Bellingham rain question (Seattle, Vancouver: rentals, tenants, luxury)

[Blindtom]

Originally Posted by RotseCherut

The rain and grey in Bellingham is horrifying, I don't think anyone should move there. Just let the moss, grass, bushes and trees overgrow that area and let it slowly be forgotten from the rest of the state.

Keep telling that to everyone.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by slsl6

I've been researching the rain in Bellingham--one poster will say that it rains continuously all winter and the next says that it's just gray and overcast all the time and the rain is more of a mist or drizzle than an actual rainfall.

Any input?

There's a lot of both. Some people cling to the illusion that the rain isn't "real" rain, it's only mist or drizzle. I was there last week, and there was a typhoon in progress, blowing sheets of rain sideways, so that as soon as you stepped outside, you got soaked to the skin. The kind of rain that soaks through a rain coat in a couple of minutes. I used to walk to work when I lived in Seattle, and arrived hopelessly soaked through, until I had a Gore-Tex raincoat made. (Be sure to seal the seams, or you'll get soaked, anyway). Though rain that heavy is somewhat rare, "real" rain of a more average variety is not uncommon.

HOWEVER, what the weather patterns will be in this new drought-prone era of global warming is anyone's guess. Warm summer rains used to be common in Seattle if you go back far enough, but that hasn't been the case in decades. So weather patterns there have been "evolving" for a long time. That could be why you're getting contradictory info.

[CrazyDonkey]

Puget Sound weather patterns are very complex and variable. Possibly the most difficult weather to predict in the U.S. Also, lots of micro-climates, from the Banana Belt to the Cascade Foothills. Besides the Olympics' "rain shadow", there are two convergence zones, one north of Seattle and the other north of Bellingham.

Weather and climate, of course, are not the same thing. The biggest threat to the NW from global warming is less from less rain (rising temperatures can actually lead to more rain) than from less snow in the Cascades, leading to water shortages.

Bellingham, Washington Weather and Climate: April 2012

The Mother of All Convergence Zones - Seattle Weather Blog : Seattle Weather Blog

[Deserterer]

I lived there for 10 years. Does it really matter whether its raining and 44 degress or drizzling and 44 degrees? It's dark, bleak and cool, damp to wet. The sun will come out for 10 minutes and you'll jump for joy, and then you won't see it again for a month and you'll contemplate jumping from a rooftop. It was kind of interesting for a year or two, but 10 years was 8 years too long.

Originally Posted by slsl6

I've been researching the rain in Bellingham--one poster will say that it rains continuously all winter and the next says that it's just gray and overcast all the time and the rain is more of a mist or drizzle than an actual rainfall.

Any input?

[Blindtom]

Originally Posted by Deserterer

Does it really matter whether its raining and 44 degress or drizzling and 44 degrees?

You can do most things outside when it is drizzling, not so when it is raining. So, yes, it does matter.

[Deserterer]

Not really. You get wet either way. You can hike in the rain, bike in the rain, kayak in the rain...if you enjoy that sort of thing. The kind of steady downpour or sideways weather that would discourage that sort of activity for those so inclined are actually quite rare.

Originally Posted by Blindtom

You can do most things outside when it is drizzling, not so when it is raining. So, yes, it does matter.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by Deserterer

Not really. You get wet either way. You can hike in the rain, bike in the rain, kayak in the rain...if you enjoy that sort of thing. The kind of steady downpour or sideways weather that would discourage that sort of activity for those so inclined are actually quite rare.

I would agree that it does make a rather large difference, and I think that the point Blindtom was making is that a little bit of drizzle doesn't discourage people from participating in outdoor activities at all the way, say, a tropical storm would.

I can see getting burned out on relentless gray skies after ten years, though the amount of cloud cover in Bellingham isn't much different than it is anywhere else west of the Cascades in WA or OR. And with changing weather patterns/El Ninos, it varies quite a bit, from year to year. FWIW I've lived in places that had the opposite weather-relentless sunshine and very little rain/foliage/greenery- and in my opinion those can be quite a bit more depressing.

[Trigger-f]

B'ham is next to a big mass of snow area (Mt Baker). All that cold moves to lower elevations too. Also you have the lake and Puget sound. Drizzle or light rain, it's pretty cold. Last Dec when I visited temps were 32F-to 45F with a few clear sky days of low 20's(up on the mountain it was 15F). Pretty much the opposite effect of living in the Southeast as this lasts from late Oct to May.

People participate in outdoor activities in freezing weather or in sweltering sun(different strokes for different folks).

[Deserterer]

Originally Posted by bartonizer

I would agree that it does make a rather large difference, and I think that the point Blindtom was making is that a little bit of drizzle doesn't discourage people from participating in outdoor activities at all the way, say, a tropical storm would.

Right, but you're implying a dichotomy that doesn't generally exist in Bham weather. Tropical storms and hurricanes are rare in Bham. What you have for precip is mostly drizzle and light rain, with only occasional heavy rains/storms esp in fall. Its only those heavy rains and storms that really disrupt outdoor activity for those inclined to engage in cool damp gray outdoor activity. The difference between doing it in light rain versus drizzle is negligible.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by Deserterer

Right, but you're implying a dichotomy that doesn't generally exist in Bham weather. Tropical storms and hurricanes are rare in Bham. What you have for precip is mostly drizzle and light rain, with only occasional heavy rains/storms esp in fall. Its only those heavy rains and storms that really disrupt outdoor activity for those inclined to engage in cool damp gray outdoor activity. The difference between doing it in light rain versus drizzle is negligible.

I gave an extreme example, obviously. I'm not sure what you're arguing about. I guess you're just saying that either you're into doing things in the rain, or you're not. I agree with you- but again, the point that BlindTom was making is simply that there IS a difference between light drizzle (the usual) and heavy rainstorms (not so usual). This area rarely gets the latter, and most people around here don't let the drizzle/light rain slow them down.