Seattle Weather/Climate Thread (Everett, Lynnwood: no children, exercise, trails)

[michaeldorian]

Originally Posted by CarawayDJ

Uh, what you showed could also be due to the fact that SoCal is often sunny, and Seattle is often gloomy... I'm sure July and August show both areas sunny.

But what you say does make sense in this regard. A lot of the winter storms that hit CA come from up north. So while CA is getting hit, it is leaving Seattle. You usually have a few days of not too bad weather once a storm front passes through.

Yup. "The weather here seems to be the exact opposite of Southern California for about 6 months of the year"

I see this phenomenon during winter/spring and some of fall. I wish I kept my chart when I was tracking.

[michaeldorian]

Originally Posted by mea-oh

I've lived in Seattle now for two weeks, and while I've noticed that it rains a lot, I've noticed one other thing as well: when it's sunny out, it's storybook green. When I say that, I mean it looks like when you're watching TV or the movies and the set looks fake because it's too green to be realistic. Coming from the Midwest, I've never seen grass this vibrant. It's amazing. And now that the leaves are starting to come in, it's absolutely gorgeous when it's cloudy. Add in the sun and the setting is breathtaking.

That's all.

Completely agreed. I lived in SoCal all my life and during the short summer months, or the occasional clear and sunny days, it is so clear and crisp here that it seems fake.

There were amazing days in SoCal too, but the clear sunny days don't come close to what I've seen here. It's like you you put on a new pair of glasses.

At times, I have to agree. It does make you forget.

I've always said, that if this place had 2 more months of awesome-ness during the summer, or if the grey periods didn't last as long before you see a sun break, this would be one of the greatest place to live in the US. You'll see real estate prices skyrocket as everyone will want to live here.

[OregonYeti]

I disputed the idea that Seattle is the rainiest city in the world. But I also have to say the occasional bright moments don't make up for the eternal drippiness most of the year. Not for me, anyway.

[JesseJB]

I've lived here all my life (28 years) and I've noticed the winters here seem to be getting longer, wetter and cooler. Not sure how long I'll be able to put up with it now that I'm beginning to afford to travel more and see more cities. Another "year without a summer" and that might be it for me. Yet I can't imagine living anywhere else in the US...

[Darkhyperchaos]

I can't seem to edit my post, so I'll just list out the cities. Not that I haven't gotten my point across, I just want to show the extent of how many major cities get the same if not less sun than Seattle. At the same time a majority of these cities have extremely similar climates to Seattle. EDIT: formatting didn't come out the way I had hoped, but it's still readable.

London - Prague - Frankfurt - Chişinău - Osaka
Paris - Sofia - Rotterdam - Oslo - São Paulo
Vancouver - Brussels - Copenhagen - Zurich - Seoul
Moscow - Naples - Dublin - Belgrade - Tokyo
Berlin - Birmingham - Gothenburg - Bratislava - Hiroshima
Bucharest - Cologne - Liverpool - Kiev - Shanghai
Budapest - Turin - Zagreb - Toronto - Hong Kong
Warsaw - Amsterdam - Antwerp - Bogotá - Montreal
Vienna - Stockholm - Tallinn - Lagos - Pittsburg
Milan - Kraków - Helsinki - Lima - Edmonton
Munich - Riga - Reykjavík - Guangzhou
Lyon - Leeds - Luxembourg - Kinshasa

Trust me when I say I could go on and at least double this list even from continuing to only include large cities, but I don't really have the time do that. I also am not pulling cities out of my head, every city on this list I have confirmed get the same, if not less sunshine hours per year than Seattle.

[cjg5]

Originally Posted by JesseJB

I've lived here all my life (28 years) and I've noticed the winters here seem to be getting longer, wetter and cooler. Not sure how long I'll be able to put up with it now that I'm beginning to afford to travel more and see more cities. Another "year without a summer" and that might be it for me. Yet I can't imagine living anywhere else in the US...

Weather man on Q-13 said some time back that he is anticipating a warmer than usual summer this year. And today we hit 60 degrees, which is above average for this time of year. Perhaps it's a good sign.

I've lived here my whole life as well, and am hoping and praying that I get the promotion and relocation for work to East Wenatchee this year. They get ALL FOUR REAL SEASONS over that way, and LESS RAIN!!! *fingers crossed*

[mea-oh]

It's truly all in your perspective. I agree with those who said that people coming from the Midwest won't mind this weather at all. I came from Columbus, Ohio, and while it's not on the above list of cities with the same or less sun than Seattle, it comes close. Columbus only gets 12 less cloudy days/year than Seattle. The tradeoff is that it's much warmer here in the winter, cooler in the summer, and greener, greener, greener.

I'll happily give up the four seasons for not having miserably cold temperatures. Also, keep this in perspective: March is a roller coaster in the Midwest. Columbus hit 70 last week, but by yesterday they had snow.

BTW, yesterday was gorgeous here. So lovely.

[Botev1912]

These numbers are misleading. I was in New York last week and it was mostly 55-60 and sunny and it was freezing! I came back to Seattle on Sunday and it was 54 and sunny and it was really nice and warmish. So the conclusion is Seattle is warmer than a lot of East Coast cities at lower temperature

[CarawayDJ]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

These numbers are misleading. I was in New York last week and it was mostly 55-60 and sunny and it was freezing! I came back to Seattle on Sunday and it was 54 and sunny and it was really nice and warmish. So the conclusion is Seattle is warmer than a lot of East Coast cities at lower temperature

It's the humidity that causes that perception. The east coast is cold and humid. I grew up in NH and remember many near freezing and humid days that just cut through whatever you were wearing. I've never experienced that kind of humid cold anywhere out west.

I supposes one could argue that a drizzly cold day in Seattle feels the same as a cold humid day in the NE.

[Darkhyperchaos]

Originally Posted by mea-oh

It's truly all in your perspective. I agree with those who said that people coming from the Midwest won't mind this weather at all. I came from Columbus, Ohio, and while it's not on the above list of cities with the same or less sun than Seattle, it comes close. Columbus only gets 12 less cloudy days/year than Seattle. The tradeoff is that it's much warmer here in the winter, cooler in the summer, and greener, greener, greener.

I'll happily give up the four seasons for not having miserably cold temperatures. Also, keep this in perspective: March is a roller coaster in the Midwest. Columbus hit 70 last week, but by yesterday they had snow.

BTW, yesterday was gorgeous here. So lovely.

As large as my list was, it was again very incomplete. So just because a city isn't on there doesn't mean it wouldn't fall into the list's criteria. I just spent some time searching various cities, so I'm sure I missed tons. Both Columbus and Cleveland are cities that probably could fit into the criteria of the list. They both get slightly more sun, but the difference is negligible IMO.