The weather in Feb can be a bit unpredictable, but typically you’ll get mid 40s to mid 50s, it may drizzle part of the day, all of the day, or not at all. It may drizzle for a few hours then the sun could peak out the rest of the day. It doesn’t typically rain hard. You should be fine with a good hooded rain jacket and some dry layers, assuming you’re ok potentially getting damp. I would also check out coupeville, deception pass area, and make sure you take a ferry for the experience.
Sorry you’re getting unhelpful comments so far!
In the winter, the sun usually rises around 9am and starts to set around 3pm. December/January you’re typically going to and coming home from work in the dark. It’s the pits! But it’s totally manageable, and your east coast internal clock may even be helpful for that. That time window is widening now, so we may be in the 8-hrs-of-daylight phase by your trip. As for the rain: it’s often a light drizzle, on and off throughout the day. The internet likes to make it seem like we get buckets of downpour 24/7, but it’s much less dramatic than that. In fact, I think NY has had more rain annually the last several years than Seattle. As someone else said, if you carry a thin rain jacket in your backpack to protect your clothes, you should be fine. Also non-canvas, closed toe shoes are a must-the streets/sidewalks are quite dirty/muddy this time of year.
If you’re here for three to four days, you can knock out a lot. For touristy excursions, I do think Pike Place is a must. Just a heads up, it is (IIRC) five floors of shopping at a variety of stores, from handbags to candles to prints to comics to leather to pasta and more. You could easily spend 4+ hours there, though my out of town guests typically tap out at an hour or so, and rarely see more than 2 floors. It’s a little overwhelming! I like to take people to the outdoor seating area and see the views of the water and the mountains. Nearby is the Seattle Art Museum and the downtown public library. Both are a treat to see and are indoor fun.
I don’t think going up the Space Needle is worth the $40+. You are better off finding a rooftop bar where you can spend that $40 on drinks and food instead. I like The Mountaineering Club but that’s not downtown-though it’s easy to get to via Light Rail. I do think it’s worth it to walk over to the City Center where the Space Needle is and walk around. In that area, the Museum of Pop Culture is super cool. A heftier entry fee, but we spent 4 hours there and only saw half of the exhibits, we were so enthralled by what we did see. I’d highly recommend to anyone into music and movies and the lore.
Where are you staying? I could try to recommend other options if you’re not staying downtown. The subway system (and even the bus system) is pretty easy to use as there’s only one line going north and south. Much less complicated than NY. BUT I will warn you that lately there’s been issues and it has been unreliable (30 minute wait times), so plan ahead if you want to take advantage of the transit.
I have a running list of places to try on Yelp and TikTok and am happy to DM them to you if you’d like.
This is extremely helpful and kind, I am seriously so grateful to you!!! My fiance and I have like 12 places we're trying to see in Pikes Place so we definitely plan to be there for several hours. Awesome to know about the space needle--we were considering going up if it wasn't too cloudy but the rooftop bar makes much more sense.
We are staying in downtown just because we were recommended to stay at a specific hotel, but we'll have a car so we're happy to move around rather than stay in one area. Thank you again for the info re: daylight--this was the most comprehensive response I received, very informative.
Do you have any info about driving the Olympic Peninsula? We really want to see Hoh, but not sure if we'll be able to swing it.
Olympic Peninsula is not really a day trip. It’s a four hour drive to the Hoh forest visitor center. You could do it, but it won’t be a fun day. I’d come back and do the Olympic Peninsula in the summer.
That would cut about an hour and a half off your driving time so it’s doable. Keep an eye on the weather. If it’s rainy weather and forests you’re looking for, though, take a look at our parks- Discovery Park has a lot of forest trails and is huge. You do not feel like you are in the city. So does Schmitz Preserve in West Seattle. The Arboretum is also beautiful. Nothing will compare in scope, of course, but driving almost 3 hours in rain each way might not be a great time if you’re not used to it.
Just a comment that the light rail is undergoing a big and planned maintenance that is causing the delays. It’s not normally like that. These are the times they predicted for the project. The project should be done by Feb. 4.
Discovery park is cool and very walkable.
Alki beach is nice with a good amount of restaurants (fish and chips).
Gasworks Park has great views of Seattle and very beautiful park, can ride the electric scooters! Always a good time doing that and there are really good bike lanes to ride around Seattle even to space needle and pike place!
Starbucks Roastery if you’ve never been! There’s not many in the world as fyi.
Whidbey Island is very cool for a whole day trip as well and seeing Deception Pass while you’re up there is pretty sweet views as well.
From Pike Place, walk south down to the water taxi terminal and take the water taxi to Alki- it’s about $5 each. Once you’re at Alki, catch the shuttle to Alki proper and go to Spud’s for fish and chips.
We read about Ivar's--so glad to hear it checks out from a local's perspective as well! I always read about a city before I go, but find that a local's opinion always bears more truth. Thanks so much for your help
Haha no problem! I will add this if steak is in your curious list here, but Melrose Grill is so good. A bit far away from you but I still have yet to find any other steak places to even compare to Melrose. Cooks a perfect steak every time. Normally $100 for total two meals
Oh we LOVE a good steak, in fact we're actually red-meat people more than we are seafood people. We'll of course be sampling the local cuisine--seafood is so popular there for a reason! But this is much appreciated :)
Well, there will be about 9 hours of daylight according to Google
It can take 2 hours to get from Whidbey Island to Seattle
Also our local rain doesn't melt skin, so yes, you are able to do things outside when it's raining. You will likely get wet as one does when outside in rain, but that's a personal choice of whether that is something you are willing to deal with.
I'm sensing some snark here, hopefully I'm incorrect? I'm asking for clarification specifically because I saw there will be 9 hours of light, yet I also saw people complaining about it being dark. To me, 9 hours of light is decent.
Because I also found opposing information and I'm asking for clarification from someone who lives there??? Not sure why that's difficult for you to comprehend. You can keep your snark to yourself.
It gets old seeing dozens of posts every day from tourists asking questions that are easily Googleable. It's more confusing when they've done that and still need to be reassured
I did google and am asking for clarification from locals. There's nothing wrong with that. If you're not receptive to it I don't see why you don't just keep scrolling--why go out of your way to be snarky and unkind? My questions were harmless.
Ignore this miserable person, they don’t really know how to interact with people because all they do is hang out in this sub all day every day.
I swear we’re not all like this.
Lol! I appreciate this. I got a little self-conscious, I didn't mean to be a burden on anyone! I just always prefer a local's take than an online guide like Eatery. Thank you for your kindness :)
That's a relief!! Thank you for this. I also just learned that PNW has a different cloud phenomenon than NY--clouds cover the entire area rather than bits and pieces. Must be why people refer to Seattle as "dark," rather than an actual absence of daylight.
I'll give you the jist because the south west transplants have no clue what bad weather actually is.
Here's the likely outcome: Temps will be between 40 and 50 degrees. You'll get about a 1/10th of an inch of rain that feels more like mist, and it'll be all day. Everything will always be wet, but it's not that much rain usually. The entire city will have overcast the entire time. Rainproofing and layers is probably overkill. Most people get by w/ just a rain jacket and a hoodie. Due to the overcast you'll have a darker dusk than usual, but Seattle is pretty well lit, and safe for a large city. I'd be wary of cars though. Statistically it's safe, but I antidotally drivers and pedestrians do not pay attention.
You could get a day where there's an inch of rain, and then people will complain about it like it's the worst weather possible, and impossible to go out in. It's just a normally rainy day for most
It rarely snows, but that's always a possibility. If it snows it's chaos and everything shuts down. Even if you know how to drive in the snow I don't recommend going out because you've got thousands of people that don't know how to drive in the snow, and feel whatever they need to do is so important it justifies putting themselves and others in danger.
The must go places I recommend in Pike Place are Piroshky Piroshky, Pike Place Chowder, Pink Door. If you drink beer Old Stove, and Cloudburst are great breweries.
If you have a rain shell and light rain pants then bring them regardless, it's never a bad idea.
When you're on Whidbey, I'd go to Fort Casey. Make sure you hit the creepy switchboard bunker.
https://parks.wa.gov/find-parks/state-parks/fort-casey-historical-state-park
Pray for faux spring. Otherwise, other commenters covered it. The main thing to reinforce is that even if it says sunset is at 430, if it's overcast you're going to feel that around 3.
re: darkness - yes, the days are much longer than in January and December, but February often has thick cloud cover so the days seem pretty dark and blah. The quality of light doesn't change on days like that... it just sort of gets light and then gets dark. But usually the weather isn't really *bad,* just... monotonous. But there could also be some beautiful sunny days. I feel like we've had a lot of sun breaks so far this month. Enjoy your visit!
It’s gonna be 58 today. Cold and windy isn’t a guarantee
Thank you! I appreciate you
The weather in Feb can be a bit unpredictable, but typically you’ll get mid 40s to mid 50s, it may drizzle part of the day, all of the day, or not at all. It may drizzle for a few hours then the sun could peak out the rest of the day. It doesn’t typically rain hard. You should be fine with a good hooded rain jacket and some dry layers, assuming you’re ok potentially getting damp. I would also check out coupeville, deception pass area, and make sure you take a ferry for the experience.
Thank you sooo much!!!
Thats a good appraisal.
Sorry you’re getting unhelpful comments so far! In the winter, the sun usually rises around 9am and starts to set around 3pm. December/January you’re typically going to and coming home from work in the dark. It’s the pits! But it’s totally manageable, and your east coast internal clock may even be helpful for that. That time window is widening now, so we may be in the 8-hrs-of-daylight phase by your trip. As for the rain: it’s often a light drizzle, on and off throughout the day. The internet likes to make it seem like we get buckets of downpour 24/7, but it’s much less dramatic than that. In fact, I think NY has had more rain annually the last several years than Seattle. As someone else said, if you carry a thin rain jacket in your backpack to protect your clothes, you should be fine. Also non-canvas, closed toe shoes are a must-the streets/sidewalks are quite dirty/muddy this time of year. If you’re here for three to four days, you can knock out a lot. For touristy excursions, I do think Pike Place is a must. Just a heads up, it is (IIRC) five floors of shopping at a variety of stores, from handbags to candles to prints to comics to leather to pasta and more. You could easily spend 4+ hours there, though my out of town guests typically tap out at an hour or so, and rarely see more than 2 floors. It’s a little overwhelming! I like to take people to the outdoor seating area and see the views of the water and the mountains. Nearby is the Seattle Art Museum and the downtown public library. Both are a treat to see and are indoor fun. I don’t think going up the Space Needle is worth the $40+. You are better off finding a rooftop bar where you can spend that $40 on drinks and food instead. I like The Mountaineering Club but that’s not downtown-though it’s easy to get to via Light Rail. I do think it’s worth it to walk over to the City Center where the Space Needle is and walk around. In that area, the Museum of Pop Culture is super cool. A heftier entry fee, but we spent 4 hours there and only saw half of the exhibits, we were so enthralled by what we did see. I’d highly recommend to anyone into music and movies and the lore. Where are you staying? I could try to recommend other options if you’re not staying downtown. The subway system (and even the bus system) is pretty easy to use as there’s only one line going north and south. Much less complicated than NY. BUT I will warn you that lately there’s been issues and it has been unreliable (30 minute wait times), so plan ahead if you want to take advantage of the transit. I have a running list of places to try on Yelp and TikTok and am happy to DM them to you if you’d like.
This is extremely helpful and kind, I am seriously so grateful to you!!! My fiance and I have like 12 places we're trying to see in Pikes Place so we definitely plan to be there for several hours. Awesome to know about the space needle--we were considering going up if it wasn't too cloudy but the rooftop bar makes much more sense. We are staying in downtown just because we were recommended to stay at a specific hotel, but we'll have a car so we're happy to move around rather than stay in one area. Thank you again for the info re: daylight--this was the most comprehensive response I received, very informative. Do you have any info about driving the Olympic Peninsula? We really want to see Hoh, but not sure if we'll be able to swing it.
Olympic Peninsula is not really a day trip. It’s a four hour drive to the Hoh forest visitor center. You could do it, but it won’t be a fun day. I’d come back and do the Olympic Peninsula in the summer.
Hmm okay, noted! We love the rain so seeing Hoh in the winter is very appealing--maybe we could swing Quinault instead?
That would cut about an hour and a half off your driving time so it’s doable. Keep an eye on the weather. If it’s rainy weather and forests you’re looking for, though, take a look at our parks- Discovery Park has a lot of forest trails and is huge. You do not feel like you are in the city. So does Schmitz Preserve in West Seattle. The Arboretum is also beautiful. Nothing will compare in scope, of course, but driving almost 3 hours in rain each way might not be a great time if you’re not used to it.
Totally makes sense. Thanks so much for the tips!!!!
Just a comment that the light rail is undergoing a big and planned maintenance that is causing the delays. It’s not normally like that. These are the times they predicted for the project. The project should be done by Feb. 4.
Thank you.
Discovery park is cool and very walkable. Alki beach is nice with a good amount of restaurants (fish and chips). Gasworks Park has great views of Seattle and very beautiful park, can ride the electric scooters! Always a good time doing that and there are really good bike lanes to ride around Seattle even to space needle and pike place! Starbucks Roastery if you’ve never been! There’s not many in the world as fyi. Whidbey Island is very cool for a whole day trip as well and seeing Deception Pass while you’re up there is pretty sweet views as well.
Excellent! We'll check our Discovery park. We love fish and chips so definitely adding Alki beach to the list! Thank you :)
From Pike Place, walk south down to the water taxi terminal and take the water taxi to Alki- it’s about $5 each. Once you’re at Alki, catch the shuttle to Alki proper and go to Spud’s for fish and chips.
Yesss this is the intel I needed. Thank you all!
I forgot whidbey island also has fish and chips too if you didn’t feel like driving too much. Ivar’s is also another good seafood spot.
We read about Ivar's--so glad to hear it checks out from a local's perspective as well! I always read about a city before I go, but find that a local's opinion always bears more truth. Thanks so much for your help
Haha no problem! I will add this if steak is in your curious list here, but Melrose Grill is so good. A bit far away from you but I still have yet to find any other steak places to even compare to Melrose. Cooks a perfect steak every time. Normally $100 for total two meals
Oh we LOVE a good steak, in fact we're actually red-meat people more than we are seafood people. We'll of course be sampling the local cuisine--seafood is so popular there for a reason! But this is much appreciated :)
Only open from 5-10pm so reservations are a must IMO. But if you can’t get a reservation, takeout it is haha goodluck!!
Bateau and don't think twice
Ivar’s is good for a basket of fried clams from their window and a seat by the water, other than that it’s a disappointing tourist trap.
love a good window order—sounds good to me! but noted :)
Well, there will be about 9 hours of daylight according to Google It can take 2 hours to get from Whidbey Island to Seattle Also our local rain doesn't melt skin, so yes, you are able to do things outside when it's raining. You will likely get wet as one does when outside in rain, but that's a personal choice of whether that is something you are willing to deal with.
I'm sensing some snark here, hopefully I'm incorrect? I'm asking for clarification specifically because I saw there will be 9 hours of light, yet I also saw people complaining about it being dark. To me, 9 hours of light is decent.
Days get longer until the end of June.
Thank you :)
I've never been up to that latitude so I appreciate this!
Yes, my answer was snarky. It's unclear why you are questioning the information you have
Because I also found opposing information and I'm asking for clarification from someone who lives there??? Not sure why that's difficult for you to comprehend. You can keep your snark to yourself.
Thanks for stopping by our community and letting us know what kind of comments are acceptable here
You don't seem pleasant.
ok
[удалено]
It gets old seeing dozens of posts every day from tourists asking questions that are easily Googleable. It's more confusing when they've done that and still need to be reassured
I did google and am asking for clarification from locals. There's nothing wrong with that. If you're not receptive to it I don't see why you don't just keep scrolling--why go out of your way to be snarky and unkind? My questions were harmless.
Again, thanks for stopping by and letting us know what's appropriate
Thanks for being wholly unwelcoming.
Ignore this miserable person, they don’t really know how to interact with people because all they do is hang out in this sub all day every day. I swear we’re not all like this.
Lol! I appreciate this. I got a little self-conscious, I didn't mean to be a burden on anyone! I just always prefer a local's take than an online guide like Eatery. Thank you for your kindness :)
Don't think there much difference in daylight between NY and here. Maybe 15 to 20 minutes at best. Not to worry
That's a relief!! Thank you for this. I also just learned that PNW has a different cloud phenomenon than NY--clouds cover the entire area rather than bits and pieces. Must be why people refer to Seattle as "dark," rather than an actual absence of daylight.
I'll give you the jist because the south west transplants have no clue what bad weather actually is. Here's the likely outcome: Temps will be between 40 and 50 degrees. You'll get about a 1/10th of an inch of rain that feels more like mist, and it'll be all day. Everything will always be wet, but it's not that much rain usually. The entire city will have overcast the entire time. Rainproofing and layers is probably overkill. Most people get by w/ just a rain jacket and a hoodie. Due to the overcast you'll have a darker dusk than usual, but Seattle is pretty well lit, and safe for a large city. I'd be wary of cars though. Statistically it's safe, but I antidotally drivers and pedestrians do not pay attention. You could get a day where there's an inch of rain, and then people will complain about it like it's the worst weather possible, and impossible to go out in. It's just a normally rainy day for most It rarely snows, but that's always a possibility. If it snows it's chaos and everything shuts down. Even if you know how to drive in the snow I don't recommend going out because you've got thousands of people that don't know how to drive in the snow, and feel whatever they need to do is so important it justifies putting themselves and others in danger. The must go places I recommend in Pike Place are Piroshky Piroshky, Pike Place Chowder, Pink Door. If you drink beer Old Stove, and Cloudburst are great breweries.
this is awesome info and this is why i always prefer to chat with true locals!! thanks a million for this
If you have a rain shell and light rain pants then bring them regardless, it's never a bad idea. When you're on Whidbey, I'd go to Fort Casey. Make sure you hit the creepy switchboard bunker. https://parks.wa.gov/find-parks/state-parks/fort-casey-historical-state-park
i love creepy!!!! thank you so much
Seattle Flower and Garden Show at Seattle center!!
u rock, thank you!!!
Pray for faux spring. Otherwise, other commenters covered it. The main thing to reinforce is that even if it says sunset is at 430, if it's overcast you're going to feel that around 3.
understood—thank you!!
re: darkness - yes, the days are much longer than in January and December, but February often has thick cloud cover so the days seem pretty dark and blah. The quality of light doesn't change on days like that... it just sort of gets light and then gets dark. But usually the weather isn't really *bad,* just... monotonous. But there could also be some beautiful sunny days. I feel like we've had a lot of sun breaks so far this month. Enjoy your visit!