Washington City with the MILDEST weather? LEAST amount of rain? (Seattle: living in, moving to)

[brittanykayy]

I'm interested to know what cities have the most sun/least rain???? NO SNOW, and not too cold??

[pw72]

In Washington State, the most sun and least rain would be the Columbia Basin, or in other words, The Tri-Cities. However, there is a chance of snow, though major accumulations are rare. And it isn't the mildest area in the winter, colder than W. Wash., but the warmest east of the Cascades.

[brittanykayy]

Thank you So what about the driest area near Seattle ?

[Ira500]

Sequim, Port Townsend, the San Juan Islands, some of Whidbey island, and some other spots are in the Olympic Rain shadow, so those places get less than half the rain that Seattle gets.

[pw72]

Sequim, (up near Port Townsend), in the rain shadow of the Olympics. Edit: same time post as Ira, same idea!. Ira and I must be identical twins

[backdrifter]

Let it be noted though that less rain does not necessarily mean more sun in the Pacific Northwest...

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by brittanykayy

I'm interested to know what cities have the most sun/least rain???? NO SNOW, and not too cold??

Phoenix or similar (San Diego is pretty good for your requirements)

Washington is "The Evergreen State" Thus green = water = rain.

The problem with your request is SUN... As previously mentioned, less rain does not equal more sun, the PNW has gray winters, throughout most of the state. Gray is Gray, Nov through March, drizzle most of the time, heavier drizzle at times (120" of drizzle in my case).

[AzDreamer]

Below is a link to a Washington State precipitation map. Check it out and you can see the Olympic rain shadow. This area gets less rain but it's not as warm as Seattle. It gets more than it's fair share of wind too.

In the Seattle area there are wetter and dryer areas. Generally the closer you are to the convergence zone or the Cascade foothills the more rain you'll get.

http://www.wamaps.com/maps/precipitation_map.gif

[skinem]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Washington is "The Evergreen State" .

This always cracked up us eastsiders, considering much of the state is anything but. However, the "Everbrown State" doesn't have the same ring to it.

We would have out-of-state visitors who would enter WA through either Biggs (below Goldendale) or Umatilla (below Tri-Cities) and without fail they would mention and laugh about the signs "Welcome to Washington, the Evergreen State" when there wasn't a tree in sight.

Don't know that you'll find any part of the state that you can say has no snow...many places with little, but any part of it can get it.

[brittanykayy]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Phoenix or similar (San Diego is pretty good for your requirements)

Washington is "The Evergreen State" Thus green = water = rain.

The problem with your request is SUN... As previously mentioned, less rain does not equal more sun, the PNW has gray winters, throughout most of the state. Gray is Gray, Nov through March, drizzle most of the time, heavier drizzle at times (120" of drizzle in my case).

I meant cities IN Washington. I am currently living in Noth San Diego county/South Riverside county and HATE it, I hate sun actually- but I dont want rain EVERYDAY. FINALLY moving to WA in a few months. I'm just looking for a great city to start off in near Seattle with the least amount of rain. Thanks