Okay, how many "hot" days like this should I expect per year? (Seattle: renting, to buy)

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

But the point is, houses didn't used to get hot in the summers. There was no need for AC. It's not that people just struggled through the hot season. There was no hot season, lol!

Not quite true - yes, some summers it stayed cool all the way into July, with rainy Junes very usual, but some other summers were real burners. 85+ degree weather really is not that unusual here - it's just that the balance looks to have shifted some away from the "cool" and toward the "hot" end (very likely due to global warming).

One factor is that you don't really notice the high relative humidity here until the temperatures get above 80. At 90 degrees it is real obvious. At close to 100 degrees, you'd rather be almost anywhere else.

[Botev1912]

the humidity at 90 is around 20% which is not high.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Not quite true - yes, some summers it stayed cool all the way into July, with rainy Junes very usual, but some other summers were real burners. 85+ degree weather really is not that unusual here - it's just that the balance looks to have shifted some away from the "cool" and toward the "hot" end (very likely due to global warming).

One factor is that you don't really notice the high relative humidity here until the temperatures get above 80. At 90 degrees it is real obvious. At close to 100 degrees, you'd rather be almost anywhere else.

Well, whoever I was responding to was speaking about the West Coast in general, so in northern CA near the coast, what I said was true--there was no hot season. AC wasn't necessary. As for Seattle, I don't remember housing getting uncomfortably hot during the days of high 70's. I certainly do remember housing, as well as the outdoors, getting uncomfortably hot during the late July--August heat wave, which is why I'd leave town. But Seattleites have always been in denial about that late summer hot season, until now; suddenly everyone's discussing it as part of conversations about recent warming trends in the area. But as I recall, back in the day, the rationale for not having AC for that 4 to 6-week period each summer was that it wasn't worth the expense just for a few weeks. (This, even from people who could well afford it.)

[Mini-apple-less]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Why the Oregon coast?

Actually Rural Oregon in general, is very poor, especially the children who live there:

Child poverty highest and rising in rural Oregon | OregonLive.com

I'd have to look up how Appalachia compares but there is no question that parts of rural Oregon are poorer than many areas of Appalachia. There are virtually no jobs there, and many areas were more or less completely cut off from the grid as late as the 1960s.

There just doesn't seem to be much awareness or concern for poverty in the Western US, since there is this assumption that everyone there is a rich techie, skiier or movie star.

[Mini-apple-less]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

the humidity at 90 is around 20% which is not high.

Just wait til July.

[Chris Meyers]

I am getting really sick of the continuous sunny days myself! I need days of overcast at least interspersed in!! I actually look forward to the next full week of overcast LOL Whenever that will be

[Ira500]

There have been times in the past where I felt Seattle was a little bleak in the winter...cold, rainy, and dark. But it's really usually in November, December, and January where there's continuous cold rain, and not for three months straight. It's just a fond memory right now in the heat. But what I wouldn't give for a few nice, drizzly, 63 degree days.

[Botev1912]

why do you like drizzle so much? It's so bad. Cloudy day with no drizzle is much nicer.

[slan490]

One thing people seem to forget is we all live in different homes. So it's great for older homes that are drafty and breezy and laid out just right for cross breezes...I live in one of those right now. It's so cold in the winter but we don't really need an AC.

Prior to this house we lived in a new construction (2006) rambler with an awful layout that made it impossible to use breezes for cooling, add in vaulted ceilings and that huge wasted attic space and our house was a sweaty nightmare with no cool down even if temps were at 75. We put a heat pump in the summer of 2009 and our tenants love having AC.

If your house is hot get AC. If you can get by on breezes that's great.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

why do you like drizzle so much? It's so bad. Cloudy day with no drizzle is much nicer.

I like cloudy days without drizzle also. I just like breathing in cool, moist air. It feels good on the skin. Not so much when it's 36 degrees and drizzling. But if it's anywhere from the upper 40's to the mid 60's with a light drizzle, I'm happy. I'm in the right place for that, or at least I thought I was.