

Does it really rain all the time in Seattle? - aaronbrethorst
http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2012/12/does-it-really-rain-all-time-in-seattle.html

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aneth4
I think what most people observe as "raining" is when the ground is wet and
the sky is overbearingly gray, looking like it will rain. From indoors, it's
quite hard to determine if it is actually raining, and to most people there
isn't much difference. The lack of sun and wet ground is more bothersome than
precipitation.

If it rains 50% of days, that means the ground is almost always wet, and the
sky is almost always dark and cloudy. To most people, that is rainy weather.
Furthermore, the air is often misty and wet, but would not be measurable
precipitation.

I'd love to see a similar analysis of sunshine. I did find on most days in the
Seattle winter, the sun would peak through for a few hours, though usually too
low in the sky to promote much Vitamin D production.

Seattle has amazing natural beauty, and sometimes the weather can be excellent
even in the winter. Summers are flawless. However arguing that it doesn't
"rain all the time" in the winter in Seattle might depend on whether your
definition of raining is as meteorologist, or on whether you have to wear
waterproof shoes and carry an umbrella.

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phil
Well that last one is pretty easy: nobody in Seattle carries an umbrella, for
any reason, ever.

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waterlesscloud
I live in LA and refuse to own an umbrella on principle. Sounds like Seattle
is the same but for the exact opposite reason.

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sgk284
He's arguing based on a technicality. When most people complain about the
rain, they are really talking about the lack of sunshine. If any given day has
a 50-70% chance of rain at some point, imagine the probability of any given
day simply being gray.

The fact is, during non-summer, almost every day is without sunshine. So much
so that the local news will report the consecutive number of sunny days during
the summer. During the winter, getting any kind of sunlight is such a big deal
that the local forecasters use the term "filtered sun" to describe cloud
coverage that is thin enough to allow light through. Having grown up on the
east coast, this was a novel term to me.

I've lived in Seatle a number of years now, and it has a lot going for it, but
the weather absolutely sucks. I'm not at Microsoft anymore, but when I
started, they asked if I'd be okay with the weather as it is apparently a
major problem for them with people not being able to handle it (not sure if
this was specific to my recruiter or a company-wide thing).

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NonEUCitizen
Two months of the year (roughly centered around August), it's the most
beautiful place on earth. The other times, it's dark and cloudy and raining so
you can't see the beauty.

If you grew up in a Sunny place it might be difficult to live in Seattle area.

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tzs
The funny thing about Seattle being known as the rainy city is that there are
several large cities in the midwest and east US that have more rain, more rain
days, and less sun days, I believe.

So why does Seattle get the rainy city tag? I think it is because here in the
Seattle area the rain is usually the worst thing we get. No one is going to
talk about rain in Buffalo, for instance, when that rain came with 10 feet of
snow.

Question for my fellow Puget Sound area residents--do you use an umbrella? The
rain is light enough most of the time that it doesn't soak through my jacket,
so I just wear a hat to keep my hair and glasses dry.

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garyrichardson
Vancouver, BC native. I'm 31 and I hate umbrellas.

When walking around other people's umbrellas always manage to poke at my face.

I also find it very awkward to wield an umbrella.. I've tried once or twice
but tossed the thing because it got in my way.

I was in NY for a vacation in fall a few years ago. It rained for one day and
was 100x worse than anything I've ever experienced in Vancouver.

Same thing with Calgary. The weather coming off the mountains onto the high
plains means you have to pull your car over when a rain storm hits because you
can't see 2 feet in front of you.

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harshpotatoes
There are many ways to present the data such that situation in the pacific
northwest doesn't seem so bad."If you look at the total inches of rainfall in
Seattle, we really don't get that much rain." "Oh sure, most days it rains,
but by hour it really isn't so bad." "No, you can go outside. You just need to
wait for a small break in the weather, and then you can do all your errands or
go play outside briefly."

Well, I suppose this is all true, but it doesn't change how depressing this
is. After living in the PNW for 22 years, and then moving to Florida, I
understand a lot more about how bad it is. Sure, it rains a lot more in
Florida. In fact, I'd be willing to be there are more rainy days here. But,
you don't spend all day waiting for that small break. You go outside, enjoy
the day, and then the sky dumps several inches of water over an hour.
Afterwards, the clouds are gone and the sun is back.

Gone are the days of walking through the fine mist of rain, which just seems
to hover in the air and somehow soak you to the bone despite your waterproof
coat. No more constant drizzle which have lasted the entire week.

The pacific northwest is a wonderful area. Beautiful scenary, wonderful
hiking, amazing summers, and for the most part interesting people. But there
is just something just wrong about it. Maybe it's the rain, or the overcast,
or something, but now that I don't live there, I am happy.

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ejain
Yes, please stay in California.

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shasta
And even if it is "raining", the water droplets only comprise a vey small
percentage of the air volume.

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doublerebel
When it's raining in the city, it's snowing in the mountains! If you enjoy
snow sports, it's hard to get upset about the rain. The snowiest mountain in
North America is within a few hours of the city. The Seattle Grey is like the
Seattle Freeze -- it only bothers you if you believe in it.

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Linford0
No, but it does in Manchester (UK)

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raverbashing
Same for Dublin

I guess I haven't seen a day (that is, a 24h period) without any sort of water
falling from the sky.

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stopitscurvy
It's been raining for the past month solid at least. That combined with the
constant stupid cold has basically convinced me to move back to the south. I
hate the weather here..

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jlgreco
The complaints about the cold really reinforce my suspicion that everyone
complaining about Seattle weather is used to California weather. Having grown
up on the east coast (various places between DC and NYC), two things about
Seattle weather stand out to me: it never _properly_ rains (really it just
"mists downward". Give me rain drops!), and it never actually gets cold. I
really miss good proper cold weather, but it just doesn't happen in Seattle.

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eli_gottlieb
Meh. I grew up in NY, NJ, and MA, and I hated the Seattle gray whenever I
visited. It indeed never _really_ rains, which means in Seattle you have to
accommodate rain _all the time_ while not actually getting to enjoy a good
solid storm.

I like the way we have it here in Haifa. Practically no rain whatsoever for
half the year, and in the winter months it oscillates between winter sun
(which is still quite bright here, we share our latitude with Florida),
Seattle-ite gray+drizzle (on a bad day), and thunderstorms to rival inland New
England (on a _good_ winter day). And then back to nothing but sun, heat, and
coastal humidity in the warm half of the year.

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jlgreco
I am by no means a fan of Seattle weather, but I just can't see it as standing
out as unusual in any extreme way. It is exceptional only in mediocrity.

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eli_gottlieb
Yes, that's the point. I don't like "mediocre" weather. I want _either_ the
dry heat _or_ the storming rain. No permanent middle ground for me, thanks,
I'm a man of extremes.

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pipecork
What the author doesn't take into account is the number of inches that it
rains. Seattle rain is almost always light, only occasionally requiring a
waterproof get-up. You can usually get by with a hat and thick coat.

In any case, while it doesn't rain 'often' it's certainly almost always
overcast. I recommend to everyone (especially those moving from California) to
pick up a bottle of vitamin D supplements.

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huhtenberg
Same in Vancouver. It rains only once, but for 6 months.

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ghshephard
What I never understood about living in the GVRD, (Greater Vancouver Regional
District) - back around 87-92, is how we had water _shortages_ in which
sprinkler restrictions were in effect, you weren't allowed to wash your car
with a hose, etc...

What was that all about? I would think there would be pretty much endless
amounts of water in all those reservoirs... Was that just a incredibly freak
occurrence/facilities impact (down pumping station) - or has there ever been a
"water shortage" in vancouver again in the last 10 years?

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huhtenberg
I think there are just two reservoirs, both in North Van. One of them is
behind the Capilano dam, so you could actually tell that it was running low on
the water volume in hotter summer months.

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robryan
This is similar to Melbourne, Australia in that it is pretty rare to have full
days of rain and many days where you will get period of rain, with decent
sunny periods as well.

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phil
He should do this for the convergence zone east of Arlington (about an hour NE
of Seattle). I'm pretty sure it actually is raining all the time there, and
hard.

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andrewmunsell
Yes, it does.

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camus
the sound rain against a roof top at night, what could be more relaxing ?

