America's rainiest cities! Hint: It's not Seattle.

[scirocco22]

Originally Posted by 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.

Exactly. But the article did state that Olympia actually had the most rainy days on average across the three decades of all the 195 cities in the study. These 195 cities are in the contiguous 48 states.

--'rocco

[Chulito]

Originally Posted by secret_squirrel

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

Originally Posted by malarkey

"...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..."

If Olympia has the most rainy days per year at 63, how can Seattle have 155 rainy days per year? Perhaps the newspaper poll requires a certain minimum amount of rain in a day for it to be counted, while Steve Pool's poll counts even days in which only a lone drop finds its way to the ground. In any event, it is wet more frequently here than most places and it's reliably overcast for a good eight months out of the year, which bothers some people who aren't used to it (and even some who are).

Originally Posted by ness

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)

This is a very good comparison. I'm from the northwest and have lived in Seattle for 15 years, and have also lived in England. I don't particularly like the rain, but I barely notice it because it's so light around here. It is a damp, gray, but lush and green environment, and I find it beautiful. I ride a bike everywhere instead of driving or taking the bus, and I like that the rain is basically never hard enough to prevent me from doing that. The air is also never dirty enough to make breathing heavily difficult. I also like that it almost never freezes or snows here, and with a bit of appropriate gear I can ride almost every day of the year. And I love the fact that it is never uncomfortably hot here. This year is anomolous, but normally we have lovely, sunny weather from mid July through September, yet it's usually only in the 70s or low 80s, and only get above 90 a couple days per year. I hate sweating when I'm in work clothes or out and about, and I hate it even more when I'm trying to sleep. We also have very few mosquitoes around here. I've also lived in hot summer climates (Rome, Puglia, New York), and tolerate them very well, but I definitely prefer what I've got here. Yay for home!

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by ShadowXOR

I'm just helping to dispel some myths around here! You can read the full article here:

And the rainiest city in the U.S. is... - LiveScience - MSNBC.com

I'm a believer. I live in the Southeast(near Atlanta,GA) and we get more rain than Everett,WA, where I used to live. My suspicion is some residents of the PNW use the "rain" excuse to keep newcomers out. It doesn't work with me because I used to live in the PNW and plan to return. I miss it.

[JessicaFL]

It's from 1995, but still, averages are averages. I can't wait

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by Chulito

it's so light around here. It is a damp, gray, but lush and green environment, and I find it beautiful. I ride a bike everywhere instead of driving or taking the bus, and I like that the rain is basically never hard enough to prevent me from doing that. The air is also never dirty enough to make breathing heavily difficult.

Where is that "here"