In the minds of most people, Seattle – and all of the Pacific Northwest, really – is synonymous with one thing: rain. Luckily, Seattle also boasts good coffee, great music, Microsoft, and a few other cultural contributions to lift it above the fray.
The interesting thing about Seattle’s ubiquitous wet weather is that, on average, the Emerald City gets considerably less rain than many other places in the country. With Seattle averaging just under 38 annual inches, New Orleans (60), Memphis (52), Houston (48), Miami (58), Boston (44), New York (43), and other cities have much higher annual precipitation stats. In fact, Seattle comes in at number 44 of the 50 states.
So, why the gloomy grey reputation? Well, rather than coming in big, fell swoops, Seattle’s rain is quite literally drizzled across some 158 days a year whereas New York only suffers 119 wet days. Storms are a rarity in these parts and thunder happens maybe seven days out of the year. That’s distinctively different from the weather experienced in Houston and Boston.
The reason for the fairly continuous drizzle – and average temperature of approximately 45 – from October to March is a uniform, low-lying cloud distribution in Seattle that spans some 226 days. Between April and September, the climate changes and the sky clears with temperatures averaging around 75 in the summer. All in all, Seattle weather is pretty well moderate with only the spring and fall shifts from grey to blue and back.
Though they themselves average some 142 inches of annual rainfall, the Olympic Mountains just west of Seattle provide a barrier from harsher weather patterns. As part of the Olympic National Rain Forest, they soak up the bulk of rain coming into the Puget Sound from the Pacific Ocean.
This Puget Sound Covergence Zone leads to blasts of sunshine, swirls of wind, and otherwise generally unpredictable but ever-brief weather occurrences. For example, the rare Pineapple Express storm of December, 2007 brought hurricane-force winds and a torrential downpour of some five inches in only 24 hours.
To the east, the Cascade Range keeps the frigid Arctic air at bay. A little bit of snow falls around the area, but, for the most part, the two ranges collude to protect Seattle from extreme climate events. Fewer than 15 days a year see temperatures drop below freezing.
Natives and residents of the Seattle-Tacoma region have become somewhat immune to the ever-present gloom and ever-changing weather. In fact, they rarely carry umbrellas, feeling that the bits of misty rain aren’t really worth the effort. They love the clean, green lusciousness of the landscape that surrounds them and give the perpetual precipitation all the credit.
Singer Brandi Carlile grew up in Ravensdale, just outside of the so-called Rain City. She embraces the “emotional rollercoaster” driven by the weather and channels it into her songs. Despite the unevenness of it all, Carlile wouldn’t trade her Seattle-area roots for any others, saying, “It takes some getting used to; but once you accept the rain, it becomes a part of you. Then when you leave, you miss it.”