Tell me about the weather, please (Seattle, Bellingham: fit in, renting, movies)

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by cnote99

Anyone have experience with weather in the "rain shadow" areas? And also, where might these places be? I hear it rains less in these areas, but is it still grey and very cold?

The closest rain shadow areas to Seattle are Whidbey Island, Camano Island and Anacortes (and the San Juans).

They still get windy, cloudy weather, same temp just less total rainfall. They do get more afternoon winter sunbreaks in my experience, but that's just anecdotal (don't know if stats back that up).

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by cnote99

Anyone have experience with weather in the "rain shadow" areas? And also, where might these places be? I hear it rains less in these areas, but is it still grey and very cold?

They may get less rain in a few of those areas, but if anything other than lots of sunny weather is a deal breaker, I think you'll be overall disappointed. It's still Western Washington. It still has a lot of coastal grey weather.

We get three months of almost guaranteed sun here ever year (and surprisingly enough, people complain about that!) But the rest of the year, it's more off than on.

Most of our winter storms are rainy and relatively warm. Warm meaning 40-50s. That's pretty mild for winter.

It's when it's clear and sunny out, that it's cold.

[cnote99]

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

They may get less rain in a few of those areas, but if anything other than lots of sunny weather is a deal breaker, I think you'll be overall disappointed. It's still Western Washington. It still has a lot of coastal grey weather.

We get three months of almost guaranteed sun here ever year (and surprisingly enough, people complain about that!) But the rest of the year, it's more off than on.

Most of our winter storms are rainy and relatively warm. Warm meaning 40-50s. That's pretty mild for winter.

It's when it's clear and sunny out, that it's cold.

I don't think lots of sun is necessary. I am very fair skinned and do not enjoy direct sunlight. Actually, it's not "sun" I like, but rather blue skies..I think partly cloudy crisp blue skies are pretty perfect. Although I love rain, it sounds like a lot of the PNW is grey skies, and very light rain. I think we would need to test it out on a few trips during the winter to see if we can tolerate it. I do like the photos and school ratings of Gig Harbor. Is that in the rain shadow?

[Diana Holbrook]

I do think some winter trips are a good idea! And hopefully you'll have a long enough trip to get a fair sample. I don't know if you'll be happy or not. I think it really depends on perspective. Right now we're on the verge of a big storm, but it's been partly sunny, partly cloudy, and calm all day so far, and that has been a pleasant surprise. It was supposed to rain. Perspective... snapshots in time.

Gig Harbor is not in any rain shadow that I know of... but I don't give the term a lot of credence. Gig Harbor is a lovely area, we have a family beach house there we grew up going to for all our family occasions .

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by cnote99

Anyone have experience with weather in the "rain shadow" areas? And also, where might these places be? I hear it rains less in these areas, but is it still grey and very cold?

scroll down the page at this link for a map of the terrain the rain shadow covers. It even covers Victoria, on Vancouver Island.

Olympic Rain Shadow Map and Location

[cnote99]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

scroll down the page at this link for a map of the terrain the rain shadow covers. It even covers Victoria, on Vancouver Island.

Olympic Rain Shadow Map and Location

Awesome, thank you!

[StealthRabbit]

Rain shadow has gray days and dark nights.

Eastern WA and Idaho and Montana are greyer winters.
Colorado, NM have the crisp blue winter skies.

Western WA often gets a week of crisp blue skies in mid winter. A pleasant and chilly surprise.

Traveling for sun works for me. Happiness is reaching 5000 ft above my PNW airport and meeting gloriousness sunshine on the flight climb out enroute to a sunny destination! Maybe a tall periscope would suffice!

[happygrrrl]

I live in the rain shadow. We moved from SoCal & after about 2-3 winters I started dreading them. Yes, it's gray most days, usually from November through April. I have stated this on this forum before that it isn't the rain that is so oppressive, it is the low-hanging clouds, the early evening darkness, the gray, the dark, the gloom. It is not like California, where it rains & then it's blue skies & sunny.

The summers used to help compensate, with late sunsets & long, sunny days, but sunrise at 4:30 or 5 a.m. isn't fun. Also, climate change has made summers hotter & smokier. This was the first summer we needed a/c. I try, during winter, to remind myself that the gray is what keeps it from burning up & turning brown, like what has happened in California, but by Jan-Feb, my self-talk doesn't help.

My adult child & their spouse lived in the east bay after grad school, but when they decided to relocate, they chose the greater Boulder area over greater Seattle, one of the reasons being that they felt they would get depressed in the gray winter gloom of the PNW. They like Colorado winters because the sun is out quickly after a snow storm.

I think if you can spend some time, like weeks or even months here, do it in the middle of winter, in particular...like around January & February. Don't make it like a fun vacation, just live an everyday life. As impractical as that sounds, it's the only way that you can decide if the weather here will suit you & your family. Good luck.

[cnote99]

Originally Posted by happygrrrl

I live in the rain shadow. We moved from SoCal & after about 2-3 winters I started dreading them. Yes, it's gray most days, usually from November through April. I have stated this on this forum before that it isn't the rain that is so oppressive, it is the low-hanging clouds, the early evening darkness, the gray, the dark, the gloom. It is not like California, where it rains & then it's blue skies & sunny.

The summers used to help compensate, with late sunsets & long, sunny days, but sunrise at 4:30 or 5 a.m. isn't fun. Also, climate change has made summers hotter & smokier. This was the first summer we needed a/c. I try, during winter, to remind myself that the gray is what keeps it from burning up & turning brown, like what has happened in California, but by Jan-Feb, my self-talk doesn't help.

My adult child & their spouse lived in the east bay after grad school, but when they decided to relocate, they chose the greater Boulder area over greater Seattle, one of the reasons being that they felt they would get depressed in the gray winter gloom of the PNW. They like Colorado winters because the sun is out quickly after a snow storm.

I think if you can spend some time, like weeks or even months here, do it in the middle of winter, in particular...like around January & February. Don't make it like a fun vacation, just live an everyday life. As impractical as that sounds, it's the only way that you can decide if the weather here will suit you & your family. Good luck.

Thank you for your honesty here! Yes, I think you hit the nail on the head...I'm not afraid of the rain, but 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 (I'm probably really terribly stereotyping here I know). Lol, I'm looking for some kind of utopia I guess. You are right, we need to visit in the winter, that's the only way we will know if we can tolerate it.

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by cnote99

Thank you for your honesty here! Yes, I think you hit the nail on the head...I'm not afraid of the rain, but 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 (I'm probably really terribly stereotyping here I know). Lol, I'm looking for some kind of utopia I guess. You are right, we need to visit in the winter, that's the only way we will know if we can tolerate it.

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.