Climate subregions of the Puget Sound (Seattle, Bellevue: house, living, garden)

[Karl Bonner]

I live in The Dalles, Oregon - a semiarid sub-Mediterranean steppe climate in the Columbia Gorge. But I'm eyeing the Puget Sound as an area to move to. I used to live in Eugene which had a pretty decent climate, except it's a bit too far south for winter snow action, compared to what Olympia, Seattle and Bellingham experience.

So I'd like to learn more about the various 'microclimates' (or is the term mesoclimates?) of the Sound:

1. Which areas are relatively wetter/drier? (No need to bring up Sequim because 'everybody' knows that's the driest town...)
2. Which areas have the SUNNIEST summers?
3. Which areas have the warmest/coolest summers? Are the far eastern areas, near the Cascade foothills, warmer than the immediate Sound?
4. Which areas are mildest and coldest during outbreaks of arctic air?
5. Which areas have the greatest amount of "seasonal lag"; that is, if you want the bulk of your warmth and sunshine to come in the August-September period rather than June-July, which part of the Sound has the 'latest-peaking summer'?
6. Which areas have the greatest amount of snow, regardless of winter precip or winter temperature averages?

[Hemlock140]

There are hundreds, if not thousands of micro-climates in the area due to the two parallel mountain ranges, high hills, and marine influence. The rain shadow effect is real, and provides far less rain in Sequim and areas east such as Port Townsend and Whidbey Island.In the area between Sequim and Port Angeles
on one road alone you can find sun at highway 101, but snowing at the top of the road. The summers there are not as hot, however.

The western Olympic Penninsula gets the most rain (Forks). The higher elevations such as Sammamish, hills in Issaquah, and North Bend get the coldest winter lows and highest summer highs. The areas closer to the sound such as Seattle and the lowlands of Bellevue stay cooler in summer. Seasonal lag is not as subject to microclimates, generally if it happens it's the entire region with the possible exception of the ocean coast.

Snow is strictly dependent on elevation. Tiger and Squak mountain in Issaquah, North Bend/Snoqualmie, Newport Hills in Bellevue may get snow when other areas don't. We are at 600+ feet in Sammamish and get snow when half a mile away down the hill there is rain. Here on the plateau they always send the TV trucks to get footage when it snows since snow is considered an event. It's rare and averages 1-3" 2-3 times a year, melting away in a day or less. Maybe twice in 20 years we have had over a foot.

[skiffrace]

Why ask here? You need an expert local meteorologist to answer ALL of that, preferably as a spreadsheet + iconograph.

Instead, go to Wikipedia.org
Select the cities you are interested in. Most have climate tables with detailed information on average temps, amount of rain and snow, #of days with precipitation, average hours of sunlight and more.

Analyse the results, come back and post the conclusions. We are curious, too.
thx

[Dendrite]

Originally Posted by Karl Bonner

So I'd like to learn more about the various 'microclimates' (or is the term mesoclimates?) of the Sound

If you've not seen it already, you would likely find Cliff Mass's book "The Weather of the Pacific Northwest" very interesting. It's published by the UW Press. In his book, Mass does a nice job describing the unique weather patterns of the Puget Sound region and addresses many of your questions.

[hamellr]

I think a better question is "What exactly are you looking for?" The Dalles is already a pretty nice area weather wise for the region. Moving to the Puget Sound area is going to move the needle in a negative direction especially if you're looking for more sun.

[freepelican]

Take the "blue hole" thing about Sequim being drier with a grain of salt. Relative to most other areas of the country, Sequim gets more than its fair share of rain. Also, it can be really damp without raining and it can be so overcast it looks like the time just after sunset all day, not always but often in the winter. This can make the extra short days of the far NW winters seem even shorter!

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by freepelican

Take the "blue hole" thing about Sequim being drier with a grain of salt. Relative to most other areas of the country, Sequim gets more than its fair share of rain. Also, it can be really damp without raining and it can be so overcast it looks like the time just after sunset all day, not always but often in the winter. This can make the extra short days of the far NW winters seem even shorter!

Seattle averages 40" of rain a year, my family just outside the Sequim city limits toward Port Angeles have been there 10 years and the most they ever got was 13", averaging 9". The clouds part at Blue Mountain and almost every day all year they see sun for at least a couple of hours. In spring when Seattle is getting rain every day they worry about the well running dry because they have to water the garden and lawns. You cannot go just by Sequim, there are many micro-climates within that area.

[CarawayDJ]

Originally Posted by freepelican

Take the "blue hole" thing about Sequim being drier with a grain of salt. Relative to most other areas of the country, Sequim gets more than its fair share of rain. Also, it can be really damp without raining and it can be so overcast it looks like the time just after sunset all day, not always but often in the winter. This can make the extra short days of the far NW winters seem even shorter!

I'm experiencing my first winter up here. In my limited experiences thus far traveling around, I can easily see the microclimates making a pronounced impact on anyone living here. While it is true that Western Washington is gray and wet as a whole, it is also true that some areas see quite a bit more blue sky and less rain. I think the difference is very noticeable. I'm on South Whidbey on the sound looking directly at the Olympics. There is frequently a blue hole in the cloud cover in front of my house. I'm not in the core part of the rain shadow but I definitely see more blue sky than people in Seattle do.

I''ve never thought I was back in SoCal, but the blue hole is very real. I see it often and I'm not even looking directly at Sequim. What might be tiny sun breaks in Seattle are much larger over my house and substantially larger over the sound in the direction of P.T. / Sequim. I wouldn't discount the impact it can have.

[cocaseco]

Originally Posted by skiffrace

Why ask here? You need an expert local meteorologist to answer ALL of that, preferably as a spreadsheet + iconograph.

Seriously? Op asked here because many regulars here can provide anecdotal data that is relevant, and perhaps more accurate than many meteorological predictions. If you were writing a thesis sure, do the research. I'm new the area so I can't answer it, but if the same question was asked about Boulder I would easily have been able to answer in detail, along with dozens of other weather aficionados.

[PS90]

Microclimates of Western Washington?

Rain. And a few miles down the road? Rain. And heading west to the Peninsula? Rain. And driving anywhere west of the Cascades? Oh, look - more rain.