Tell me about Seattle, WA

[RoadTrekkie]

I am in the next-to-last stage of my application with King County, Washington. If it comes to relocating, one of the big negatives hanging over my head is the weather. I've been warned about the number of overcast/drizzly days and I figured cyclists would be a good group to sound about what the weather is really like. My closest comparison to Seattle is San Francisco. It was overcast and chilly (compared to Sacramento) in Seattle when I tested up there earlier this month, but it didn't feel as closed in as SF does and Seattle didn't have that awful bone-chilling damp fog. How much biking can you do throughout the year?

[KnottedYet]

Depending where you are, you can get some pretty good fog in Seattle.

We ride year-round. Wool and rainproof stuff are your best bet. Fenders are required for many club rides, and the vast majority of commuters have fenders.

It rains. A few years back we had 186 days straight of rain here in the north Sound, which thrilled a lot of folks because it was a new record.

You won't see the sun from October until about February. A "bright" day is one where there is enough light coming through the clouds that you cast a bit of a shadow.

Algae (like the kind that grows on fishtank walls) grows on the sidewalks and MUPs because they don't dry out for months. It can be very slippery, so it's good to be cautious in some spots.

Algae also grows on cars. My car had both algae and moss growing on it, which I thought was quite cute.

The chill and damp will soak into your bones, so you may want to do what a lot of folks do and wear light long underwear during the rainy season just to fight the damp.

You will want to keep sunglasses handy, because when the sun does come out after a few weeks it is actually quite painful. Seattle has the highest per capita sunglasses ownership in the country.

[NbyNW]

The winter grey skies can take some getting used to. I started using one of those wakeup LED lights when the days got short, and we would also try to take a long weekend or a week someplace sunny, maybe in February or March. Nice thing about Seattle winters: you rarely have any snow to shovel. And you can pretty much garden year-round, if you are inclined. I think a lot of people say it takes a season or two to get used to the winters. Probably true of most places.

The other thing to consider is that Seattle in general is quite bike friendly, compared to other places I have lived. There is an excellent cycling club that has rides for all levels, and there are a number of organizations that are out there doing advocacy for cycling and bike commuting and providing education. There are new bike lanes going in all the time in the city, and there are tons of great routes locally for weekend rides and more ambitious efforts.

True what Knott says about sunglasses. I never bought nice sunglasses before moving to Seattle. I use a light or clear lens when I'm cycling on overcast days. And I have a pair set aside for driving, as it cuts down glare -- the sun is quite low at Seattle's latitude.

I'd move back there in a second!

[shootingstar]

Just an observation:

Living in a (not too old) highrise, protects some of us from the algae creep.

[jelee1311]

Full spectrum bulbs,and a sunny vacation in late March is how to survive

[Eden]

I moved here as an adult - so my perspective is probably a bit different. Granted I did not come from California, but from Pittsburgh via Rochester, NY so I wasn't used to sunny warm climes.

It does rain here a lot *but* its generally from November to May/June ish. It doesn't usually get consistantly warm and nice until July. Hard rain is relatively rare, all day drizzly conditions are more common (natives don't usually even use umbrellas). Summer is usually (not this summer - bah...) quite dry and fall is often superb - crisp, cool but sunny days (my favorite type of weather).

The worst thing for me, less than the rain is the latitude.... In the winter it gets dark soooooooo early and gets light quite late. At the shortest part of the year, if you work indoors and don't get near a window you can go for days without ever actually seeing daylight.... dark when you go in, dark when you come home... If you intend to ride and commute all year round here you will need good lights.

[smilingcat]

Have a quick question.

We all know about how lack of sunlight affect our mood in the winter time, but what about our furbabies? cat and dogs. Will they also get depressed? and are they more irritable in the wintertime?

[XMcShiftersonX]

I'm probably not the best person to respond since I hate the weather here, and I only live here because the culture is great, the landscape is beautiful (which, yes, is undoubtedly because of the weather), and my dream has always been to work at Harborview. I have lived here all my life, and just never gotten used to it. I feel like I can never get warm in the winter.

Some years are drier than others, those years are the best for all year long riding. It usually is every other year with the el nina, el nino cycle. This coming season is supposed to be wet, cold, and snowy, so it won't likely be a good year (for me anyways). I rode all year round this last year because it was very dry.This summer, however, was not very warm and was overcast a lot of the time. Usually after the 4 months of no sun from Oct-Feb like someone mentioned, the summers are the best you will find anywhere (although that's probably because you're so deprived of sun and warmth you will take any improvement)! That is another reason to stay here.

A lot of people, including myself suffer from seasonal depression due to the lack of sunlight here. But, compared to the rest of the country (minus California), we have pretty mild shifts in seasons - no months of unending snow, or summers of extreme heat. So, it really just depends on you and your style. Do you not mind riding in the rain? Are you okay doing other activities during the wet months? Are you prone to depression? Are you not really attached to the sun? I've noticed staying active all year long helps as well as having a dog:) My counselor has also recommended a light box, which I may look into this year.

There's many amazing things about living here, but in my opinion weather isn't one of them.

[NbyNW]

Have a quick question.

We all know about how lack of sunlight affect our mood in the winter time, but what about our furbabies? cat and dogs. Will they also get depressed? and are they more irritable in the wintertime?

Now that we've had Gordy for a year, I would say that he generally has less energy in wintertime. (We are currently living at 50-something degrees north.) He likes to get up with the sun, so with short days he wants to get up later and naps a lot and doesn't have as much energy to burn off. When the days are long he is up with the sun and wants lots of long walks and endless games of fetch. Maybe he's solar-powered!

I don't think it affects his mood all that much. He's his happy cuddly self all year round.