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Since your opening post mentioned Wenatchee and I am very near there, here is some info that might be helpful.
Wenatchee sits right on the eastern slopes of the foothills of the Cascades and most of the rain skips over us, though it does rain at times. Snow is another story though as it is the very odd year when we don't get much snow. I would say that during most winters there is usually an average of four to 8 inches of snow on the ground. The temperature can get into the single digits, though usually it doesn't stray too much far south of the teens. It can also get up to the 40s which means a normal winter sees a cycle of snowfall, melt off, snowfall, melt off until mid to late February. Usually most signs of winter are gone by mid March (USUALLY!).
Spring and Fall are gorgeous and the official wardrobe during these times of year is a sweatshirt paired with shorts. The amount of rain can increase during Spring and Fall, but there are still more days of sun than rain.
Summers are great with most years featuring long streaks of near cloudless skies. The wind can pick up a bit in July, and the temperatures in August can regularly advance into triple digits, but overall summers are very enjoyable.
Here is an example of a summer day in Wenatchee:
Here are some more photos of Wenatchee taken at various times of the year: Photos of Wenatchee
One thing to remember that doesn't neccesarily relate directly to the weather is the darkness in the winter months. The relatively mild winter weather can be misleading to outsiders in terms of how far north Washington is. From Nov-Feb the sun is only up an average of 8-1/2 hours per day, and when you factor in the typical NW overcast that is present much of that time, it's dark a lot. Winter commutes are generally done in the dark, both ways. It takes a lot to get used to that, some people never do.
The flip side of course is that in the summer, we get 16 or so hours of daylight, and the weather is usually great at that time.
One thing to remember that doesn't neccesarily relate directly to the weather is the darkness in the winter months. The relatively mild winter weather can be misleading to outsiders in terms of how far north Washington is. From Nov-Feb the sun is only up an average of 8-1/2 hours per day, and when you factor in the typical NW overcast that is present much of that time, it's dark a lot. Winter commutes are generally done in the dark, both ways. It takes a lot to get used to that, some people never do.
The flip side of course is that in the summer, we get 16 or so hours of daylight, and the weather is usually great at that time.
Fortunately it's all relative. The commutes in the dark and the cold weather in winter can seem miserable to people moving up there from California, Florida, or anywhere else down south, but for everyone else from the northern parts of the country, the daylight hours are not much different, the big bonus is that it's actually above freezing most of the time out there with green vegetation- those of us in the frozen tundra consider that a HUGE upgrade.
One thing I find positive about Western Washington, despite the darkness and gloom for half the year is how green it is even in winter. Many places I have lived in the eastern US, above a certain latitude have a dead, brown look to them. The trees, the grass and landscape in general have a depressing stark look and feel. Not here. Even in January you can go out and see green. Even the grass stays green for the most part.
I am not dismissing the negatives, but the greeness is one positive I like here.
You posted a good question. My husband lived on Whidbey Island as a youth and he wants to move back now. I am more than happy to go but I had questions about the weather and how it was to work with the horses in it. It is one thing if everything is wet it is another if the ground turns into a slip n slide for 6 months.
From what I have gathered, from this forum and from friends that live on the Island, It kind of drizzles all the time (during winter/rainy months) as opposed to our rain that we get down here in so cal. It doesn’t rain very often but when it does it can rain really hard turning everything into a slippery flooded mess. If you look at historical rain totals it rains varying amounts each day (usually not bucket loads). So in Nov (the wettest month of the year) in Everett it is supposed to rain up to 5in, which seems like a lot, but it is spread over every day in the month. With a little bit falling each day you don’t get the half inch to inch and a half of rain (in one day) like we are used to in the So West.
Click through all of the months and you can see what the year looks like (and they had a wet year last year). You can also look up your prospective cities and see how wet they are (the calendar is under the history data portion under the monthly tab).
What’s more accurate than a look back at years past weather!
Nullgeo is right that May temps in the 70s would be unusual. Feels like it, though. After you've lived here for a while your body's internal thermostat resets and temperatures in the 60s feel very warm, subjectively. On the topic of subjective perceptions, Nullgeo personally feels that it's very cold here in the winter because of the dampness. That's his or her personal experience of it, which is beyond dispute, but a lot of other people, including me, don't experience it that way. It's not unusual to people wearing shorts and sandals year-round, which can be interpreted as evidence that their subjective impression is that it isn't cold at all. I myself don't feel inclined to wear shorts during the winter, but I also don't feel it's cold to the bone, as Nullgeo does. I'll bet nobody is wearing shorts during the winter in Minnesota, Maine, or Michigan.
As for the "poor, maligned, despised" tick, one of little !@#$%^&* gave me Lyme disease a few years ago. I was in the hospital for a week when it morphed into meningitis, with the worst pain I've ever experienced, and I was crippled by overwhelming fatigue for months. It hasn't destroyed my joints or brain tissue as it does to some unlucky victims, but it has lingered in my body, periodically reminding me of its presence by causing episodes of aching joints, mental confusion, and fatigue that occur without warning.
So, from my point of view ticks have earned harsh judgment, although I admit that like all other organisms they have their place in the grand scheme of things, and I'll even concede that it's conceivable that a tick bite could have beneficial effects.
I was bitten during a visit to my former home state in the midwest. I'm told that ticks live here in western Washington, too, including some that carry the Lyme bacterium, but I've never seen any ticks here, and removing dozens of engorged ticks from the dog isn't a routine summer chore, as it is where I came from. And there are NO CHIGGERS! Glory hallelujah!
Daily weather in western WA? Evidently that depends on where you live and how typical the weather patterns are for the year. The convergence zone (around the Everett area), do a search here for more info--seems generally much wetter than some other areas near Seattle.
We're starting our 3rd year in Poulsbo this fall and have found this climate to be the easiest to live with year round than any in our past (45 years in central IL and 15 years in central FL). Supposedly this past spring and summer have been unusual, but so was the winter that preceded it. And, we were told the year before that and the year before that were "unusual" too. We've decided there is no typical weather year, so each day is a nice surprise and we embrace it. :-)
We love the changing seasons, mild winters and summers, long spring and colorful fall. There hasn't been one day yet that we have felt the weather prevented us from walking our dog or working in the yard...we certainly couldn't say that in IL or FL. Just my $.02. YMMV.
Nullgeo is right that May temps in the 70s would be unusual. Feels like it, though. After you've lived here for a while your body's internal thermostat resets and temperatures in the 60s feel very warm, subjectively. On the topic of subjective perceptions, Nullgeo personally feels that it's very cold here in the winter because of the dampness. That's his or her personal experience of it, which is beyond dispute, but a lot of other people, including me, don't experience it that way. It's not unusual to people wearing shorts and sandals year-round, which can be interpreted as evidence that their subjective impression is that it isn't cold at all. I myself don't feel inclined to wear shorts during the winter, but I also don't feel it's cold to the bone, as Nullgeo does. I'll bet nobody is wearing shorts during the winter in Minnesota, Maine, or Michigan.
Well, I stand corrected (at least technically) It IS true, there ARE people in the NW who wear shorts in winter ... not many, but it is seen. For that matter, when I lived in Hawaii for a time I used to see folks wearing hooded sweatshirts (hood up, too) in upper 70*, even 80* temperatures. There are a minority of folks whose real perceptions of hot and cold are rather extreme compared to the average.
I guess it IS fair to say, however, that when a posting is written expressing concern for the "daily reality" of weather in a specified area, and when that same post expresses concern over the reputation of this part of the country for being overcast, rainy, and gloomy in winter -- some generalization regarding the TYPICAL residents' attitude and experience of local weather is fair. In that spirit I stand by my representation that, in general, the NW is acknowledged to feel pretty darn clammy and cold about 5 months of the year. October and April vary from year to year and person to person. Summers ARE spectacular (!)
As for comparing our NW weather to the extremes of Florida summers and Minnesota (or even Illinois) winters -- true enough, NW ain't extreme that way -- just extreme in how eternally gray with no sun and VERY short daylight hours. And, despite the unusual variations of some years, there IS such a thing as "typical weather" for the seasons here: pretty well accepted as gloomy and wet and chilly in winter (and 'wet' and 'chilly' go together like dogs and fleas) -- spectacular in summer (particularly blessedly free from extreme heat-humidity) and at least bearable in early-mid fall and late-spring ... some years better ... some years worse. The extreme that the NW endures EVERY year, is long stretches of no sunshine (what the o.p. was writing to ask about) and lots and lots of wetness all around that, frankly, NEVER dries out until summer (check the mold and moss on everything for confirmation if you don't feel it personally) which IS pretty gloomy for most people.
Good news! Some of us either actually LOVE this weather cycle, or at least love the OTHER qualities of the NW -- so much that we stay here our whole lives! I've lived places with nasty, ultra-extreme-cold winters, and insufferable hot, humid summers -- I've even lived the incredibly sensuous climate of Hawaii -- and I HATE the gloomy wet-cold of NW winters -- yet I have stayed here in Puget Sound for 39 years and have no intention of leaving.
The o.p. asked about the realities of typical weather ... tacitly, the typical attitude about NW weather ... and well there you are: my $.02, supported by weather service reports. I'd put good money on a bet to survey that the VAST majority of NW experience mirrors my comments -- and that the people wearing shorts all winter and celebrating weeks and weeks of not a peek of sun even for 5 minutes are the distinct minority.
As for the "poor, maligned, despised" tick, one of little !@#$%^&* gave me Lyme disease a few years ago. I was in the hospital for a week when it morphed into meningitis, with the worst pain I've ever experienced, and I was crippled by overwhelming fatigue for months. It hasn't destroyed my joints or brain tissue as it does to some unlucky victims, but it has lingered in my body, periodically reminding me of its presence by causing episodes of aching joints, mental confusion, and fatigue that occur without warning.
So, from my point of view ticks have earned harsh judgment, although I admit that like all other organisms they have their place in the grand scheme of things, and I'll even concede that it's conceivable that a tick bite could have beneficial effects.
I was bitten during a visit to my former home state in the midwest. I'm told that ticks live here in western Washington, too, including some that carry the Lyme bacterium, but I've never seen any ticks here, and removing dozens of engorged ticks from the dog isn't a routine summer chore, as it is where I came from. And there are NO CHIGGERS! Glory hallelujah!
Yeah bud, I'm with you on the tick reputation ... just thought it was amusing to find that tick-saliva-cancer-cure item ... ticks suck ... literally
btw: there's plenty of ticks here in the NW ... even the wet-side of the mountains ... my dogs bring the little critters home at intervals ... I revel in roasting them over a flame when I pull them out. But they do seem considerably fewer in number here than other places east and south.
As for chiggers: Die! red devils! ... hate 'em and glad to be free of 'em in the NW!
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It IS true, there ARE people in the NW who wear shorts in winter ... not many, but it is seen. For that matter, when I lived in Hawaii for a time I used to see folks wearing hooded sweatshirts (hood up, too) in upper 70*, even 80* temperatures. There are a minority of folks whose real perceptions of hot and cold are rather extreme compared to the average.
