Washington State Weather (Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma: live in, dangerous, to move)

[greenerpastures79]

Originally Posted by CarlB328

All I know is that it's humid and damp here most of the year, but also cool so the humidity isn't miserable like in the south. Summers here are dry compared to the east and south.

I've lived most of my life in the beautiful (but humid summer) east coast and in the south (Houston), and for lesser periods in western Oregon and southern/coastal California. Let me tell ya, any humidity in the summers of western Washington/Oregon is NOTHING compared to the summer humidity of the south and east coast. The people of southern California would sometimes about some summer humidity (with highs in the upper 70s), and i just laughed inside myself . If one is used to very dry summers and colder snowy winters like in eastern Washington, then perhaps that person will notice the summer humidity of western Washington, while to an easterner or southerner, western Washington's "humid summers" that are, at the same time, much cooler, will be heaven to such persons. It's all in one's preference and it's all relative.

[CarawayDJ]

Originally Posted by greenerpastures79

I've lived most of my life in the beautiful (but humid summer) east coast and in the south (Houston), and for lesser periods in western Oregon and southern/coastal California. Let me tell ya, any humidity in the summers of western Washington/Oregon is NOTHING compared to the summer humidity of the south and east coast. The people of southern California would sometimes about some summer humidity (with highs in the upper 70s), and i just laughed inside myself . If one is used to very dry summers and colder snowy winters like in eastern Washington, then perhaps that person will notice the summer humidity of western Washington, while to an easterner or southerner, western Washington's "humid summers" that are, at the same time, much cooler, will be heaven to such persons. It's all in one's preference and it's all relative.

So true. Someone on the West Coast complaining about humidity is like someone living in a remote Alaskan village complaining about traffic.

[509]

Originally Posted by CarawayDJ

So true. Someone on the West Coast complaining about humidity is like someone living in a remote Alaskan village complaining about traffic.

My wife grew up in the mid-west. She has a thing about humidity. Can't handle the Bay Area, Hawaii, or Seattle during the summer due to humidity.

I really do not notice the humidity in Seattle until it hits 80 degrees and then it becomes unbearable for me. My wife quits long before that.

So Baja instead of Hawaii and Arizona instead of California.

Everything is relative.

[cjg5]

On my way back for another two week work stay in tri cities. Glad to be leaving the humidity behind! 90 degrees of dry heat is so much more tolerable than 70 degrees of humidity, even if it is less in seattle than compared to the midwest and east coast!

[jpimus]

I currently live in Houston and my fiance and I may move to Seattle. The weather in Seattle sounds beautiful compared to Houston. This summer in Houston has been ungodly. 50+ days of 100 degrees or higher with overnight lows between 80-85. This weekend it was finally cooled off. However, last weekend it was 110 and it was still 94 degrees at 11pm. Oh, its not an Arizona dry heat. The humidity and dew points are through the roof and that is why we didn't cool off at night. I grew up in Connecticut so I really miss the 4 seasons. Washington sounds much more to my liking.

[West coast at heart]

Originally Posted by jpimus

I grew up in Connecticut so I really miss the 4 seasons. Washington sounds much more to my liking.

Well I may be mistaken, but I don't think you are going to see the "four" seasons in Seattle area. At least not like what you remember in Connecticut. Granted it will be much closer than Houston. I am from (and still living in) northern Indiana. My inlaws lived an hour north of Seattle and I remember our visits throughout the years. Fall is not as colorful and spring is much more suttle as well.
I am sure someone living in the area will give you a better description and maybe correct my observations. But from another midwesterner, not the same effect. Winters here can be long and hard and when you get that first glimpse of Spring...wow, such beauty (crocous popping up through snow/ice....)! Don't get me wrong. I find the PNW loaded with its own spectacular beauty(mountains,oceans....) or I would not be wanting to live there as well!

Peace and good luck,
WC@H

[Mollym313]

Originally Posted by cjg5

Thought I'd compile a little info here for potential movers wondering about the weather. Of course I'm keeping it general and splitting it between the eastern and western halves of the state. If anyone has anything to add about Washington weather, or just want to discuss the weather in your own area of Washington in general (ala the weather thread in the Alaska forum), let's do that here.

(Since this is for the entire state and not just Seattle, I ask mods please not to merge this with the Seattle weather thread. Thanks).

1) Western Washington features a somewhat mildly humid (though still more than I like!) summer with temperature averages during the day being anywhere from 65 to 77 degrees, depending on where you are. The nights cool off to the upper 40s to low to mid 50s most nights. Again, depending on where you are in Western Washington. Usually once per summer we get some kind of heatwave where temperatures can stay in the mid to high 80s, and at times low 90s, for a few days at a time.

2) Coastal Washington is the most mild, and even in summer you will very easily have fog and dew on the ground in the morning, which may or may not burn off by noon. Rains more in the summer too than the Puget Sound area, as well as all year round.

3) Western Washington winters are rainy everywhere (yes, yes, there are some rain shadows where totals are much lower than other surrounding areas, but don't let that fool you!) and feature cloudy and overcast skies a majority of the time. Wintertime temperatures on average can be from about 40 to 50 degrees during the day, and from about 30 to 38 degrees during the night. Again, location depending. Cold snaps can and do happen, there is usually at least one per year that sends temperatures below freezing for a day or two (or sometimes more) at a time, but these cold snaps are usually accompanied by dry air and clear skies. Sometimes when a system is moving through at the same time, that's when we see our most significant snowfalls (usually ever two to three years, sometimes more).

4) Eastern Washington features a hot but dry summer. Humidity is often very low (just how I like it!) and average daytime temperatures during the summer can range from about 80 to 90 degrees, once again location depending. Some areas of Eastern Washington regularly top out into the 90s and low 100s many days over the summer. Summer average lows can be anywhere from about 50 to about 65 degrees, and again location depending.

5) Eastern Washington winters are cold. Daytime highs during winter average from about 30 to 40 degrees, with lows in the lower 20s and teens in many places. This is the time of year that Eastern Washington also sees the majority of its precipitation, and snow can easily fall and stick around for a while. Some areas get snow more than others, and some have it sticking around more than others.



So if you don't like rain, cloudy skies, mild summers, or even mild winters, Western Washington is not for you.

If you don't like lots of dry heat, cold winters, or snow, Eastern Washington is not for you.

If you don't like any of that, Washington State is not for you, period!


One more thing, due to our latitude, we do see pretty big differences in daylight hours between winter and summer. While (obviously) not as extreme as Alaska, it is something else to take into consideration, especially if short hours of daylight bother you. (I'm talking about total darkness BEFORE 6pm in the winter! On the other hand, complete darkness doesn't come until about 10pm in the summer. Sunrise is also after 7am in winter, and at about 5am in the summer).

The daylight/winter/summer hours are similar in Missouri as well. I do not think that is very unique. Summertime...you see sunrise before 6 and sunset after 9. Winter...sunset just after 5pm and sunrise after 7am.

[cjg5]

Originally Posted by Mollym313

The daylight/winter/summer hours are similar in Missouri as well. I do not think that is very unique. Summertime...you see sunrise before 6 and sunset after 9. Winter...sunset just after 5pm and sunrise after 7am.

Interesting! I would have thought the difference would be more. But I just compared Seattle to Kansas City.

Seattle, Washington - Sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk times for the whole year - Gaisma

Kansas City, Missouri - Sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk times for the whole year - Gaisma

I swear I remember the differences being bigger than that! Especially where twilight time is concerned!

EDIT: Actually looking at it again, the differences are almost an hour around the solstices.

[Mollym313]

Originally Posted by cjg5

Interesting! I would have thought the difference would be more. But I just compared Seattle to Kansas City.

Seattle, Washington - Sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk times for the whole year - Gaisma

Kansas City, Missouri - Sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk times for the whole year - Gaisma

I swear I remember the differences being bigger than that! Especially where twilight time is concerned!

EDIT: Actually looking at it again, the differences are almost an hour around the solstices.

Those are interesting charts...I'll have to remember those. Daylight/night hours are probably the only similarities btw WA and MO...LOL

[cjg5]

I am cross posting this from the Seattle forum. Neither city listed below (Seattle and Spokane) is fully representative of their respective sides of the state (in fact depending on where you are the differences can be huge, such as much wetter areas, much drier areas, areas that get hotter, areas that get colder, etc), but it helps give a clearer idea of kinds of seasonal patterns to expect on either side of the state:


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This is Seattle according to weather.com:

month = average high / average low // record high / record low // average precipitation

jan = 47 / 37 // 64 / 18 // 4.81 inches
feb = 50 / 37 // 66 / 19 // 3.43 inches
mar = 54 / 39 // 78 / 28 // 3.51 inches
apr = 59 / 43 // 83 / 32 // 2.77 inches
may = 64 / 48 // 89 / 35 // 2.16 inches
jun = 70 / 52 // 92 / 42 // 1.63 inches
jul = 76 / 56 // 96 / 48 // 0.79 inches
aug = 76 / 57 // 93 / 47 // 0.97 inches
sep = 71 / 53 // 93 / 42 // 1.52 inches
oct = 60 / 47 // 87 / 29 // 3.41 inches
nov = 51 / 41 // 66 / 20 // 5.84 inches
dec = 46 / 36 // 62 / 10 // 5.43 inches

I notice while doing this that they have updated the averages. Slightly higher than the last time I looked at them. (by about once degree in both summer and winter). I also think these are as recorded in Downtown Seattle. The outlying areas are slightly different, especially when records are considered.

Here is what has been recorded both at Seatac and at Boeing Field:

month = average high / average low // record high / record low // average precipitation

jan = 47 / 37 // 67 / 0 // 5.57 inches
feb = 50 / 37 // 70 / 1 // 3.62 inches
mar = 54 / 39 // 78 / 11 // 3.72 inches
apr = 59 / 42 // 87 / 29 // 2.71 inches
may = 65 / 47 // 93 / 16 // 1.94 inches
jun = 70 / 52 // 98 / 38 // 1.57 inches
jul = 76 / 56 / 103 / 25 // 0.70 inches
aug = 76 / 56 // 99 / 44 // 0.88 inches
sep = 71 / 52 // 98 / 35 // 1.50 inches
oct = 60 / 46 // 89 / 19 // 3.48 inches
nov = 51 / 40 // 74 / 0 // 6.57 inches
dec = 46 / 36 // 65 / 6 // 5.35 inches

(I believe July record low of 25 should actually be 35 and is a typo. The record low of 35 is what is given on another source I checked)

Here are the city-data charts on weather for Seattle:












Now compare this with the largest Washington state city east of the Cascades:

Spokane, Washington (from weather.com)

month = average high / average low // record high / record low // average precipitation


jan = 34 / 25 // 62 / -30 // 1.79 inches
feb = 40 / 26 // 63 / -24 // 1.38 inches
mar = 49 / 32 // 74 / -10 // 1.61 inches
apr = 57 / 37 // 90 / 14 // 1.28 inches
may = 67 / 44 // 97 / 24 // 1.62 inches
jun = 74 / 50 // 101 / 33 // 1.25 inches
jul = 83 / 56 // 108 / 37 // 0.64 inches
aug = 83 / 56 // 108 / 35 // 0.59 inches
sep = 73 / 47 // 98 / 22 // 0.67 inches
oct = 58 / 37 // 87 / 7 // 1.18 inches
nov = 42 / 30 // 70 / -21 // 2.30 inches
dec = 32 / 23 // 60 / -25 // 2.30 inches

and the city-data charts of Spokane:












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Seattle according to Wikipedia: Seattle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spokane according to Wikipedia: Spokane, Washington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia