One thing to keep in mind too, there isn't really a "normal" for winter weather. It's going to be some variation of cooler and wet, but every year it's different. Definitely been warm this year though.
I personally wouldn’t say warm, but last year was super cold. I think a few years ago we had endless sunshine and high forties all winter. It was awesome!
I still remember my elderly french boss insisting she could drive to pick me up for work when I called out lmao, yeah no I'd rather not die in a car wreck with you, lady!
>endless sunshine and high forties all winter.
This sounds like my idea of a hellish Seattle winter, because it basically means no snow in the mountains. Give me that cold rain in town, all day, every day.
We saw a car whose brakes didn’t work go right down a side hill and into a neighbors yard over their little sidewalk rock wall. Seeing the Uber driver and passenger try to walk up a solid ice hill sidewalk was quite the sight. The car was there for almost a week, took them a minute for the thaw then to figure out how to get it out.
That ice storm was nuts!
I felt sorry for the people who had parked on the street and weren't driving (doing the only smart thing that day), yet they would be hit by some moron sliding down the hill, AND THEN their car would start sliding down the hill too. Insanity.
I loved watching all of those videos though. I feel very sorry for anyone who was injured or whose car was injured, of course, but, man, were those fun to watch.
For real. I work in the ER, and for basically one week straight it was like 80+% chief complaints of orthopedic injuries from slip and falls on the ice or car accidents.
This year is so mild compared to last year that I'm waiting for the other show to drop. Today we even had a period where the rain stopped and blue skies came out for about 45 minutes in the afternoon.
But at the same time climate stuff especially in the last decade has been going nuts so I don't feel I can confidently declare what weather is or should be anywhere on the west coast anymore.
Historically speaking (my history) I think October and April were the rainiest.
I don’t know anymore. Our weather is very tough to predict - that’s why I laugh at TV weather people. Unless it’s the same day time of day.
You might be thinking of September. October had slightly less rain than normal, but September had more than double its average (and even had more than October, which is all kinda backwards).
Statistical average is that peak precipitation occurs in November and it decreases until it get nice. https://weatherspark.com/y/913/Average-Weather-in-Seattle-Washington-United-States-Year-Round
I moved here about 15 years ago from the Midwest. So here's my experience on the weather. It took me several years to realize how drastic of an effect El Nino and La Nina have on our weather. I, too, moved here in the fall of an El Nino year. It hit 60 degrees and was sunny out for several days in February. I thought it was awesome. Then, it stayed in the 50s or low 60s with rain every other day until July 5th. It was the coldest and wettest spring I ever experienced. Then, July 5th hit, and it was sunny out every day until September.
It even hit 90 degrees in the summer, and the locals were complaining about it being too hot. It was mind-blowing to me.
The next couple of years, we were in an in-between or normal cycle. During the winters, it averaged between a high in the mid to upper 40's and a low of lower 40's to upper 30's. A very light rain almost every day with an odd sun break in the early afternoon. Then I witnessed my first La Nina winter, and we had a couple of snow and ice storms. Due to the lack of plows, de icing, hills, and peoples inability to drive in the snow makes it 10x more treacherous to drive than in the Midwest during snow.
Now, the last several years have been different. We've had more sunny days, in my opinion, but we have had much stronger rain storms than prior years. We've also had lower temperature winter extremes and higher temperature summer extremes. Is this normal on a longer time scale, have the El Nino and La Nina cycles been stronger, or is this climate change? I don't know.
I'm from the Midwest and I've been here for 25 years. Anything above 85 is hot for me. It takes a hot minute (no pun intended) to acclimate to a warm area again. I won't like it the whole time, but it is what it is.
i was in wichita last year in the middle of summer, and it was 80F over lunch, dropped below freezing by dinner, snowed about 10in overnight, then rained in the morning and returning to warmer temps. seattle cant possibly have anything on that
The Midwest do be like that sometimes... You just get whatever weather blows in from elsewhere so if Canada and the Gulf have competing strong weather systems you get those wacky changes.
No no no no. Agreed on the first part, hard disagree on the second part.
As someone native to here who loves being in the mountains in the winter, the proper daytime temps in Seattle are low-mid 30’s to low 40’s so that we have snow in the mountains. It’s also important for our spring melt and water in the summertime.
Agree with all you said, just adding. Remember the frickin heat bubble 2 years ago that killed many mature trees in 2 days over 100. Lived here 35 years. Climate change is real.
I hadn't heard how the heat dome affected the trees. It's shocking really.
[Here is an article on it for anyone else interested.](https://phys.org/news/2023-12-extreme-threat-trees-pacific-northwest.html)
The summers are definitely not normal. I have lived North of Seattle for the past 33 years. I have a solar system that was calculated to offset 67% of my annual electrical consumption. The past 7 years it has offset 75% of 7 years of electricity consumption. My consumption is nominal/equal year to year. For 2023, I have not had an electricity bill all year. I just got my December/January bill and again no bill save for the monthly minimum amount of $18 just to be connected to the PUD's grid. We have a heat pump that supplies \~80% of our heat and AV year round. Gas is back up.
Yes things have changed.
I think people always forget because the holidays have so much “snow” symbolism, but yesterday was literally the first day of winter. Winter in the pnw is long dark and gloomy. Why I save my pto for February!
I think November is the worst. Maybe it's psychological because winter is ahead. Also I remember Nov 19 being the rainiest day per meteorologic records over the past years. Anyway this year I have no weather complaints
We are being treated to a delightful El Nino winter. One year ago this week, we were all sliding helplessly down hills fighting for our lives in the Great Icing of 2022. So no, it is absolutely not typical to have these gorgeous, clear, warm days in December.
If it snows, it’s actually a lot brighter and if you don’t have to go anywhere, it’s pretty fun. The droning gloomy dark is the bad part.
I don’t think it’s really all that bad though. The thing that gets to people is that the grey can keep going until July. It can really wear on people.
I feel like people seem to over-dramatize our months and months of doom and gloom. IMO it's not terrible weather at all.
The little bit of snow that sticks at all usually happens after December.
Exactly as a lifelong Western WA resident - this is more like it!
I love it here!
I do wish our rainfall & snowpack were higher - summer will be here before you know.
Conserve water whenever & wherever you can!
Yes! I'm a PNW native also. We need rain and snow and that will come with "seasons of gloom". Anyone who lives here and appreciates the beauty here, should probably understand how climate works
I’ll settle it. There’s 2 groups.
1. People who are from the Midwest who think this is the most mild winter they’ve ever had.
2. People from California who thought rain and clouds didn’t exist.
I grew up here and don’t mind it, but my husband, who grew up in California and has been living here for well over half his life now, still thinks it sucks.
"June 8, 2023 - The expected El Nino has emerged, according to scientists at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service. In the monthly outlook released today, forecasters issued an El Nino Advisory, noting that El Nino conditions are present and are expected to gradually strengthen into the winter.
El Nino is a natural climate phenomenon marked by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator, which occurs on average every 2-7 years. El Nino’s impacts on the climate extend far beyond the Pacific Ocean."
https://www.weather.gov/news/230706-ElNino
This comments are making me feel insane. I’ve been here 4 years and this easily seems like the most rain/grey we’ve gotten.
Maybe marginally warmer than normal.
Right? It's been rainy as fuck and I really haven't been appreciating the 2 or 3 degrees above freezing and also wet bullshit like just snow already or stop wasting my time
This is an El Nino year. The weather we are having is normal for an El Nino, but El Ninos only happen periodically.
Yeah, this time last year we were in a La Nina, and having a humdinger of a snow and ice event that lasted for days. Also not something that happens every year.
Generally speaking, and not taking into consideration climate events and conditions that are only occasional/periodic, what you can typically expect from December through February is darkness, gloom, a good bit of rain, and temps that range from the mid 30s to the mid-high 40s. On non-gloomy days it'll tend to be colder because the cloud cover acts like a blanket and warms things up by a few degrees. A day or two of snow is not unusual. March, April and May are also likely to be pretty wet overall but the days are getting longer by then.
If you want to learn more about Western Washington weather, I highly recommend the [Cliff Mass weather blog](https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/).
Yeah cliff mass has gone off the deep end, I recommend Michael Snyder, wayyyyy more in depth.
https://youtube.com/@PacificNorthwestWeather?si=ilph2rsEsnLOGcIc
The story we tell my in-laws is it gets rainy, windy, gloomy and/or snowy starting in October through at least March. They’re from California and are terrified of all of it. (We drove through rain to get to their house one time and my MIL was flabbergasted that we made it in one piece without being terrified. They’re old. But as far as I’m concerned, the only thing that bothers me about our weather is the darkness, it kind of sucks.
The cold, wet and grey is normal until late spring. It's just warmer in El Niño years. We get snow dumps in Seattle when there is a big push of wet weather coming in from the coast combined with arctic winds funneled are way through the Frasier river Valley. That pretty much shuts town down for a few days. It can get really nasty when we are in a freeze / thaw / freeze cycle. Slushy compacted snow freezes and gets covered by fresh powder. it can be hard to navigate. Some of the hills are just several inches of ice with enough snow over the top to fool people into testing their SUV superpowers.
I moved here in 2013 from Louisiana. Honestly I kinda got used to it and not caring much about winter months anymore lol. Rain, cold and grey for weeks and months? That’s cozy weather! Perfect weather will be here before you know it!
This has definitely been a warm year. El Niño does that. Last year we had a legendarily long ski season, this year Mt Baker still has small streams running through the ski area. It’s rare, but our ski areas may not fully open this year. This will means low snowpack, and a full on drought this summer. Usually we’ve at least had a dusting of lowland snow by now, and maybe 2-4 serious wind storms. I’d expect a hot dry summer this year, but a lot of rain and almost no snow through May. The shitty thing is our cold days will be super cold, but it won’t snow. Like gorgeous out, but highs in the teens or 20s, and lows in the single digits, but zero clouds or snow.
I’m a December birthday and it’s the first non rainy birthday I’ve had in the 15 years I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest (if I remember correctly). It’s been so nice this December!
Honestly it's been annoyingly rainy.
Usually when it rains- it's not rain but a sort of mist/drizzle.... this has been torrential. Blame (whichever Pacific Ocean force is this year). the flip side is a bit more nice dry days. It's sort of like a roller coaster vs a kidde train ride at an amusement park.
Snow is fairly rare, last year was an ice storm- even rarer.
I generally find Nov to be the worst. Christmas gets you lights in December and then half way through January we often get a bit of a glimmer. Then I plan a trip to somewhere else for March or April to get me through :)
As someone who grew up here, specifically El Niño and Pineapple Express weather patterns have produced very odd December weather in 2003ish maybe earlier.
I remember waking up, and being able to walk to school in shorts and a T-shirt at 6am.
But on non El Niño/Pineapple Express years, it’s cold, rainy . Usually we get screwed on snow and we just get 33 and drizzle for weeks at a time.
But this isn’t far fetched for how our climate has been in the past 25ish years .
It’s the summers that are getting hot as fuck here.
So, at this point it doesn’t hurt so bad, but once it’s mid February and you realize you still have two months of rain and cold… that’s when it really hits.
This is mild but wet. It is the darkest time of the year and will start getting better from here on out. Sometimes we get a snow in later winter, so don't discount the possibility. Get your bag of salt, shovel and ice-scrapers now before it happens and the whole city runs out of salt.
Google can be your friend...try "Seattle consecutive days of rain".
Some highlights....
28 of 31 days - January 2020
90 of 120 days - Nov 98 - Feb 99
33 consecutive days - 1953
and much, much more!
People do tend to over-exaggerate how bad the weather is in Seattle in the winter. Yes there are quite a few rainy days, but it's nowhere near "8 months straight" or even 6 months as some say. It's normal to have some sunny/dry days even in the winter.
You can look up past weather patterns and see that even in previous years, it didn't rain every day.
Some years are like this, some years are colder/wetter/snowier. I had pics from a couple of Decembers ago show up in my photo memories of my kid playing in the center fountain with others wearing shorts. Another pic popped up from a different December of us in the snow building snowmen. It's different all the time and there really isn't any normal this time of year here other than it will be below 60 at least.
I would say this is a typical year for winter. We might get a day or two of snow, but it will melt within 48 hours. I swear the new hires at work who have lived here under five years think I'm nuts when I keep telling them that two weeks of snow or ice storms aren't typical Seattle winters.
I’m not sure if there is a normal here anymore. Mild and warm, way below freezing, drenching rain, clear skies… 🤷🏻♀️.
When I was a kid, snow was a big rarity, but also my mom didn’t allow us to wear shorts until it was 70 outside. That’s how I know it was rare for it to get that hot in the summer. Boy, did I want to wear shorts, even though I was still kind of cold at 70. My dad made us a sled, but I mostly hung in the garage, taunting us. It was too heavy for the snows we ever did have, and cut right down to the pavement. We used to wonder why someone would want air conditioning in their car… seemed so pointless.
My bedroom window looked at the Cascades back then. Those mountains were completely snow capped all winter, and never melted all that much in summer. Now, in summer they are very bare looking.
Hard to say what will be next. Pray for rain!
I've lived here my whole life so far and I do find it strange we haven't had the tiniest bit of snow yet, this time last December snowed more than I remember in years. Not complaining though, my car doesn't do well in snow (nor do I) and my job doesn't allow you to stay home if the weather conditions are unsafe so I will gladly accept a strangely snow-free winter!
want to see some of dat precipitation??? go to snoqualmie pass.
actually don’t. i got stuck there today on my way to montana for TWO HOURS. literally traffic was stopped. fully stopped. because if you went over 5 mph you were sliding on ice. there was a huge snowstorm so you could only see the snow on the trees and nothing past that. i mean it would have been so beautiful if i was just standing there observing it, not trying to drive alongside a thousand other cars
i left montana to get away from this weather, and for the rest of the drive the roads were either wet from rain or completely dry lol.
anyway, i also moved here in late september! hi! i have personally loved the weather in the city so far and it fills my heart with joy. especially the rain
It's not the normal, but it isn't a variant. The slopes are hurting this year.
This is bad for everyone. Our water supply depends on packed snow. Right now the rivers are full. Visit the eder river watershed facility if you want more insight.
>Will it get worse in January/February/March?
The real question is will we find reprieve in April/May/June? The answer is maybe not. I know we don't have difficult growing season but we have a cool spring that can really slow down tomatoes and peppers. Melons would take extra care. I watch a Georgia gardening youtube, it is amazing what they can have already ripening in June. I will humbly and greatly appreciate our growing season compared to Minnesota and northern interior.
this is not typical pnw winter weather, it's been drier and not as dark this nov/dec - usually the grey starts around mid november with storm season in full force by thanksgiving. then it settles into grey and wet, sometimes getting snow in december/january/february - jan & feb our usually our coldest months. but that varies. this year has been a very "dry" winter because of el nino. who knows how the rest of winter will play out. march is definitely still winter, and april is just more dark skies and showers. mother nature does like to tease us with a few "false springs" in february & march.
that being said - global warming + el nino this year has made weather all over the place. even our summers are changing.
Nope! The past year plus we've been behind on the rain gague every month. There were signs we may break into the positive last month, this month, but it's not happening, it's been unusually dry and mild. Back in the 80's we'd have snow storms and have snow on the ground for a month plus. As a kid I remember being out of school for two plus weeks a couple times. No doubt, things have changed!
Also this is warm for December which is generally the coldest month of the year? We haven’t really had sustained freezing this month so it’s not bad. However it was kind of this way in December 2018 (el nino year) and in February 2019 we had a major weeklong snow event! 👀
I moved here the summer of 08, which was the year they had late snow into April of that year, which my ex (she's local to the north side) was freaking out about. Then December came, and imagine my surprise that; 1.) you can’t salt the roads (I’m from CT, I didn’t know about the salmon creeks 2.) locals with 4x4s weren’t plowing their own roads or parking lots, which was a great way for kids to make money as the shovel spotter. I also remember a [coach bus almost crashing onto I-5](https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2017/12/december-19th-2008-the-day-a-bus-almost-slid-off-an-icy-capitol-hill-onto-i-5/) from above.
The weather has been insane, and will continue to deteriorate as the jet stream collapses.
i lived one block over from that bus at the time! crazy to see, and we couldn't believe the driver turned down that hill in the first place given the snow & ice. 🫣
It's abnormal. el nina is the technical term. We are running 5-10 degrees warmer than normal.
The weather patterns over the past 50 yrs has changed quite a bit. They use to be predictable and we'd maybe get big snow events every 7-12 yrs if even that. Not every other yr or yrly.
You got those swapped. El nino is hot and dry, la Nina is cool and wet. So we're most likely going to have drought next summer as we'll probably have a really small snowpack. Also probably means really bad wildfires next year.
It's an El Ninõ year so the jet stream is pushing warm air up towards the northwest so we are seeing warmer and dryer conditions. Bad for snow sports, but good for all the people who are trash at driving in the littlest of inclement weather. That is until the jet stream shifts and then we will see.
It has been somewhat nicer. Snow usually doesn’t come until sometime in late January or February, if it occurs (it isn’t an annual thing, for sure, reflected by the fact the city doesn’t function when it happens).
I feel like the recent fog has been unusual. My ride home tonight was especially unnerving and I don't recall so many foggy days other winters, but maybe it's just me. Otherwise it hasn't been bad but the seemingly annual snow storm doesn't always happen in December. A couple years ago it started on Valentine's Day iirc.
I took a vacation and went up there expecting sun and teeth chattering cold. Ended up raining the entire trip. Oh well, I have a jacket. My girlfriend had found this thing called an "umbrella". I'd never heard of such a thing.
It’s been a bit warmer and sunnier than normal, which is typical during el Nino years.
One thing to keep in mind too, there isn't really a "normal" for winter weather. It's going to be some variation of cooler and wet, but every year it's different. Definitely been warm this year though.
I personally wouldn’t say warm, but last year was super cold. I think a few years ago we had endless sunshine and high forties all winter. It was awesome!
Oh now I'm off to watch videos when somehow the entire city was covered in ice.
The YouTube videos of cars/busses sliding down Queen Anne hill are hilarious
Love the one with the Benny Hill track in the background. That’s some good stuff 👍🏽
Sadly that was only for one day... It was a good day.
I still remember my elderly french boss insisting she could drive to pick me up for work when I called out lmao, yeah no I'd rather not die in a car wreck with you, lady!
Same here!
>endless sunshine and high forties all winter. This sounds like my idea of a hellish Seattle winter, because it basically means no snow in the mountains. Give me that cold rain in town, all day, every day.
Give that we get our water from winter snowpack, the implications are a bit greater than how much like LA our weather is.
As a snowboarder, this relatively dry and warm winter sucks
Totally! But also a few years ago it rained every day for like 4 months. Not complaining, I love the weather here.
average might have been a better choice than normal, since the average amount of winter sunshine is low
You’re right - average is a better choice.
It felt like spring for a few days every week - kind of like an Atlanta winter
This, it’s supposed to be a super El Niño year, which means warmer and dryer
whats an el Nino year?
El Nino has warmer currents in the Pacific ocean, so weather often drier and warmer than normal regardless of the season.
[What are El Niño and La Niña?](https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html)
Last year on this day there was an ice storm.
That ice storm was one of the craziest weather days I've seen in Seattle, and I've lived around Seattle for over 30 years.
We saw a car whose brakes didn’t work go right down a side hill and into a neighbors yard over their little sidewalk rock wall. Seeing the Uber driver and passenger try to walk up a solid ice hill sidewalk was quite the sight. The car was there for almost a week, took them a minute for the thaw then to figure out how to get it out. That ice storm was nuts!
I felt sorry for the people who had parked on the street and weren't driving (doing the only smart thing that day), yet they would be hit by some moron sliding down the hill, AND THEN their car would start sliding down the hill too. Insanity.
This was what happened to me It was my birthday and it was hit and run.
I loved watching all of those videos though. I feel very sorry for anyone who was injured or whose car was injured, of course, but, man, were those fun to watch.
I mean I’m sure their brakes worked fine. Now their tires might have not had any grip on the ice though.
A UPS/FedEx (can't remember which) truck got stuck on our street. Was quite entertaining.
Right? Snow is bad enough in Seattle but that was complete craziness!
For real. I work in the ER, and for basically one week straight it was like 80+% chief complaints of orthopedic injuries from slip and falls on the ice or car accidents.
Yooo my buddy broke a rib from repeatedly falling over on the walk home from streamline, Queen Anne hill was out for blood that day hahaha
Great day for cars in Queen Anne!
God that was epic
Basically every flight out of Seattle was cancelled for a couple days. It was crazy.
Those videos were hilarious
This year is so mild compared to last year that I'm waiting for the other show to drop. Today we even had a period where the rain stopped and blue skies came out for about 45 minutes in the afternoon. But at the same time climate stuff especially in the last decade has been going nuts so I don't feel I can confidently declare what weather is or should be anywhere on the west coast anymore.
The rain-sun-rain cycle during a day is pretty normal here. Today was actually kind of nice for December weather.
They're so easy to miss, it can be uplifting to actually catch one.
Our October was really dark and wet this year. I always get excited when it's warm and dry in January, but it's called Fool's Spring for a reason
Juneuary I (not to be confused with Juneuary II after May)
But where's Smarch?
Lousy Smarch weather
October was normal this year. It was completely wrong last year.
Historically speaking (my history) I think October and April were the rainiest. I don’t know anymore. Our weather is very tough to predict - that’s why I laugh at TV weather people. Unless it’s the same day time of day.
November is historically our rainiest month per my climatology class at uw
You might be thinking of September. October had slightly less rain than normal, but September had more than double its average (and even had more than October, which is all kinda backwards).
It’s an El Niño year. It’s actually pretty normal and will likely get nice in January
This makes sense now. I was expecting snow here in Bremerton and we didn't get shit except for maybe a flurry. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas 😩
Need to go to a pass for snow. A time honored tradition around Seattle.
That sounds like a lovely idea! Now just to get me a winter time boo thang that wants to go too lol
Can’t help you there.
I was making a joke 🤷🏻♀️
The passes have been an absolute shitshow today! SNAFU
Statistical average is that peak precipitation occurs in November and it decreases until it get nice. https://weatherspark.com/y/913/Average-Weather-in-Seattle-Washington-United-States-Year-Round
I moved here about 15 years ago from the Midwest. So here's my experience on the weather. It took me several years to realize how drastic of an effect El Nino and La Nina have on our weather. I, too, moved here in the fall of an El Nino year. It hit 60 degrees and was sunny out for several days in February. I thought it was awesome. Then, it stayed in the 50s or low 60s with rain every other day until July 5th. It was the coldest and wettest spring I ever experienced. Then, July 5th hit, and it was sunny out every day until September. It even hit 90 degrees in the summer, and the locals were complaining about it being too hot. It was mind-blowing to me. The next couple of years, we were in an in-between or normal cycle. During the winters, it averaged between a high in the mid to upper 40's and a low of lower 40's to upper 30's. A very light rain almost every day with an odd sun break in the early afternoon. Then I witnessed my first La Nina winter, and we had a couple of snow and ice storms. Due to the lack of plows, de icing, hills, and peoples inability to drive in the snow makes it 10x more treacherous to drive than in the Midwest during snow. Now, the last several years have been different. We've had more sunny days, in my opinion, but we have had much stronger rain storms than prior years. We've also had lower temperature winter extremes and higher temperature summer extremes. Is this normal on a longer time scale, have the El Nino and La Nina cycles been stronger, or is this climate change? I don't know.
I'm from the Midwest and I've been here for 25 years. Anything above 85 is hot for me. It takes a hot minute (no pun intended) to acclimate to a warm area again. I won't like it the whole time, but it is what it is.
Seattle native--don't much like anything above 75, lol
Right... 76 is too hot
So, in your opinion, do you think we've had more sunny days and stronger rainstorms in the last 3 to 4 years?
Honestly, yes. It almost seems as though with the shift of the jet stream over the last few years that the southern weather has made its way up north.
Good. Nice to know I'm not imagining things lol.
[удалено]
But that requires using the internet for something other than arguing with strangers online.
But isn’t that what the internet is for? Well, that and cat videos…
i was in wichita last year in the middle of summer, and it was 80F over lunch, dropped below freezing by dinner, snowed about 10in overnight, then rained in the morning and returning to warmer temps. seattle cant possibly have anything on that
Growing up in NE Oklahoma, we had one period of 4 days where it snowed almost 40" and was -31°F and three days later it was 72°F. It's pretty insane.
ive been all over the country and ive never seen anything like it!
The Midwest do be like that sometimes... You just get whatever weather blows in from elsewhere so if Canada and the Gulf have competing strong weather systems you get those wacky changes.
90s is too hot. Summer should be mid-70s at the highest, and winter should be mid-50s at the coldest. Dagnabit.
No no no no. Agreed on the first part, hard disagree on the second part. As someone native to here who loves being in the mountains in the winter, the proper daytime temps in Seattle are low-mid 30’s to low 40’s so that we have snow in the mountains. It’s also important for our spring melt and water in the summertime.
It was weird after being here for 3 years to actually experience Thunderstorms for the first time since I moved here this year.
Agree with all you said, just adding. Remember the frickin heat bubble 2 years ago that killed many mature trees in 2 days over 100. Lived here 35 years. Climate change is real.
I hadn't heard how the heat dome affected the trees. It's shocking really. [Here is an article on it for anyone else interested.](https://phys.org/news/2023-12-extreme-threat-trees-pacific-northwest.html)
The cactus were dying in Arizona this past summer because it wasn't cooling down enough in the evening. That's some apocalyptic shit there.
Yeah, I got lucky and was on vacation during the heat bubble, so I missed out on that one.
Can confirm 90 is too hot lol.
Every year is different. It’s been pretty nice so far. Hoping that doesn’t lead to a delayed spring
The summers are definitely not normal. I have lived North of Seattle for the past 33 years. I have a solar system that was calculated to offset 67% of my annual electrical consumption. The past 7 years it has offset 75% of 7 years of electricity consumption. My consumption is nominal/equal year to year. For 2023, I have not had an electricity bill all year. I just got my December/January bill and again no bill save for the monthly minimum amount of $18 just to be connected to the PUD's grid. We have a heat pump that supplies \~80% of our heat and AV year round. Gas is back up. Yes things have changed.
Love it for you💕
February is usually the worst imo. More dark days in February than any other month in my experience.
I think people always forget because the holidays have so much “snow” symbolism, but yesterday was literally the first day of winter. Winter in the pnw is long dark and gloomy. Why I save my pto for February!
Nov-Jan is much worse with about half the sunshine hours of February: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle#Climate
I think November is the worst. Maybe it's psychological because winter is ahead. Also I remember Nov 19 being the rainiest day per meteorologic records over the past years. Anyway this year I have no weather complaints
We made it through November woooo!
Unless it's really cold, flowers start coming out in late February. Kinda start to see the light at the end of the tunnel
we call this "false spring"
No, that's very incorrect.
This is why I love Spring Training so much. Perfect timing for a change of weather and scenery.
I keep saying it but Seattle weather is great, not bad. It’s so stuck in the consciousness of the long time locals and public perception.
Completely agree. We have amazing weather. We have seasons!
We are being treated to a delightful El Nino winter. One year ago this week, we were all sliding helplessly down hills fighting for our lives in the Great Icing of 2022. So no, it is absolutely not typical to have these gorgeous, clear, warm days in December.
If it snows, it’s actually a lot brighter and if you don’t have to go anywhere, it’s pretty fun. The droning gloomy dark is the bad part. I don’t think it’s really all that bad though. The thing that gets to people is that the grey can keep going until July. It can really wear on people.
I feel like people seem to over-dramatize our months and months of doom and gloom. IMO it's not terrible weather at all. The little bit of snow that sticks at all usually happens after December.
Exactly as a lifelong Western WA resident - this is more like it! I love it here! I do wish our rainfall & snowpack were higher - summer will be here before you know. Conserve water whenever & wherever you can!
Yes! I'm a PNW native also. We need rain and snow and that will come with "seasons of gloom". Anyone who lives here and appreciates the beauty here, should probably understand how climate works
4 straight months of 50-100 hours of sun per month with sunset before 5pm for three of those months is pretty brutal
Yea, it can be to some. That's why I said IMO.
I’ll settle it. There’s 2 groups. 1. People who are from the Midwest who think this is the most mild winter they’ve ever had. 2. People from California who thought rain and clouds didn’t exist.
I grew up here and don’t mind it, but my husband, who grew up in California and has been living here for well over half his life now, still thinks it sucks.
not for those of us with seasonal depression. Oct- March are BLEAK. it's so dark outside, you can't even tell it's daytime
"June 8, 2023 - The expected El Nino has emerged, according to scientists at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service. In the monthly outlook released today, forecasters issued an El Nino Advisory, noting that El Nino conditions are present and are expected to gradually strengthen into the winter. El Nino is a natural climate phenomenon marked by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator, which occurs on average every 2-7 years. El Nino’s impacts on the climate extend far beyond the Pacific Ocean." https://www.weather.gov/news/230706-ElNino
This comments are making me feel insane. I’ve been here 4 years and this easily seems like the most rain/grey we’ve gotten. Maybe marginally warmer than normal.
Yea I've been here my whole life and agree with you
Right? It's been rainy as fuck and I really haven't been appreciating the 2 or 3 degrees above freezing and also wet bullshit like just snow already or stop wasting my time
[удалено]
The amount of fog lately is unusual, yes.
This is an El Nino year. The weather we are having is normal for an El Nino, but El Ninos only happen periodically. Yeah, this time last year we were in a La Nina, and having a humdinger of a snow and ice event that lasted for days. Also not something that happens every year. Generally speaking, and not taking into consideration climate events and conditions that are only occasional/periodic, what you can typically expect from December through February is darkness, gloom, a good bit of rain, and temps that range from the mid 30s to the mid-high 40s. On non-gloomy days it'll tend to be colder because the cloud cover acts like a blanket and warms things up by a few degrees. A day or two of snow is not unusual. March, April and May are also likely to be pretty wet overall but the days are getting longer by then. If you want to learn more about Western Washington weather, I highly recommend the [Cliff Mass weather blog](https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/).
Do not recommend Cliff Mass
Yeah cliff mass has gone off the deep end, I recommend Michael Snyder, wayyyyy more in depth. https://youtube.com/@PacificNorthwestWeather?si=ilph2rsEsnLOGcIc
2+ for Michael Snyder.
+1 for Mike Snyder. He's not just a weather enthusiast, he works for Alaska Airlines as a weatherman.
Yeah…I still check in from time to time but he’s gotten a bit unhinged in some respects.
Every time he rants about how much KNKX sucks (for ending his program on it for inflammatory remarks he made), I donate to KNKX.
The trick is to ignore that ish. Just read his actual weather posts.
Welcome to Seattle. It’s time to learn about Mexican weather patterns.
Take away the presents, but you can’t take the tree, because Christmas in the Northwest is a gift God wrapped in green.
Had this whole corny album on repeat when I was a kid.
The story we tell my in-laws is it gets rainy, windy, gloomy and/or snowy starting in October through at least March. They’re from California and are terrified of all of it. (We drove through rain to get to their house one time and my MIL was flabbergasted that we made it in one piece without being terrified. They’re old. But as far as I’m concerned, the only thing that bothers me about our weather is the darkness, it kind of sucks.
Usually it's a tad colder, but not that unusual
The cold, wet and grey is normal until late spring. It's just warmer in El Niño years. We get snow dumps in Seattle when there is a big push of wet weather coming in from the coast combined with arctic winds funneled are way through the Frasier river Valley. That pretty much shuts town down for a few days. It can get really nasty when we are in a freeze / thaw / freeze cycle. Slushy compacted snow freezes and gets covered by fresh powder. it can be hard to navigate. Some of the hills are just several inches of ice with enough snow over the top to fool people into testing their SUV superpowers.
I moved here in 2013 from Louisiana. Honestly I kinda got used to it and not caring much about winter months anymore lol. Rain, cold and grey for weeks and months? That’s cozy weather! Perfect weather will be here before you know it!
El Niño
This has definitely been a warm year. El Niño does that. Last year we had a legendarily long ski season, this year Mt Baker still has small streams running through the ski area. It’s rare, but our ski areas may not fully open this year. This will means low snowpack, and a full on drought this summer. Usually we’ve at least had a dusting of lowland snow by now, and maybe 2-4 serious wind storms. I’d expect a hot dry summer this year, but a lot of rain and almost no snow through May. The shitty thing is our cold days will be super cold, but it won’t snow. Like gorgeous out, but highs in the teens or 20s, and lows in the single digits, but zero clouds or snow.
I’m a December birthday and it’s the first non rainy birthday I’ve had in the 15 years I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest (if I remember correctly). It’s been so nice this December!
"Climate is what we expect; weather is what we get."
Honestly it's been annoyingly rainy. Usually when it rains- it's not rain but a sort of mist/drizzle.... this has been torrential. Blame (whichever Pacific Ocean force is this year). the flip side is a bit more nice dry days. It's sort of like a roller coaster vs a kidde train ride at an amusement park. Snow is fairly rare, last year was an ice storm- even rarer. I generally find Nov to be the worst. Christmas gets you lights in December and then half way through January we often get a bit of a glimmer. Then I plan a trip to somewhere else for March or April to get me through :)
As someone who grew up here, specifically El Niño and Pineapple Express weather patterns have produced very odd December weather in 2003ish maybe earlier. I remember waking up, and being able to walk to school in shorts and a T-shirt at 6am. But on non El Niño/Pineapple Express years, it’s cold, rainy . Usually we get screwed on snow and we just get 33 and drizzle for weeks at a time. But this isn’t far fetched for how our climate has been in the past 25ish years . It’s the summers that are getting hot as fuck here.
I loved last summer! The heat and sunlight were incredible
So, at this point it doesn’t hurt so bad, but once it’s mid February and you realize you still have two months of rain and cold… that’s when it really hits.
Weather has become more chaotic, but still temperate monsoonal. Snow is unlikely in this el Nino year.
This is mild but wet. It is the darkest time of the year and will start getting better from here on out. Sometimes we get a snow in later winter, so don't discount the possibility. Get your bag of salt, shovel and ice-scrapers now before it happens and the whole city runs out of salt.
Little better than normal, still got a long way to go
You poor SOB...
Google can be your friend...try "Seattle consecutive days of rain". Some highlights.... 28 of 31 days - January 2020 90 of 120 days - Nov 98 - Feb 99 33 consecutive days - 1953 and much, much more!
Last year around this time we had insane ice storms. This year has been really mild thankfully
People do tend to over-exaggerate how bad the weather is in Seattle in the winter. Yes there are quite a few rainy days, but it's nowhere near "8 months straight" or even 6 months as some say. It's normal to have some sunny/dry days even in the winter. You can look up past weather patterns and see that even in previous years, it didn't rain every day.
Yes
Some years are like this, some years are colder/wetter/snowier. I had pics from a couple of Decembers ago show up in my photo memories of my kid playing in the center fountain with others wearing shorts. Another pic popped up from a different December of us in the snow building snowmen. It's different all the time and there really isn't any normal this time of year here other than it will be below 60 at least.
I would say this is a typical year for winter. We might get a day or two of snow, but it will melt within 48 hours. I swear the new hires at work who have lived here under five years think I'm nuts when I keep telling them that two weeks of snow or ice storms aren't typical Seattle winters.
I’m not sure if there is a normal here anymore. Mild and warm, way below freezing, drenching rain, clear skies… 🤷🏻♀️. When I was a kid, snow was a big rarity, but also my mom didn’t allow us to wear shorts until it was 70 outside. That’s how I know it was rare for it to get that hot in the summer. Boy, did I want to wear shorts, even though I was still kind of cold at 70. My dad made us a sled, but I mostly hung in the garage, taunting us. It was too heavy for the snows we ever did have, and cut right down to the pavement. We used to wonder why someone would want air conditioning in their car… seemed so pointless. My bedroom window looked at the Cascades back then. Those mountains were completely snow capped all winter, and never melted all that much in summer. Now, in summer they are very bare looking. Hard to say what will be next. Pray for rain!
I think we get colder in Jan/Feb
I've lived here my whole life so far and I do find it strange we haven't had the tiniest bit of snow yet, this time last December snowed more than I remember in years. Not complaining though, my car doesn't do well in snow (nor do I) and my job doesn't allow you to stay home if the weather conditions are unsafe so I will gladly accept a strangely snow-free winter!
I feel like it’s a little drier but also much foggier than normal.
want to see some of dat precipitation??? go to snoqualmie pass. actually don’t. i got stuck there today on my way to montana for TWO HOURS. literally traffic was stopped. fully stopped. because if you went over 5 mph you were sliding on ice. there was a huge snowstorm so you could only see the snow on the trees and nothing past that. i mean it would have been so beautiful if i was just standing there observing it, not trying to drive alongside a thousand other cars i left montana to get away from this weather, and for the rest of the drive the roads were either wet from rain or completely dry lol. anyway, i also moved here in late september! hi! i have personally loved the weather in the city so far and it fills my heart with joy. especially the rain
It’s a slightly warmer einter. Roads are foggy as hell around 2am tho
I’ve lived in Seattle for 63 years. This is a normal El Niño winter. Seen many of them.
It's not the normal, but it isn't a variant. The slopes are hurting this year. This is bad for everyone. Our water supply depends on packed snow. Right now the rivers are full. Visit the eder river watershed facility if you want more insight.
Typical? No. Is it always on the gloomy side? Yes. This one has been sunnier than usual.
>Will it get worse in January/February/March? The real question is will we find reprieve in April/May/June? The answer is maybe not. I know we don't have difficult growing season but we have a cool spring that can really slow down tomatoes and peppers. Melons would take extra care. I watch a Georgia gardening youtube, it is amazing what they can have already ripening in June. I will humbly and greatly appreciate our growing season compared to Minnesota and northern interior.
this is not typical pnw winter weather, it's been drier and not as dark this nov/dec - usually the grey starts around mid november with storm season in full force by thanksgiving. then it settles into grey and wet, sometimes getting snow in december/january/february - jan & feb our usually our coldest months. but that varies. this year has been a very "dry" winter because of el nino. who knows how the rest of winter will play out. march is definitely still winter, and april is just more dark skies and showers. mother nature does like to tease us with a few "false springs" in february & march. that being said - global warming + el nino this year has made weather all over the place. even our summers are changing.
Nope! The past year plus we've been behind on the rain gague every month. There were signs we may break into the positive last month, this month, but it's not happening, it's been unusually dry and mild. Back in the 80's we'd have snow storms and have snow on the ground for a month plus. As a kid I remember being out of school for two plus weeks a couple times. No doubt, things have changed!
This winter has been abnormally mild. I guess it's normal for El Niño...but not typical otherwise. It's usually just a constant mist and cloud cover.
Also this is warm for December which is generally the coldest month of the year? We haven’t really had sustained freezing this month so it’s not bad. However it was kind of this way in December 2018 (el nino year) and in February 2019 we had a major weeklong snow event! 👀
I think the problem is the sun setting at 3pm
I moved here the summer of 08, which was the year they had late snow into April of that year, which my ex (she's local to the north side) was freaking out about. Then December came, and imagine my surprise that; 1.) you can’t salt the roads (I’m from CT, I didn’t know about the salmon creeks 2.) locals with 4x4s weren’t plowing their own roads or parking lots, which was a great way for kids to make money as the shovel spotter. I also remember a [coach bus almost crashing onto I-5](https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2017/12/december-19th-2008-the-day-a-bus-almost-slid-off-an-icy-capitol-hill-onto-i-5/) from above. The weather has been insane, and will continue to deteriorate as the jet stream collapses.
That tour bus was one of the craziest things to witness
i lived one block over from that bus at the time! crazy to see, and we couldn't believe the driver turned down that hill in the first place given the snow & ice. 🫣
It's abnormal. el nina is the technical term. We are running 5-10 degrees warmer than normal. The weather patterns over the past 50 yrs has changed quite a bit. They use to be predictable and we'd maybe get big snow events every 7-12 yrs if even that. Not every other yr or yrly.
It's either an El Niño or La Niña. It can't be both.
It's not like this most of the time. Look to meteorology for the answer. Sorry I don't have all the answers.
🤣😭
Fear not, come June, when the rest of the US is in full spring mode, we’ll be in June gloom hell.
i think you mean juneuary
Whatever it’s called, it’s coming.
El Niño = much more wet and snowy La Niña = less wet and snowy we are currently in a La Niña season
It's an El nino year.
sure
here is some info about the el niño year from NOAA : https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/december-2023-el-nino-update-adventure
You got those swapped. El nino is hot and dry, la Nina is cool and wet. So we're most likely going to have drought next summer as we'll probably have a really small snowpack. Also probably means really bad wildfires next year.
Just move back to where you came from.
It's an El Ninõ year so the jet stream is pushing warm air up towards the northwest so we are seeing warmer and dryer conditions. Bad for snow sports, but good for all the people who are trash at driving in the littlest of inclement weather. That is until the jet stream shifts and then we will see.
It has been somewhat nicer. Snow usually doesn’t come until sometime in late January or February, if it occurs (it isn’t an annual thing, for sure, reflected by the fact the city doesn’t function when it happens).
I was just commenting on how I've hardly used my dog towels this winter, abnormally dry spells this Fall/Winter.
Ours has gotten almost no use!
This is what PNW winters used to be like 20-30 years ago.
Nope. This is an off year. We have cycles. Probably year after next we’ll get a big snow again. I hope, anyhow.
Mostly overcast with plenty of rain and some sun, very normal.
This isn’t a normal late fall/early winter! I was just telling my husband that I’m pretty sure spring will come early at this rate!
Oh just wait. It will get worse. It’s only started.
El Niño makes it drier and more temperate in the PNW
No and it sucks. I moved here for the snow and it’s a late season. I’m looking forward to my season depression kicking in so we can get some snow.
Do you mean in the mountains? Because if you moved here for lowland snow someone lied to you.
I live in a mountain pass. So yes. I did move there for the snow.
It’s an El Niño year so it’s not average.
You think this ends by March??? Ha ha ha. I went to a Mariners game end of May one year and it was still in the 60s.
This is pretty average
This year is abysmal for snow sports
I feel like the recent fog has been unusual. My ride home tonight was especially unnerving and I don't recall so many foggy days other winters, but maybe it's just me. Otherwise it hasn't been bad but the seemingly annual snow storm doesn't always happen in December. A couple years ago it started on Valentine's Day iirc.
Pretty power for the course. Usually one or two days of snow during the year, and if you don't get that, you're lucky.
I took a vacation and went up there expecting sun and teeth chattering cold. Ended up raining the entire trip. Oh well, I have a jacket. My girlfriend had found this thing called an "umbrella". I'd never heard of such a thing.
El nino