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Old 10-25-2021, 12:01 AM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,548 posts, read 57,460,499 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cnote99 View Post
...I am afraid of not seeing blue sky for extended periods of time. I think that would affect me and probably the kids. We are also in the east bay! CO is an option but to be honest...I hate the desert too! And not a fan of the whole howdy doody western cowboy thing ... You are right, we need to visit in the winter, that's the only way we will know if we can tolerate it.
A winter 'visit' will probably not do... it is MONTHS of very short days and very dark nights that become additive to some who suffer SADS or just plain don't like being soggy and gray. you never get that (loss of hope for glimpse of sun) as a visitor. You have an escape! Many CA and AZ people fit into We_tern WA just fine). Many don't (we just moved another neighbor family from WA to PHX), 10 yrs they had had enough... kids in HS, too bad... "we're OUTTA WA! We'll gladly pay your 'free' tuition to get outta this place."

There is VERY little cowboy stuff in urban / eastern slope CO, most locals were displaced decades ago. You may need to drive 1 hr north to WY to see a cowboy.

Boulder vibe can be a bit much, but nearby Golden, CO is more tolerable and you can beat the Denver crowd to the mtns.

Colorado is the 'Ever-BROWN' state. Quite parched on east side of mtns and very, very brown in winter (lawns / trees / sometime sky (weather inversions and smog))

I grew up on a ranch near Estes Park / Loveland, Still visit CO several times / yr. Even went to Boulder a few time this yr. Colorado just has a lot of pressure on traffic, water, and recreation since it is now housing a lot of California, Illinois, Texas, Ohio immigrants,

WA has a lot more variety of weather, recreation, and terrain (and no income tax + free college instead of High School)


+/- pick your poison
we settled for a little of everything (but WAY to much WA to suit me!, thus I was gone more than home as soon as possible) The year the kids left home and my elderly parent died, poof, I was GONE. That was over 17 yrs ago. STILL enjoying being gone. (78F and beautiful stars / satellites tonight. (I'm not in WA)

Often we would drive out to Goldendale, WA observatory or many places on east side, just to verify there were still stars at night in the winter. (Colorado works well for that!) UT even better (dark skies program).

WA has dark skies! but only occasional winter stars (full of low clouds)
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Old 10-25-2021, 12:39 AM
 
Location: Phoenix
29,749 posts, read 18,605,231 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cnote99 View Post
Hello all,

My husband and I are strongly considering a move to Washington from California. Before you start hating on us, let me explain. We have legitimate reasons to move there. My mother in law lives in Bellingham, and she is ill. We'd like our kids to get to know her better while she's still around. Also, my husband works in tech and many of his colleagues/mentors live in that area now. Our other option is the NE coast, which we are considering as well, but my husband has a very minimal professional network there.

I hate California weather for the most part. It's far too hot and sunny, and I would love to live somewhere cooler. However, I'm concerned about the 8-9 months of "gloom" I keep reading about. I do love a crisp sunny day, when we get them. Are those few and far between in western Washington? Is it as grey and gloomy as everything I've read? I am prone to depression and already take antidepressants; would I be doomed in WA? We visited the Seattle area in the summer and it was lovely, but from what I've read, that's basically the only time of year the sun is out.

Also, we have two VERY active young boys. How do families deal with kids playing outside if it rains so much?

Any information would be greatly appreciated!
Yes on 8-9 months of gloomy weather. You will likely be depressed there. People in the PNW continue to do most things while it's raining, what choice do you have? So what you get is a beautiful place that is grey and gloomy most of the time.
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Old 10-25-2021, 09:56 AM
 
Location: Rochester, WA
14,304 posts, read 11,763,520 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingsaucermom View Post
It was indeed an excellent description. I find it refreshing and not oppressive like the gloom of Michigan where it's just a solid grey tarp of a sky. I'm on the Eastside and I get to enjoy clouds dancing on the low mountains. So much cloud churning that it's never the same sky from one minute to the next. I would struggle more if I didn't have this ability.
I agree with this… I have a south facing view of open sky... And I enjoy watching the weather happen. It’s not like it’s always grey and unmoving. It’s actually always different when I look out in fall and winter. We watch it intently and have a weather station that tracks what’s happening as various systems roll through. It would actually be pretty unusual for it to not change throughout the day.

Here’s a snaphot of the weather yesterday while we were waiting for this “storm“ to arrive… It was very changeable all day. Lots of sun and clouds and showers. I find it interesting! :-)
Attached Thumbnails
Tell me about the weather, please-627c47cc-bcfe-46f7-9667-3a544950d3f5.jpeg  
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Old 10-25-2021, 10:15 AM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,054 posts, read 80,081,661 times
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Then there is the 1-4 times a year when the wind damages trees which knock out power. Yesterday ours was out 9:30am until 1am this morning, so over 15 hours. Fortunately I had plenty of gas for the generator. I also had to drag limbs as long as 20' and 4' diameter out of the street, blocking traffic. All of our utilities are underground, but they are overhead coming up to the plateau.
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Old 10-25-2021, 10:44 AM
 
Location: Portal to the Pacific
8,736 posts, read 8,608,105 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemlock140 View Post
Then there is the 1-4 times a year when the wind damages trees which knock out power. Yesterday ours was out 9:30am until 1am this morning, so over 15 hours. Fortunately I had plenty of gas for the generator. I also had to drag limbs as long as 20' and 4' diameter out of the street, blocking traffic. All of our utilities are underground, but they are overhead coming up to the plateau.
Yeah, I was wondering. We got knocked out, but the outage map covered just about all of Sammamish. We went 12 hours starting just after 9am.

Broke down and bought a generator from HD this time. Last one on the floor. I was fine without it as it's not cold yet, but my husband just did his thing and who am I to stop him? Besides the little farm in E. Renton Highlands we recently sold went nearly 4 days without power last January. Knowing the frequency of these events, but not the duration, is beginning to wear on my nerves as I get older.

Those things are loud, but I did enjoy my lamp light and keeping my uncooked whole chicken from spoiling.

Many of our district's schools are closed today (kids are home). I expect that's the same for LW.
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Old 10-25-2021, 11:02 AM
 
Location: Rochester, WA
14,304 posts, read 11,763,520 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemlock140 View Post
Then there is the 1-4 times a year when the wind damages trees which knock out power. Yesterday ours was out 9:30am until 1am this morning, so over 15 hours. Fortunately I had plenty of gas for the generator. I also had to drag limbs as long as 20' and 4' diameter out of the street, blocking traffic. All of our utilities are underground, but they are overhead coming up to the plateau.
Indeed. As it has gotten light this morning I see we lost a tree last night that took out part of our fence. We took out the trees that could reach the house shortly after moving here.

Power stayed on though!

We shall rebuild!
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Old 10-25-2021, 04:00 PM
 
Location: Idaho
1,216 posts, read 1,045,810 times
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I'm going to steal someone else's quote I thought was pretty apropos for the area: "There are no bad days to be outside, just bad clothes."

I grew up in the area, and as a kid we just played outside in the rain/mist/gloom, football mainly, but also road bikes/walked to friends houses, local stores, movies, etc. I learned to use an umbrella pretty early in life. Wore a hat a lot, or a hood on my coat. Most of the schools open their gyms in the winter months, and we played a lot of basketball, etc. at the schools. Your boys are young enough that the weather will just be normal for them as they grow more independent, and they'll do normal kid things outside with their friends, just dressed for it, or they learn that if they don't dress right they are wet and cold.

I still come home for Thanksgiving every year (except last year), and some years it rains everyday, most all day, for the week we're at mom's. It's a bit of a shock to start with, but by the end of the week we're walking across parking lots to stores without much thought of the weather. It's just the norm.
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Old 10-27-2021, 10:47 AM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,052 posts, read 106,815,852 times
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Speaking about needing serious waterproofing, the Seattle Times today has an article warning of an "atmospheric river" headed for the area, expected to bring heavy rain. And as the oceans continue to warm, there will be more evaporation of ocean water up into the atmosphere, creating more frequent "atmospheric rivers".

What goes up, must (and does) come down, be forewarned.
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Old 10-27-2021, 11:45 AM
 
179 posts, read 108,614 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
Speaking about needing serious waterproofing, the Seattle Times today has an article warning of an "atmospheric river" headed for the area, expected to bring heavy rain. And as the oceans continue to warm, there will be more evaporation of ocean water up into the atmosphere, creating more frequent "atmospheric rivers".

What goes up, must (and does) come down, be forewarned.
We just had this in the bay area. It lasted approx. 24 hours but it was CONSTANT moderate-heavy rain with no breaks, which is essentially unheard of here. It was pretty awesome and cozy, but apparently catastrophic in many parts of CA. Oh, and part of our ceiling caved in, but thankfully we're renting so mr. landlord is dealing with that.
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Old 10-27-2021, 12:34 PM
 
Location: Embarrassing, WA
3,405 posts, read 2,691,567 times
Reputation: 4407
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
Speaking about needing serious waterproofing, the Seattle Times today has an article warning of an "atmospheric river" headed for the area, expected to bring heavy rain. And as the oceans continue to warm, there will be more evaporation of ocean water up into the atmosphere, creating more frequent "atmospheric rivers".

What goes up, must (and does) come down, be forewarned.
I agree, the process is sped up by warming and will result in more and stronger weather events. It is not all the different from being in the south, however. It's warmer, evaporation is faster and clouds/rain/storms build faster and grow much bigger than they do there. We're going to see more of that here.
I believe we set records for October rain this year, and we're going to get a 2nd wave of it in the next couple days adding ANOTHER 2 inches worth ugh.

My friends dad (He's from Arizona) said it right, " the poor people here have webbed feet".
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