Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, December 4, 2012
The Weather Is It Just Me or Is Seattle's Rain Harder, Crazier, Gnarlier This Year?
Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 6:46 PM
We're in for a wet one, huh?
64
Yes, judging on the weather of the past 21 years, which is how long ago I moved here. Until the weather changed five or so years ago, it rarely snowed, and Seattle winters (and falls and springs) were overcast with a misty drizzle you could walk in. I never wore a hat and my hair was always fluffy in that just misted rain way, and I never wore a raincoat, ever. Now I gear up like a fisherman to walk to the coffee shop. It's changed.
59
@ 58, I'll be arrogant enough to say that I'm right and you and the masses are wrong. That won't stop the incorrect word from taking root, but that wasn't my point to begin with.
58
@56, "cycling rain cape" returns 326,000 hits on Google. "Cycling rain poncho" returns 91,700. You're a fucking idiot.
57
@38 Really you freak out with a month of no rain? We get nine months of it so a month without it is nice.
56
@ 55, it may be called that, but there is a lot of food out there called "delicious" that is anything but. A misnomer is a misnomer.
55
@54, the item in question is called a rain cape. I'm sorry if you don't believe that's true, but it is.
54
@ 53, a cape? We usually call those rain ponchos, since cape implies something that ties around the neck and covers just your back. (Yeah, I know that ponchos are technically capes because both are sleeveless, but there's a reason for the distinctly different word.)
Goretex and its imitations are all crap, that is for sure.
Goretex and its imitations are all crap, that is for sure.
53
@28, emor, get a cape. Looks a little dorky but the ventilation and rain protection blows away even the priciest Goretex "technical" jacket (Goretex is bullshit). I wear it over my street clothes - coat and tie, whatever, it's all the same to me. On Halloween I rode to work in a downpour in a tuxedo.
I got mine from J&G in Oregon. There are prettier options available but in the dark Seattle rain there's something to be said for safety yellow.
http://www.bicycleclothing.com/Rain-Cape…
I got mine from J&G in Oregon. There are prettier options available but in the dark Seattle rain there's something to be said for safety yellow.
http://www.bicycleclothing.com/Rain-Cape…
52
The rain does feel heavier now (was just in Seattle over Thanksgiving).
I didn't realize that I had "rain habits" from growing up in Seattle until I went out to upstate New York, where they have torrential downpours all friggin' day long with no break. When I looked out the window and saw it was pouring, I unconsciously waited 10-20 minutes for it to lighten up, then was disappointed that it still came down just as heavily. It then occurred to me that I was used to Seattle's periodic rain-norain pattern where it would get it out of its system and clear up regularly. Some days I would just soldier through when out walking since I had faith that it would lighten up, but it never did.
I didn't realize that I had "rain habits" from growing up in Seattle until I went out to upstate New York, where they have torrential downpours all friggin' day long with no break. When I looked out the window and saw it was pouring, I unconsciously waited 10-20 minutes for it to lighten up, then was disappointed that it still came down just as heavily. It then occurred to me that I was used to Seattle's periodic rain-norain pattern where it would get it out of its system and clear up regularly. Some days I would just soldier through when out walking since I had faith that it would lighten up, but it never did.
51
i'll tell you this...the dumb fucks on here that say they love the rain don't have to work outside in it. i do. it sucks.
39
It feels more like Portland fall/winter here to me. I do miss the light mist which still seems ethereal to me after almost 20 years here.
38
I never complain about the rain. I complain in the summer when it's 90 and there's been no rain in over a month. But rain is good - good for the plants, good for the snowpack, good for the air quality, good for staying home with a book or your thoughts while the raindrops play a constant, soothing drumroll on your roof. I'd be freaking out if it was still Indian summer at this point. But rain? It's what we're supposed to have at the end of the year. This fall hasn't been that unusual. Unless the weather has cost you your possessions, you really have nothing to complain about. Move to Phoenix if it really, really bothers you.
37
I don't know why anyone is complaining...the years of 2008, 09, 10 were the worse ever, not because of rain but because of the continual unbroken overcast from August to May with almost no summer weather whatsoever. At least this year summer lasted much longer and we are still getting occasional sun.
Also, I took a very nice walk for an hour at night on the Soos Creek trail. I had the added benefit of finding a tool for my bicycle that I had left there more than a month ago. I brought my flashlight and though I had fixed my bike on a grassy area covered in leaves, I had this feeling I knew where it was...and yokum-smokem I found it! I felt like Wallander...the Swedish edition...not the Kenneth Branagh version.
Also, I took a very nice walk for an hour at night on the Soos Creek trail. I had the added benefit of finding a tool for my bicycle that I had left there more than a month ago. I brought my flashlight and though I had fixed my bike on a grassy area covered in leaves, I had this feeling I knew where it was...and yokum-smokem I found it! I felt like Wallander...the Swedish edition...not the Kenneth Branagh version.
36
California is getting it worse than us...600% of normal in past week according to NOAA:
http://water.weather.gov/precip/index.ph…
35
I think Cliff Mass said something earlier about how this was a neutral year...neither an El Nino, or La Nina year...which means more neutral weather in general, but greater extremes when adverse weather does occur.
I know it makes me an evil person, or maybe just scandinavian, but i'm crossing my fingers for a whopper snow storm this year.
I know it makes me an evil person, or maybe just scandinavian, but i'm crossing my fingers for a whopper snow storm this year.
34
It's heavier rain than 'average' but it fits the three winters you can have here: 44 and raining, 30 and clear, or snow that freezes and you get a new mayor.
31
Lived here my whole life and never heard more people talk about how heavy the rain has been. There are more dry days it seems, but then we just get hammered with torrential downpours. I'll stick to the eyeball test on this one. It's pretty bad.
30
Dr. Dear, you know I adore you, but I disagree. It's right before Christmas when the things tend to hit the fan. I base that on several years of holiday overtime related to the part of my job where I drive some wonky engineer around, and we write up work orders about fallen poles and sparking lines, while random people come up to us and tell us how we have personally ruined their Christmas baking.
29
Within the span of a two-block walk downtown, all of my clothes--jacket, jeans, shoes, socks--were wet through. No place to duck in. I got on the bus looking like I had just walked through a car wash. It was hilarious.
28
I'm not convinced this is much worse than normal. I've been riding a bike to work year-round in the Northwest since 2006 (since 2008 in Seattle) and I don't feel like I've been riding to work in the rain terribly often. I certainly had a few uncharacteristically soaking commutes, but overall my extensive cycling rain gear is in my pannier most of the time like usual.
What really feels weird is how warm it's been. It makes my extensive cycling rain gear really uncomfortable those few times I do wear it.
What really feels weird is how warm it's been. It makes my extensive cycling rain gear really uncomfortable those few times I do wear it.
27
By now we should have settled into days of pale grey drizzly gloom, days of nonstop wetter-than-fog, lighter-than-rain precipitation, the precipitation that stays monotonously the same for upwards of a week.
Not this odd now-it's-pouring, now-it's-not stuff. It is not normal. And it's oddly warm. It should be beginning to dip below freezing at night by now.
Are teh gayz to blame for this?
Not this odd now-it's-pouring, now-it's-not stuff. It is not normal. And it's oddly warm. It should be beginning to dip below freezing at night by now.
Are teh gayz to blame for this?
26
As a (nearly) four-year-old transplant from the Sacramento area, I am loving this rainy fall. Like Gus, the grey days are my favorite. I also love the dramatic daylight change. Count me among the nerds who enjoy walking to work in full rain gear; somehow it feels cozy and empowering. Perhaps in a few years when my joints ache (too few years, I fear) I'll feel differently, but for now I couldn't be happier.
24
More than average, but not record breaking. Been in this area for most of 49 years. We have had worse. This is what builds our snow base. It is good, but not great so far this year. November and December are our hard rain months. After the new year it should be more grey and lighter rain.
22
I agree Christopher .. it feels like it is raining harder when it rains, there is more clearing-light in between as opposed to the long term drizzle almost rain that goes on for days and days .. I’m unsure how I feel about it .. it might be better
21
Compared with parts of the country in which there are actual downpours, the rain here has been heavy-ish at times recently, but nothing extreme or gnarly. I miss downpours. One has to go elsewhere to experience those.
20
I have been Seattle adjacent since the mid 70's, lived here on and off through much of the late 80's, and have been a full-time resident since 1991. This Fall seems like a "real" Fall to me. The years that freaked me out were the ones like 2001 and 1976 when both here and the mountains were bone dry.
We're supposed to be waterlogged. It's our thing.
We're supposed to be waterlogged. It's our thing.
18
This soggy but slightly warmer than I can remember weather is helping little brown mushrooms sprout about in my parents yard.
17
When I have stuff to do=rain sucks!
When I'm snuggled up in bed listening to the monsoon on the roof=rain makes my bed 1000 times better!
It's December, and we've only been below freezing a couple of times.
It's winter in Seattle. Deal with it.
When I'm snuggled up in bed listening to the monsoon on the roof=rain makes my bed 1000 times better!
It's December, and we've only been below freezing a couple of times.
It's winter in Seattle. Deal with it.
6
It was as gnarly as I've heard in Seattle on Sunday night, but I've been commuting on my Vespa. It hasn't reduced me to the bus yet.
4
No Slog legally binding poll? No links to the outside world? Is this a Facebook post that accidentally crossed over?
3
And my shoes are soaked through to my socks, goddamit!
No, I think it's far too early to make any pronouncements. It's not even winter yet.
It was coming down in sheets the other night (or early morning) though. Sounded like a waterfall on the roof. Exhilarating.
No, I think it's far too early to make any pronouncements. It's not even winter yet.
It was coming down in sheets the other night (or early morning) though. Sounded like a waterfall on the roof. Exhilarating.
2
So you've just discovered the limits of your "water resistant" jacket, too? At least it's not really cold. Very soggy, though, I agree.
1
I've lived in Seattle almost 22 years. I can't remember a more miserable winter than this one. I'm already at my normal late-February state when it comes to the $#@&^! rain.
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