Would you like some frost with that?
One of the reasons I love living in Seattle is the weather. It is not that I love rain. It is that I love not melting in the summer and not freezing n the winter. I move to Seattle from Rochester, NY (where I attended the University of Rochester), which has some of the worst weather of anywhere I have lived. Seattle may not be as mild as SoCal, but I'm actually happier for that. I just prefer not to have to scrape ice off my car every day for months unending; not to have to shovel snow or drive on snowy/ice roads. I have lost one car to ice roads (someone else lost control and ran into my parked car.) and prefer not to make a habit of it.
Why that random rant? Because I had to scrape frost off my car this morning. It really was just a heavy frost. Still, having to spend a few minutes waiting for the defrost to melt it all reminded me of my days of yore, and how I really do like living in Seattle.
One last digression. Seattle has a reputation for rain. I had read, some years ago, that New York City got more annual rainfall than Seattle. So I looked it up. According to GoNorthwest.Com Seattle averages 36" of rain annually. According to EssentialBigApple.Com NYC averages 47.2" annually. (Thank you Google) Not only does NYC get more rainfall, it gets over 31% more!
So where does Seattle's reputation for rain come from? The clouds. As in, Seattle has that reputation because it is by far the cloudiest city I have ever lived in. Unlike the New England coast, where I grew up, the clouds commandeer the sky, and tend to just stay there. All day. Or sometimes all month. Also, while Seattle doesn't get as much total rainfall, it sure takes it's time getting what rainfall it does get. Rainy days in Seattle rarely include the heavy rains I was used to in the North-East. Seattle just gets lots of light precipitation. That lasts for days, if not weeks. A few years ago Seattle has something like 90 days straight of some sort of precipitation. Possibly the most depressing winter ever.
But today is bright and cheerful so far. Good way to close an eventful year.
Why that random rant? Because I had to scrape frost off my car this morning. It really was just a heavy frost. Still, having to spend a few minutes waiting for the defrost to melt it all reminded me of my days of yore, and how I really do like living in Seattle.
One last digression. Seattle has a reputation for rain. I had read, some years ago, that New York City got more annual rainfall than Seattle. So I looked it up. According to GoNorthwest.Com Seattle averages 36" of rain annually. According to EssentialBigApple.Com NYC averages 47.2" annually. (Thank you Google) Not only does NYC get more rainfall, it gets over 31% more!
So where does Seattle's reputation for rain come from? The clouds. As in, Seattle has that reputation because it is by far the cloudiest city I have ever lived in. Unlike the New England coast, where I grew up, the clouds commandeer the sky, and tend to just stay there. All day. Or sometimes all month. Also, while Seattle doesn't get as much total rainfall, it sure takes it's time getting what rainfall it does get. Rainy days in Seattle rarely include the heavy rains I was used to in the North-East. Seattle just gets lots of light precipitation. That lasts for days, if not weeks. A few years ago Seattle has something like 90 days straight of some sort of precipitation. Possibly the most depressing winter ever.
But today is bright and cheerful so far. Good way to close an eventful year.
posted by derek at 9:17 AM
3 Comments:
I don't think amount of rainfall is much of a measure. I always look at number of rainy days instead. -- Dare
Seattle definitely has more rainy days, but I find it interesting and an amusing weather-related conversation topic when visiting family/friends elsewhere that NYC gets more actual rainfall. It is an odd and interesting world we live in.
I've heard that Boston has more rainy days on average than Seattle.
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