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Old 07-21-2013, 09:33 PM
 
157 posts, read 305,339 times
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Southern California, and to some degree Norcal, can have some insane variances in temps just going a short distance. I used to live in Marina Del Rey, 2 miles from the ocean. It was nice, cool and temperate. As I drove inland, literally I would feel the temperature rise as I went inland. In Orange County, I live 20 miles from the ocean, and there is literally a 20 degree difference between here and the shore. Norcal is somewhat like that. The peninsula can be as cold and windy as SF proper, but once you get away from the bay, around Palo Alto and further south, it can get hot.

So I'm wondering if Seattle is similar. I've got my sights set on Issaquah but I also like shoreline climates, and it's pretty far inland.

TIA.
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Old 07-21-2013, 09:43 PM
 
1,630 posts, read 3,872,025 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Patrizio View Post
Southern California, and to some degree Norcal, can have some insane variances in temps just going a short distance. I used to live in Marina Del Rey, 2 miles from the ocean. It was nice, cool and temperate. As I drove inland, literally I would feel the temperature rise as I went inland. In Orange County, I live 20 miles from the ocean, and there is literally a 20 degree difference between here and the shore. Norcal is somewhat like that. The peninsula can be as cold and windy as SF proper, but once you get away from the bay, around Palo Alto and further south, it can get hot.

So I'm wondering if Seattle is similar. I've got my sights set on Issaquah but I also like shoreline climates, and it's pretty far inland.

TIA.
Anything 40 miles north, 40 miles south or 40 miles east will be within a degree or two. Winter is a bit different - higher elevations (we're talking 500-1000 feet) can get much colder than Seattle proper.
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Old 07-21-2013, 10:49 PM
 
346 posts, read 965,139 times
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Issaquah will always be within a degree or three of Seattle (which is on the Sound, not the Pacific).

If you drive up I-90 and get to the other side, you can easily have a 20-30 degree difference in the dead of winter or peak of summer.
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Old 07-21-2013, 11:06 PM
 
644 posts, read 1,183,288 times
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The local National Weather Service usually refers to the entire Seattle metro area as the "interior lowlands" or some variation of that phrase. (I'm addicted to their forecast discussions.) The Sound really isn't open water, so it's not exactly a true "shoreline climate." That's reserved for what the NWS calls "the coast," which is basically the Olympic Peninsula. The coast is definitely more temperate (and cloudy/rainy) than Seattle, but it's pretty far away from the city.
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Old 07-21-2013, 11:08 PM
 
Location: Seattle area
9,182 posts, read 12,074,348 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Patrizio View Post
Southern California, and to some degree Norcal, can have some insane variances in temps just going a short distance. I used to live in Marina Del Rey, 2 miles from the ocean. It was nice, cool and temperate. As I drove inland, literally I would feel the temperature rise as I went inland. In Orange County, I live 20 miles from the ocean, and there is literally a 20 degree difference between here and the shore. Norcal is somewhat like that. The peninsula can be as cold and windy as SF proper, but once you get away from the bay, around Palo Alto and further south, it can get hot.

So I'm wondering if Seattle is similar. I've got my sights set on Issaquah but I also like shoreline climates, and it's pretty far inland.

TIA.
I know what you are talking about. California has crazy weather. It can be 55 and foggy/cloudy by the water and 80 and clear just 10 miles east. Seattle is not on the ocean and the temperature doesn't vary that much. The difference is only 2-3 degrees. Now if you go to the coast it will be 15-20 degrees colder than Seattle and if you go 100 miles east, it will be 20 degrees warmer in the summer and colder in the winter.
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Old 07-22-2013, 12:07 AM
 
Location: Portal to the Pacific
8,736 posts, read 8,626,544 times
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At the higher elevations in Issaquah you'll probably need to add/minus another 2-3 degrees, in addition to what's already been mentioned. The winter before last we saw many mornings with snow in the Highlands while the rest of Seattle (and Issaquah valley) got rain. All in all, it's still the same weather though.
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Old 07-22-2013, 06:13 AM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,225 posts, read 80,405,058 times
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In Issaquah it can be 3-4 degrees warmer up high, an as much as 6-8 degrees colder in the Highlands, Squak Mountain and other areas above 500 feet. Even Sammamish where we live can be 3-4 degrees different from Lake Sammamish to here at 600'. Because of the marine influence, Seattle is almost always 3-5 degrees cooler in summer than the eastside, and the same amount warmer in winter. Within Seattle there is very little variance.
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Old 07-22-2013, 11:38 PM
 
157 posts, read 305,339 times
Reputation: 155
Ah that's nothing. Good to know.

Socal really is crazy. I moved here in a late summer month and I remember how nice it was in MDR, but as I drove inland up Santa Monica Blvd with the window down, the temperature seemed to rise with each block.

In the OC we have a lot of mountains. Anaheim Hills is up to 1000 feet above sea level but boy do those houses have a great view. It's even worse in the Inland Empire. Riverside is 1000 feet above sea level but it's not mountainous like Anaheim Hills. Going up to Rancho Cucamungo, it hits 1400 feet. Then there's the climb into the High Desert, an area that has grown enormously in the last 10 years because it's so affordable to live there, where you hit 4000 feet.

HD is a double edged sword. I can rent a 1500 foot 3 bedroom house for $800. In the OC it would cost 4x as much. But the High Desert is just that, a desert, prone to 110 degree temperatures, violent storms, flash floods and even snow. Not to mention thin air. If any of you have seen the badly acted, fake reality show "Barter Kings," it's set there. Not an agreeable place for a person of European descent like me. That's why I am interested in Seattle. I want a temperate, moist climate. Preferably in a state that's not dying.
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