Anyone from Colorado or midwest in Olympia area now? (Seattle: how much, job transfer)

[blessedbrokenroad]

Hi there,

Let me preface this by saying I have read most of the epic Seattle weather thread. My question is a bit more specific/clarifying.

I grew up in the midwest - hated the weather. Took a quiz called ****** and moved out to Colorado for the abundant sunshine in my early 20s per my quiz results. There's LOTS to love about CO and I've enjoyed 11 years here, but summers have been increasingly brutal with the heat, especially for my husband who works outside year round. And it's sort of like groundhog day with the 300+ days of sunshine per year. Some variety in seasons/greenery would be nice. (And not being thirsty/dry all the time!) So we took the quiz again since tastes/needs are changing. It came up with Olympia.

After reading the ginormous Seattle weather thread....my questions are these:

-Can you really go outside most of the year for recreation and exercise without feeling miserable?

-Can your kids play in the yard without being too cold from the "mizzle" or the grass being too damp? (Another mom in the thread was saying that her kids could never go outside).

-Do people seem to be less social because they are ducking inside to avoid the weather?

-Has anyone reading this from the Rocky Mountain area or the midwest moved to the Olympia area, and if so....what's your take? Do you miss the sun or has it been easy to adjust?

-And really, when everyone says "gray skies" and "overcast"....does someone have a picture of a typical overcast/gray day? When I picture it, I picture dark skies, but when I see other pics, it just looks sort of....muted if that makes sense.

-I'm not worried about the "mizzle" - just the long periods of gray skies & what it can do to a person's mood and if it really keeps you inside the house. My husband insists that when he grew up in the Portland area, it would be cloudy most days but the sun seemed to come out every afternoon and he'd be able to play outside most days.

Just looking for some opinions. Thanks in advance.

[kanhawk]

Originally Posted by blessedbrokenroad

-Has anyone reading this from the Rocky Mountain area or the midwest moved to the Olympia area, and if so....what's your take? Do you miss the sun or has it been easy to adjust?

I grew up in the midwest and left there as young man. I have lived in the Olympia area for several years.
I will say that overall, I much prefer the weather here to the midwest because I just hate snow and ice and the wicked swings in temperature of the midwest and we get little of that here. At least you can move around in the rain here most of the time because it usually isn't a heavy rain but more a light rain or drizzle.
To me, the negative issue of the weather here isn't the rain itself, which isn't that bad, but the almost relentless overcast skies, except in the summer when you get quite a bit of sun and almost drought like conditions.
The rain falls mostly from November to March, but April, May and June are not really rainy, it's just the clouds don't go away much.
I like misty weather to a certain extent, but by the end of winter into early spring, it does wear on me. Still, I feel like I can get in my car and go somewhere anytime I want without the weather shutting me in, which I couldn't say about the midwest.
Here is a typical gloomy December day photo I took a few years ago.

IMG_1266 by kanhawk, on Flickr

[tofur]

I'm curious about your first bullet point as well. Sure, you CAN go outside most of the year and do stuff, but do you actually end up doing it? That picture is depressing just to look at, who want's to go hiking or mountain biking in that if its 40-50 degrees?

[slan490]

I grew up in Madison, WI but have been in Oly for 20 years.

I have never truly adjusted to the weather. I still crave a 4 season life. Swimming in summer and winter sports in winter. You can get out year round here but biking and hiking seem to be the main draw. I think there's more variety in different climates.

We're moving to Seattle in May and I'm looking forward to it. In my experience Olympia feels more claustrophobic. It seems darker, wetter and while the trees are great they limit a lot of the light and views.

Good luck... It's a tough thing to figure out.

[Jalhop]

Originally Posted by blessedbrokenroad

-Can you really go outside most of the year for recreation and exercise without feeling miserable?

-Can your kids play in the yard without being too cold from the "mizzle" or the grass being too damp? (Another mom in the thread was saying that her kids could never go outside).

-Do people seem to be less social because they are ducking inside to avoid the weather?

No, no, and yes, in general. It doesn't seem to matter how long you've lived here. My stepdaughter is an adult and a native; she wants to move to someplace sunnier.

I see hardly kids outside, 9 months out of the year. Maybe they're in backyards but I doubt it.

And it's sort of like groundhog day with the 300+ days of sunshine per year. Some variety in seasons/greenery would be nice.

I could visit CO every year, I love it there. We go in July and it's green green green. The weather and scenery is always postcard perfect. I've seen many people make your point here. Western WA vs. CO may be a "out of the frying pan and into the fire" thing, but I'm not sure which WA is, the frying pan or the fire! From where I stand I'd gladly take 300 days of sunshine over 300 days of overcast.

[blessedbrokenroad]

Jalhop - thank you. What part of CO do you visit? I'm on the front range and it is brown!! There is usually a fire burning somewhere in the mountains and drought conditions. I'd love to go to the green part of CO (if that exists?) in July. That would be something to see!
Also...to Slan490 - thanks for addressing the seasonal/sporting aspect. They say there's lots of pools and bodies of water for recreation, but is it not too cold to swim outside, even in the summertime? I hope I'm not being obnoxious with my weather questions, but I've combed other threads looking for answers to these questions and never found them. So I just thought I'd cover this before we jump into job transfers or anything. Thanks again!

[Jalhop]

We were in CO this past summer and saying to ourselves "just look how brown it is! brown everywhere!" We were being sarcastic about comments I've seen here, it was green everywhere! We've been as far west as Grand Junction, as far north as Steamboat Springs and Rocky Mountain national park, south along the border with NM, and as far east as Denver. Always green, even Denver! (Well except for the sand at Great Sand Dunes!) But always in early July. It seems that's prime time for CO nature.

Here in the Seattle area it's too cold to swim outside in natural bodies of water, except for the warmest few weeks of summer and then preferably in shallow water. The lakes tend to have a lot of underwater plant growth that can entangle kids' legs. You generally don't see kids dip more than their feet in the water unless it's low tide on Puget Sound or in designated swimming areas (with lifeguards) at some of the lakes, in late July and August. There are a couple outdoor pools open during that time as well.

[cocaseco]

Originally Posted by blessedbrokenroad

-Can you really go outside most of the year for recreation and exercise without feeling miserable?.

Absolutely. Does that mean you won't get wet? No. But being fully rained out is not a common event. Do invest in a quality set of rain gear for the whole family.

Originally Posted by blessedbrokenroad

--Can your kids play in the yard without being too cold from the "mizzle" or the grass being too damp? (Another mom in the thread was saying that her kids could never go outside)..

Of course they can. There will be days, like anywhere, where the weather will dictate indoor activity, but even then you can allow some outside play in moderation.

Originally Posted by blessedbrokenroad

--Do people seem to be less social because they are ducking inside to avoid the weather?.

Maybe, especially if you live in the burbs where you don't see your neighbors as often in the winter. But I saw the same dynamic in Colorado.

Originally Posted by blessedbrokenroad

--Has anyone reading this from the Rocky Mountain area or the midwest moved to the Olympia area, and if so....what's your take? Do you miss the sun or has it been easy to adjust? .

30 years in Colorado and I miss the dryness sometimes. But I don't miss the heat, as you mentioned too. I think it has been a very easy transition, but then too, this was my first winter and people have said it was a very easy one to date.

Originally Posted by blessedbrokenroad

--And really, when everyone says "gray skies" and "overcast"....does someone have a picture of a typical overcast/gray day? When I picture it, I picture dark skies, but when I see other pics, it just looks sort of....muted if that makes sense..

Its not the high, well defined cumulous clouds of Colorado, more like a winter snow storm type cloud, but down at or near the ground is the biggest difference I noticed, plus a lot of fog.

[cocaseco]

Originally Posted by blessedbrokenroad

Jalhop - thank you. What part of CO do you visit? I'm on the front range and it is brown!! There is usually a fire burning somewhere in the mountains and drought conditions.

This is just sooo true! We recently left Colorado after 30 years largely due to the climate change that has occurred. it is ugly and brown most of the year, the forests are dying rapidly from beetles, drought is always a major concern with frequent watering restrictions resulting in more brown. Then there are the 100 degree days which used to be rare and now occur a couple times each year and the 90 degree plus streaks are common at 40 or 50 days each summer. this big snows are rarer and rare as are the typical afternoon thunderstorm pattern, except for the monsoon season. of course this refers to the Front range and there are still plenty of mountain locations without these problems.

[intothelight]

I lived in Colorado and now reside in Olympia. I like Colorado better, but that in reality is just because I had more meaningful relationships out there. When I got here, I blamed my unhappiness on the weather and wanted to move right away. But, over time, I've made friends, and it's OK. There are two types of people in Seattle. Those who look outside and say "Ugh, it's raining - AGAIN! I hate it here". Then, there are those that say, "Oh, interesting, it's raining again. Sure is beautiful and green and mild." The first kind move pretty quickly or post on here about how much they hate Seattle. There are plenty of times when you can go outside. Of course, yes, some days, it's raining all day. Even stretches where it rains most of the day for several days. But, then, it always stops.

If I only based my happiness on weather, I'd say I prefer Colorado to here. But, weather is insignificant really. You can totally get used to it. And in exchange for the rain, you a lot of beauty - and more mild weather/no snow. My only recommendation is to visit here before moving (to crush the fantasies we all have about how it's so much better than where we are now) and once you've decided, just be positive about the good in Seattle and ignore the bad.