You won't see the sun for 10 months out of the year they said... (Seattle: cost of living, winter)

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by happygrrrl

I’m on the north Olympic Peninsula, outside of PA, but they are having deep snow “in town” from what I heard. The snow is now blowing horizontally, I’ve only seen that in North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado. It’s very windy, too. Looks closer to 24” now, I’ll measure later, don’t want a face full of snow. Dogs now saying “nope, I’ll hold it in, thanks”. I’m surprised to still have electric and internet *fingers crossed*.

We used to get that a lot while living in CO with high winds during snow storms. This was especially true at elevation. Talk about bitter cold hikes in the Rockies!! Though the flats would get them as well due to being high desert (6k+ elevation).

I thought PA was supposed to be in a sort of 'banana belt' rain shadow marketed as one of the milder climates in the PNW. With less rain/snow and more sun beneath the Olympic range or so the stories/fables go. Consequently, many want to move to the rain shadow because of all that marketing. But these storm don't seem to differentiate too much while barreling through.

Derek

[MtnSurfer]

Here's a funny thing which you probably don't see too often. It was snowing while the sun was out under bright blue sky in part.




Derek

[happygrrrl]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

We used to get that a lot while living in CO with high winds during snow storms. This was especially true at elevation. Talk about bitter cold hikes in the Rockies!! Though the flats would get them as well due to being high desert (6k+ elevation).

I thought PA was supposed to be in a sort of 'banana belt' rain shadow marketed as one of the milder climates in the PNW. With less rain/snow and more sun beneath the Olympic range or so the stories/fables go. Consequently, many want to move to the rain shadow because of all that marketing. But these storm don't seem to differentiate too much while barreling through.

Derek

Yeah, well I guess it’s a banana belt compared to Alaska, lol!

Like I said, summers are awesome, except the last one was mostly cloudy. You can have a limited vegetable garden, berries, fruit trees, certainly nothing like CA standards. Fall is beautiful. Winter is anyone’s guess, but guaranteed cloudy, dark skies, a little sun part of the day, maybe all day if you’re lucky. This past Thanksgiving was sunny! It was a miracle!

This is what I meant when I discuss microclimates here. At my last job, I passed through at least 8 “zones” from my place to my office in PA.

The payoff is plenty of water, beautiful green, doesn’t get too hot.

Send me that sun, please!

[MtnSurfer]

The sun broke out today in a number of places including Seattle and Vancouver. Here's one from the Space Needle.




Derek

[happygrrrl]

It’s melting. What a difference a day makes. Read the Peninsula Daily News for info on the peninsula. They lifted the pay wall temporarily.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

We used to get that a lot while living in CO with high winds during snow storms. This was especially true at elevation. Talk about bitter cold hikes in the Rockies!! Though the flats would get them as well due to being high desert (6k+ elevation).

I thought PA was supposed to be in a sort of 'banana belt' rain shadow marketed as one of the milder climates in the PNW. With less rain/snow and more sun beneath the Olympic range or so the stories/fables go. Consequently, many want to move to the rain shadow because of all that marketing. But these storm don't seem to differentiate too much while barreling through.

Derek

I posted some time ago , that when we get the winter weather it originates from the northeast typically. It blasts across the eastern end of the straight and right into PA. You guys are in a rain shadow as far as wetter weather is concerned that comes in from the south to west, but wide open for cold weather from the north. It is rare that it maintains it's strength that far south like it did this time though.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

The sun broke out today in a number of places including Seattle and Vancouver. Here's one from the Space Needle.
Derek

I sat in my car during lunch and absorbed the rare sunshine, and a couple slices of pizza

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

I posted some time ago , that when we get the winter weather it originates from the northeast typically. It blasts across the eastern end of the straight and right into PA. You guys are in a rain shadow as far as wetter weather is concerned that comes in from the south to west, but wide open for cold weather from the north. It is rare that it maintains it's strength that far south like it did this time though.

Interesting, so in theory the rain shadow effect only applies to storms coming in from other directions than north. That means winter weather which predominately originates from north actually hits it straight on. That would explain the differences seen in this current band of storms marching down from the north.

However, there seems to be a lot of conflicting information out there on the Olympic Rain Shadow. Some respectable people, including Cliff Mass, have shown that even in winter things are supposedly better. Here are a couple interesting reads on it:

Is Sequim the Sunniest Place in Western Washington?

Olympic Rain Shadow

My favorite myth mentioned is one:
Myth - The rain shadow is a tropical banana belt
Verified observation - It actually has a quite cool, but clear, sunny, and windy climate overall.

Derek

[happygrrrl]

It is well known that Sequim will get a small “hole” in the clouds where the sun will peek through for a few minutes, or maybe a few hours, in winter. Sometimes there will maybe be sun for part of the day in winter. Any day that has ANY sun is considered a “sunny day in Sequim” by those who market it. It is NOT California, Arizona, or Florida. You will not be laying out and working on your tan in winter. You will never grow citrus or avocado. It’s still Western Washington, look at the latitude of the Olympic Peninsula.

For accurate weather reports up here, I only rely on weather.com, a/k/a The Weather Channel for those with cable television, not Cliff Mass or anyone else.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

Interesting, so in theory the rain shadow effect only applies to storms coming in from other directions than north. That means winter weather which predominately originates from north actually hits it straight on. That would explain the differences seen in this current band of storms marching down from the north.

However, there seems to be a lot of conflicting information out there on the Olympic Rain Shadow. Some respectable people, including Cliff Mass, have shown that even in winter things are supposedly better. Here are a couple interesting reads on it:

Is Sequim the Sunniest Place in Western Washington?

Olympic Rain Shadow

My favorite myth mentioned is one:
Myth - The rain shadow is a tropical banana belt
Verified observation - It actually has a quite cool, but clear, sunny, and windy climate overall.

Derek

That's my belief based on experience, and I was born here so I've been around awhile. Now the reason it's thought of as such by Cliff Mass for example, is that more often than not everything clears out when we get a NE wind and it just gets really cold but clear and sunny. I've seen them blow the snow forecast many times because the moisture gets blown south before the cold happens and we get nothing. This storm was different and had plenty of moisture to feed from.