A Question About Winter in Western WA (Westport: home, move)

[mayfair]

Citygirl- we have the same problem. Travelling with kids (younger ones) is NOT relaxing and I need a vacation from the vacation.

I agree cobolt- there is the problem of coming back into the gray blanket of clouds. Last year we drove over the mountains (towards home) out of glorious sunshine into the clouds and I felt the familiar sinking feeling.

Dh was glad to get back into the cool, damp weather and out of the sun. It just depends on what you do best with. The weather is just what it is. It affects some of us and not others.

[CityGirl72]

Oh yeah - I did get the "sinking" feeling too when I saw us flying back into Seattle.

My husband was red like a lobster and I was all golden and smiling. He's blonde and nordic decent - Seattle suits him

[jwb123]

Yeah, we would come and visit Austin every summer, June and sometimes in July. Without fail, we would return to 60 and drizzley, with the furnace still on. That was a bummer - when we were leaving 90, blue skies and sunny.

[R Johnston]

Sequim does get less rainfall it is because the mountains providing a type of shelter creating what is called a rainshadow effect. Annual rainfall between 11-13 inches. It is not nessarily warmer just less rain with often clearings at least once during the day. I have lived in Seattle there is a a huge difference in my opinion.

[dajam_fxdli]

Originally Posted by YankeeFaninOrlando

My wife and I have lived in central FL for the last 25 years. Every year, it seems the summers get hotter, more humid and longer. I am retiring in the next 18 months. I am looking at the Olympia area (Lacey and Tumwater), Anacortes or Sequim. The question I have of long-term residents concerns the cloudy/rainy days. What do people generally do in the winters to cope when I suppose the weather is the worst? The two times I've been to the Seattle area (both times in the summer), the weather has been nice. I really like Anacortes and I hear the Sequim area is not as rainy as Seattle. Does the extended periods of cloudiness and rain really do something to the psyche of a person living there? Do people in general really get depressed? Or is it a bit exaggerated? Thanks for any insight.

Check out Panorama city in Lacey, it is a great little retirement community. My mom moved there from Michigan and it has rejuvinated her. The weather here is a bit gloomy in the winter however if you keep busy, it shoul dbe no problem. It is realatively cool and damp in western Washington.

IMHO, the Olympia area ia a great place for retirement, which is obvious when you see how many retirees live there...

[cobolt]

I know Sequim is "drier" but it's still just as cloudy as most of W WA.

I did the Mexico thing too and I would rather travel closer---problem with that in the winter is crossing the mountain passes if you plan on doing the drier, sunnier, east side.

I find it interesting that although winters here are relatively mild in comparision with other US locations, you find this weather grating on your morale much more than a snow dump or cold snap would do.

[brightcopperkettles]

Originally Posted by cobolt

I know Sequim is "drier" but it's still just as cloudy as most of W WA.

I did the Mexico thing too and I would rather travel closer---problem with that in the winter is crossing the mountain passes if you plan on doing the drier, sunnier, east side.

I find it interesting that although winters here are relatively mild in comparision with other US locations, you find this weather grating on your morale much more than a snow dump or cold snap would do.

I totally agree with you....

[cobolt]

Brightcopperkettles,

Time to drug ourselves with caffine for the big gray blanket huh? There is a saying in Alaska that I have propagated throughout my workplace. In Alaska, they describe the onset of the long, dark, winter as "The hammer coming down." I've been saying this at work in regards to winter and the gray blanket "The hammer's coming down." They LOVE it.

Cobolt

[Kalidog]

My husband and I moved from Edgewater, FL (near New Smyrna Beach) to Seabeck, WA (Kitsap Peninsula) two years ago. I've adjusted just fine to the winters but my husband, who grow up in south FL, has not and has found that for him, depression sets in as soon as we get the gloomy, rainy days. Because of this, we are currently looking into moving to Hawai'i as soon as we are both able to get transfers with our employer.

My suggestion would be to visit the area in October/November when the rainy weather sets in.

[CityGirl72]

My suggest is to come in March/April when most of the country's weather is changing into lovely Spring time and see how it's still cold and cloudy and rainy here (and doesn't change til July!)