America's rainiest cities! Hint: It's not Seattle. (Everett, Olympia: to live in, bike)

[Lisa_from_Debary]

For me it would be the lack of sunshine...I get depressed with no or little sun.

[ShadowXOR]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

Hmmm I don't think anyone here has actually said the AMOUNT of rain is the problem. It's the extended days of grey, drizzly, cloudy. It mists and drizzles all day, for MONTHS.

Does it add up to a ton of parcipitation? Not really. But it does add up to a heck of a lotta days without seeing the sun.

I talk to many people that cite how much it rains up there. Perhaps people that live there are aware of the cloud cover but many people who don't live there think it is pouring rain all the time. I'm moving up there in one week and that's the first thing anyone says when I tell them I'm moving up there, they think it rains 24/7.

[secret_squirrel]

Originally Posted by ShadowXOR

Lynnwood gets it worse than Seattle.

Also this isn't about cloud cover, it's about rain. People only seem to bring up Twain's quote when it benefits them, then they go ahead and rely on those statistics again when they are back on their side.

Not making accusations but it's a very steady pattern I see on most forums.

Well, if I pushed a personal hot button by quotting Twain, how 'bout if I just quote the article?

Olympia actually had the most rainy days on average across the three decades (63) of all the cities in the study

Lynnwood is in the convergence zone, but I hear North Bend and the Sammamish Plateau have it worse. But on a national study, I'd lump all those cities into the "Seattle" region.

And if we really want to get down to the brass tacks, I want to know why the heck Forks isn't mentioned?

[secret_squirrel]

Originally Posted by ShadowXOR

I talk to many people that cite how much it rains up there. Perhaps people that live there are aware of the cloud cover but many people who don't live there think it is pouring rain all the time. I'm moving up there in one week and that's the first thing anyone says when I tell them I'm moving up there, they think it rains 24/7.

I live up here. It does rain - a lot. Not 24/7. And last Summer we went over 100 days with no measurable precip. But we're not called the Emerald City because of precious gems. We're naturally well irrigated on the wet - I mean - WEST side. Lots of people don't mind. Welcome to the PNW.

[scirocco22]

Olympia actually had the most rainy days on average across the three decades (63) of all the cities in the study.

Good call, squirrel. I totally missed that when I quickly browsed that article.

So that proves my point. Western Washington, whether it be Olympia or Lynnwood, gets a LOT of rainy days. Probably quite a few more than those top ten cities with the possible exception of Mobile. Mobile's rain is relatively warm ...again, those who are looking at Western Washington to relocate, remember, during the winter when it rains the most, it's a downright COLD rain. For me it was miserable.

[malarkey]

The annual rainfall stat is one that's pulled constantly as a "see?! its not THAT rainy here!" proof.

Here's some stats from Steve Pool (the weather guy on KOMO)

"...Seattle only averages 58 sunny days a year. As for the rest of Seattle's days, we average 226 cloudy days and 81 partly cloudy days. Of all those days, we get 155 days of rain a year..."

http://www.komotv.com/news/archive/4103321.html

[41Willys]

What about the most over cast skies?

J/K,, I'll be there in 3-4 months!

[Fortaz]

In terms of how much time it's actually raining, I'm sure Seattle beats Mobile by a long shot. The rain in Seattle is light but constant, and Mobile gets it's rain in short heavy doses.

[ness]

I have friends that live in WA and we are thinking of moving there. My husband is a bit concerned about the amount of dreary days. I am not really worried. In my head I sort of envision it to be like England....chilly, gray, and damp but also beautiful clean air and lots of greenery. Seems a fair trade off to me. I'm tired of the dry, drought ridden, 100 degree weather here. (So Cal - San Gabriel Valley)

[Winkelman]

As someone who has lived a few years both in the Pacific Northwest and the Southeast United States the "America's Rainiest Cities" study is way off.

If someone was to analyze how many hours a day it rains in Seattle compared to say Houston, Seattle probably has 5 or 10 times the amount of time where its actually raining. I will take a thirty minute downpour with lots of sunshine before and after compared to 24 hours of non stop light chilly rain.