Should i move to seattle from d.c. (Pacific: salon, hairstylist)

[Nick Hood]

So i am a hairstylist in the d.c area thinking about a move to Seattle. I hate overly hot summers and overly cold winters my comfort level is chilly to warm and i love overcast and rain.

Being a stylist means that i have to like the hair and fashion where i live and I am not a fan of west coast hair. I find it to be overly blonde and done up.... boring

I like thinks a bit more messy/funky than LA

is Seattle right for me?

also im curious to how cold or hot it gets on a personal level there. is it like jacket cold or like snow boots and ear muffs. same with summer. is it ever warm enough to swim in the ocean without a wet suit?


thanks for the help

[Beat02]

I think upper 40's is kind of the average temp during the winter... So not too cold, but it's that, coupled with the rainy drizzle and it can be fairly miserable.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by Nick Hood

Being a stylist means that i have to like the hair and fashion where i live and I am not a fan of west coast hair. I find it to be overly blonde and done up.... boring

I like thinks a bit more messy/funky than LA

West Coast hair? Overly blonde and done up... interesting... Definitely not the style here. Au Naturale is mostly the style here.

Originally Posted by Nick Hood

is Seattle right for me?

also im curious to how cold or hot it gets on a personal level there. is it like jacket cold or like snow boots and ear muffs. same with summer. is it ever warm enough to swim in the ocean without a wet suit?


thanks for the help

We don't always get White Christmas... more likely a wet rainy one.

During the summer, Puget Sound doesn't feel cold to me. I do know some people wear wetsuit. When I caught a crab during rowing, Lake Washington didn't feel cold at all and this was early winter.

But its all relative... You just might like it here, it's very mild weather-wise. My friend who is a Seattle Native is currently living in DC, definitely wants to come back home.

[sekhmet1974]

Seattle is PERFECT for you. I moved from D.C. 12 years ago, you will love it. If you are looking to work at a good salon here that suits your style, look into Gary Manuel Salon and Seven. And btw, I have consistently had the exact hair styles you describe and you see a lot of that on the street here, especially in the downtown area.

[coldbliss]

I would take a cool Seattle summer over DC any day. It would be awesome to wear a sweater early in the morning for a change during the month of August. To breathe clean, cool, crisp air on a sunny morning.

From late May to mid-September, it is HOT, HUMID and HAZY every...single...day in Washington, DC. Our air quality has been coded orange and red for the entire summer. We had may be 5 or 6 days when high temperatures were UNDER 90 degrees F in DC. DC had 100 degree (plus) for like four days in a row during a week in July. We are not talking about a desert kind of heat that you find in California or Arizona...you are breathing and walking in a sauna! One hundred degree temps with 60 percent humidity. The air is so thick that you can cut it with a knife. I am sick and tired of walking three blocks and my shirt is already drenched in body sweat. GROSS! It has been unusually hot on the East Coast this summer. The electric bills are outrageous because of the A/C running 24/7 nonstop since late May. I hate Mid-Atlantic summers with a passion.

I would trade a season of a steamy, swampy hell in DC for nine months of cloudy, cold and wet Seattle weather.

To Nick Hood and coldbliss: Both of you make good points about Washington D.c. weather compared to Seattle weather. D.C. sounds so much hotter than NYC and Boston in the summer! But both regions (PCNW and Northeast) do have their positives about weather/climate.

Im from the Northeast too and I like Seattle weather a lot of the time. I like cloudy/rainy days but I also like sunny warmer days and Seattle does have those days too.

Seattle definitely has good air quality most of the year. The code red air quality for D.C. sounds scary. I dont think Seattle ever had code orange/red air quality before. Most days are "code green" air quality with a few days per year that get to code yellow, which is moderate air quality.

There were about 5-8 days since Early July that got to 90-95 degrees but there were many more days that were 70s-mid 80s for highs and 50s for lows as well as days I had to wear a sweater the entire day with highs in the mid to upper 60s and lows in the 50s.

Yesterday(August 31) I had to wear my winter coat outside the entire day because it was 55 degrees and rain most of the day and with a high at 58-60 degrees briefly for a few hours, and I enjoyed the weather, but thats rare for a day that cold for July-September in Seattle. However, there were many days in May and June I had to wear a sweater and even a winter coat all day, even into Late June, with some days with highs in the 70s mixed in back then. Within a few days the highs will be sunny and in the upper 70s and I will enjoy that as much as the rain and winter coat weather yesterday. I heard it got up to 95 degrees in parts of the Northeast yesterday!

Overall, Seattle's winters usually arent that much warmer than Washington D.C. winters. You still would have to wear a winter coat a lot of the time, but it is a bit warmer than winters there and it is noticeable. Only 5-8 days on average with highs below freezing per year. The Puget Sound(semi oceanic) and the lakes can get warm enough to swim in during the warmer months. However the Pacific Ocean coastline is COLD all year but still nice pristine coastline!

I think going to Seattle from Washington D.C. will be a great change and break from D.C but still having some/most of the things you had in the D.C. area while experiencing a different city and you will enjoy it. I certainly have(But I am from NYC.) And its great to see someone else(if you move here) that wont complain about the weather here and actually enjoy it!