is one of many factors I have to consider, and by no means is it a done deal.

There are people who have SAD who do manage to survive and thrive in the rainy climate, whether through lightbox therapy, pharmacological means, or other homespun methods. To be honest, my choice was basically avoidance, to fly south, so I never really tried any of those methods.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by rah62

No, there are no places in the middle when it comes to this particular job opportunity, which is only available in one location. The climate is one of many factors I have to consider, and by no means is it a done deal.

There are people who have SAD who do manage to survive and thrive in the rainy climate, whether through lightbox therapy, pharmacological means, or other homespun methods. To be honest, my choice was basically avoidance, to fly south, so I never really tried any of those methods.

On these boards, what typically happens is the person moves here, then complains about it; something that is native to this area and they knew it well before they got here. I hope it works out for you but if you left because of the climate, the climate didn't change. If the picture on the link below makes you depressed instead of content, it's probably going to be a challenge.

Congratulations Seattle! You've made it through the wettest winter on record | News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO

[Wheatridger]

According to what I've heard, from local weather guru and others, climate change probabilities will see more rain in Western Washington, but also more hours of sunshine. When it rains, it'll rain harder, then clear up more often.

That's consistent with this season's weather there, I believe. I'm just a visitor. Since my kid enrolled in the U of Puget Sound in August, I've visited three times, for about two weeks in all. I've seen a "wettest day on this date," and sampled "wettest months" in November and February. Then, I saw more blue sky than overcast. Maybe I was just lucky in my timing.

But what can I tell you about a place you've already lived in? Personally, I'd bail on the desert heat, but what a tough choice you're making!

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Wheatridger

According to what I've heard, from local weather guru and others, climate change probabilities will see more rain in Western Washington, but also more hours of sunshine. When it rains, it'll rain harder, then clear up more often.

That's consistent with this season's weather there, I believe. I'm just a visitor. Since my kid enrolled in the U of Puget Sound in August, I've visited three times, for about two weeks in all. I've seen a "wettest day on this date," and sampled "wettest months" in November and February. Then, I saw more blue sky than overcast. Maybe I was just lucky in my timing.

But what can I tell you about a place you've already lived in? Personally, I'd bail on the desert heat, but what a tough choice you're making!

What I read about W WA was that the rainy seasons will be rainier, both in volume and number of days, while summers will be drier. If there's more moisture evaporating into the atmosphere due to warmer oceans and warmer temps, all that moisture will have to come down. In CA during El Nino years in the past, it's come down in destructive downpours. One, about 10 years ago, lasted around 2 months--rain every day!

I imagine that it will probably be something like what W Wa experienced this last fall and winter, maybe more so. And then sunny dry summers, like last summer.

[Adamson865]

This El Nino has been a bust here in the SoCal deserts; we've had 2.4" of rain since the "water year" began on October 1, vs. the average of 4.4" for the water year to date. As everyone well knows, this El Nino headed north for the most part.

(What I haven't researched yet is the climate difference between PDX and Puget Sound. I know they're different, and I know there are threads here on that subject which I have yet to research, but I will. The thing I used to enjoy in PDX was that handful of sunny frigid days each winter where the wind would come whipping down the Columbia Gorge and scour everything out. It'd be 20 degrees out, but dazzling sunshine.)

[Wheatridger]

Portland has that low-altitude pipeline to the eastern deserts, and a continental climate. Seattle has its own back door for cold air via the Fraser River, but that's more distant than the Gorge. Certainly Seattle has a bigger marine influence, from the Sound, Rah. If you really want to know all this in detail, get a copy of "Weather of the Pacific Northwest" by UW Meterology prof Cliff Mass.