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My husband and I are strongly considering a move to Washington from California. Before you start hating on us, let me explain. We have legitimate reasons to move there. My mother in law lives in Bellingham, and she is ill. We'd like our kids to get to know her better while she's still around. Also, my husband works in tech and many of his colleagues/mentors live in that area now. Our other option is the NE coast, which we are considering as well, but my husband has a very minimal professional network there.
I hate California weather for the most part. It's far too hot and sunny, and I would love to live somewhere cooler. However, I'm concerned about the 8-9 months of "gloom" I keep reading about. I do love a crisp sunny day, when we get them. Are those few and far between in western Washington? Is it as grey and gloomy as everything I've read? I am prone to depression and already take antidepressants; would I be doomed in WA? We visited the Seattle area in the summer and it was lovely, but from what I've read, that's basically the only time of year the sun is out.
Also, we have two VERY active young boys. How do families deal with kids playing outside if it rains so much?
My husband and I are strongly considering a move to Washington from California. Before you start hating on us, let me explain. We have legitimate reasons to move there. My mother in law lives in Bellingham, and she is ill. We'd like our kids to get to know her better while she's still around. Also, my husband works in tech and many of his colleagues/mentors live in that area now. Our other option is the NE coast, which we are considering as well, but my husband has a very minimal professional network there.
I hate California weather for the most part. It's far too hot and sunny, and I would love to live somewhere cooler. However, I'm concerned about the 8-9 months of "gloom" I keep reading about. I do love a crisp sunny day, when we get them. Are those few and far between in western Washington? Is it as grey and gloomy as everything I've read? I am prone to depression and already take antidepressants; would I be doomed in WA? We visited the Seattle area in the summer and it was lovely, but from what I've read, that's basically the only time of year the sun is out.
Also, we have two VERY active young boys. How do families deal with kids playing outside if it rains so much?
Any information would be greatly appreciated!
Summer is not the only season when the sun is out. Summer is the only season when you can count on sunshine. The sun shines outside of May-September but it's a lot less predictable and it is not often. It does not rain that much actually, it's more gloomy than rainy.
As you can imagine this has been covered extensively. You could probably try and research threads here or Seattle specifically, since western WA weather and climate is significantly different than eastern WA.
1) If it's possible, before you make any commitments, visit late November then again in January and then again in March. I know, that's a lot of visits, but you've got tech money... use it! This will give you an overview of our winter. The gloom isn't 9 months straight. There are days, even weeks, where we'll have bright(er) weather. But then there can also be other periods, like from late Nov 2019 - April 2020 where we had record "gloom" aka cloudy/rainy days (do you locals remember? I do... it was insult to injury of having my mom die in Dec, father-in-law die in Jan and pandemic start in Feb... good times! ). Winter is a mixed bag but one with majority gloom.
I personally have had a better time here than when I lived in Michigan. Turns out many cities in Michigan have as many cloudy days as western WA cities. Who know?!?
2) Kids are out, at least a lot of them, year round. My 15 year old has been in league soccer for several years. It's a 10 month program from June to April (February for high schoolers as they take leave to play for their high school teams). The best months are the winter months according to my kid. In fact I think they're spoiled and makes them wimps for the southern tournaments. They go to places like FL, TX, SoCal, NV and he complains about the heat and sun. Poor baby.
Kids enjoy skiing and snowboarding and sledding. It's not a far drive for that.
There is year round hiking.
And then a lot of time people take off to Hawaii, FL or Mexico during winter and mid-winter breaks (schools take a week off in February here).
If you're dealing with SAD or depression do take care. I would test the waters first. Take a trip to the NE too. I've always dreamed of living there too. I still think about it!
My husband and I are strongly considering a move to Washington from California. Before you start hating on us, let me explain. We have legitimate reasons to move there. My mother in law lives in Bellingham, and she is ill. We'd like our kids to get to know her better while she's still around. Also, my husband works in tech and many of his colleagues/mentors live in that area now. Our other option is the NE coast, which we are considering as well, but my husband has a very minimal professional network there.
I hate California weather for the most part. It's far too hot and sunny, and I would love to live somewhere cooler. However, I'm concerned about the 8-9 months of "gloom" I keep reading about. I do love a crisp sunny day, when we get them. Are those few and far between in western Washington? Is it as grey and gloomy as everything I've read? I am prone to depression and already take antidepressants; would I be doomed in WA? We visited the Seattle area in the summer and it was lovely, but from what I've read, that's basically the only time of year the sun is out.
Also, we have two VERY active young boys. How do families deal with kids playing outside if it rains so much?
Any information would be greatly appreciated!
Bellingham get about 39 inches a year and temp range from 82 to 25+-. In comparison where I live Sequim which is on the Olympic Peninsula) we get about 17 inches a year and temp range from high to mid 80's in the summer to mid 40 in the winter. Bellingham is generally kind of liberal in its politics which I guess fits most Californians.
Most people I know like Arizona in the winter if they can afford it.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We had a little drizzle this morning, then some sun for a couple of hours, and now it's just overcast and windy, in fact the power blinked off for a second.
With the Puget Sound, many rivers and lakes, the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, we have many micro-climates in Western Washington. We are just 23 miles east of Seattle, but get 20 more inches of rain annually (53" here, 37" in Seattle (Bellingham gets 39"). There are other areas within the "rain shadow" of the Olympics that get as little as 16" annually (such as Sequim). Most of us het a lot of clouds and overcast, but also some sun most of the year, but we can count on some rain most of the year from mid-September thru July 5th. In our 27 years here, I remember only one time that we saw no sun and had steady light rain for 41 days and nights straight. Still, it was spring, and just a misty light drizzle, so no flooding or anything.
Like you, we moved here from CA (Bay Area) in part for the cooler weather, more rain, and less sun, and have been happy with our decision. No one has been hampered by the weather, the kids and now grandkids would play soccer in the rain and eve snow a few times. Just last weekend we sat and watched our oldest grandson's soccer game in the rain, until the 2nd half when the sun came out for the rest of the day.
There are some people that get depressed from a lack of sun, and they may end up moving away, but I've never seen that happen. When we moved here almost all of our neighbors had moved from CA, but one from Texas. All are still in the area, though some retired and moved to the rural areas.
We are on track for one of the wettest and coldest Octobers in history, it's forecast for straight rain for the next week+, about 4" worth. Bleh.
I echo flyingsaucermom's recommendations, spend some good time checking it out and make several visits to make sure you can tolerate the weather. I'm a 4th generation local in Bellingham and I'm tired of the rain, cold, and wet. Summer is great here but everything enjoyable is very crowded anymore. I actually don't mind freezing cold and snow myself, but we do get a cold Northeast arctic blast occasionally out of the Frasier River valley that brings sub-zero temperatures and 80mph winds. Most of my relatives have moved away and those that haven't only spend July-Sept. here in an RV and then head south to Arizona for the balance of the year.
Depression and low vitamin D levels are common here, Dec 21st is our shortest day and there will only be daylight from about 8:30am to 3:30pm. A friend of mine from Texas used to setup a folding lawn chair in their bathroom under their dual heat light fixture and claimed it helped, YMMV.
Lastly, Bellingham is chasing Seattle and Everett with our homeless and crime situation, and you'll need to drop $800K -$1M+ for a home in a decent neighborhood to minimize exposure to that.
but we do get a cold Northeast arctic blast occasionally out of the Frasier River valley that brings sub-zero temperatures and 80mph winds.
Areas in the Seattle area and south very rarely get those. Actually there could be a huge temperature difference in winter between Seattle and Bellingham during those events.
As you can imagine this has been covered extensively. You could probably try and research threads here or Seattle specifically, since western WA weather and climate is significantly different than eastern WA.
1) If it's possible, before you make any commitments, visit late November then again in January and then again in March. I know, that's a lot of visits, but you've got tech money... use it! This will give you an overview of our winter. The gloom isn't 9 months straight. There are days, even weeks, where we'll have bright(er) weather. But then there can also be other periods, like from late Nov 2019 - April 2020 where we had record "gloom" aka cloudy/rainy days (do you locals remember? I do... it was insult to injury of having my mom die in Dec, father-in-law die in Jan and pandemic start in Feb... good times! ). Winter is a mixed bag but one with majority gloom.
I personally have had a better time here than when I lived in Michigan. Turns out many cities in Michigan have as many cloudy days as western WA cities. Who know?!?
2) Kids are out, at least a lot of them, year round. My 15 year old has been in league soccer for several years. It's a 10 month program from June to April (February for high schoolers as they take leave to play for their high school teams). The best months are the winter months according to my kid. In fact I think they're spoiled and makes them wimps for the southern tournaments. They go to places like FL, TX, SoCal, NV and he complains about the heat and sun. Poor baby.
Kids enjoy skiing and snowboarding and sledding. It's not a far drive for that.
There is year round hiking.
And then a lot of time people take off to Hawaii, FL or Mexico during winter and mid-winter breaks (schools take a week off in February here).
If you're dealing with SAD or depression do take care. I would test the waters first. Take a trip to the NE too. I've always dreamed of living there too. I still think about it!
Thank you!! I have actually googled this extensively and didn't like the answers lol. I thought hey, maybe it's not as gloomy as everyone says, I'm going to ask them myself!
Good to know the kids get use to the rain. My kids are very spoiled by the California weather and being able to go out to the playground, or ride their bikes around whenever they want. But my eldest also detests the heat, so I wonder if he would prefer a cooler climate.
I'm so sorry to hear about your rough 2020 year. That sounds super tough...I hope 2021 is treating you better.
We actually did visit the east and we loved it. At the time it was like a no brainer, we are moving east. But then we looked at the expenses involved...traveling to LA (my family) and WA (my MIL) plus the fact that my husband wouldnt have the same networking opportunities in the east. He does have family in the east but they aren't nearly as involved as my family is in LA. We are having a heart vs. head decision with this one. We're still on the fence about it all. We do plan to take another seattle trip in the winter to see if we can tolerate it.
The only legitimate reason needed to move from one place in the US to another is being a citizen or legal alien.
Well we have been told in no uncertain terms that Californians are ridiculed, harassed and ostracized in the PNW. But maybe our informants are totally mistaken!
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). Winter is a mixed bag but one with majority gloom. 
They go to places like FL, TX, SoCal, NV and he complains about the heat and sun. Poor baby. 
