![]() It is not uncommon at all for us to have no snow in Ballard and arrive at our Chiropractic office with 1-2 inches of snow here on Capitol Hill! For example, we have a Chiropractic office in Capitol Hill, and we live in Ballard which is a neighborhood right at sea level. However, it must be stated that the snow we have received here in the past few weeks has surpassed the snow we’ve cumulatively received in the past few YEARS! Typically, Seattle only sees snow a handful of times in the year (if that), and even that is highly variable depending on where in the city you are. As I type this article, it has snowed 3 times in the past few weeks. Wait, what…snow? Does it snow in Seattle? Well, yes and no. It turns out that sunlight is the most glorious thing in the world when you’ve gone a month or two without seeing it for only a few minutes! So far this all sounds pretty dreary right (pun absolutely intended!)? Well, it is…and it’s the exact reason that my wife and I make it a point to get away on a tropical vacation during the heart of the winter. Once you realize this, it becomes pretty clear why Seattle is known so strongly (heh, another pun) for coffee! When you don’t see the sun for days or weeks at a time, caffeine becomes not a pleasantry, but a necessity to get going in the morning! It’s this grey that has once excited California transplants running back for the smog and comfort of their homeland! That creates an issue where even seeing daylight is difficult during the winter, especially for folks living in Seattle who have a 9-5 job! As far as the former goes, the grey is a result of typically heavy cloud cover that darkens the sky even at mid-day. Sunrise in the heart of winter may not be until almost 8:00AM and sunset comes early at 3:30PM. What results in spectacularly long summer days with sunsets that don’t come until after 9:00Pm also causes incredibly short winter days. The latter can be explained away by our northern latitude. It’s a general lack of sunshine and daylight. You see, in Seattle, in the winter months, it’s not the misty rain that slows people down or has them heading for tropical locales, it’s the grey. Now that we’ve got the “rain myth”, as I call it, out of the way, we can move on to the REAL weather culprit that has led to the belief that Seattle and Seattleites suffer from rain and misery for the majority of the year. Instead, it’s just “another day” and it doesn’t stop anyone from getting out for a run, or walking their dog, going for a hike, cycling, playing sports, or anything else for that matter! We just roll with the mist!!! You see, in Seattle, rain isn’t a reason to run inside and hide until Spring. This is why locals typically walk around with the outward appearance that a hike could break out at any moment. Rather, Seattle rain is much more likely to come in the form of a light mist than a full on downpour. Wait, that wasn’t what you were expecting me to say, was it? Well….the truth is the truth, and I can’t change it no matter how badly I want to, so there you go! BUT, and this is a big ‘ol but, the rain we get in Seattle is NOT AT ALL like the rain that much of the country is accustomed to seeing when it rains in their hood. So, here’s the real deal when it comes to Seattle and rain: The look is typically followed by a statement such as “wow, you’re from Seattle huh? I hear it rains all the time there!). When you tell someone that you live in Seattle, It doesn’t take long before you see “that look” on their face, you know the look…it’s the “oh man, I bet you have a whole closet full of North Face gear” look. OK, so where to start? First off, why don’t we bust a few myths about “weather”. It is my desire to share that with you in the form of this article, and BUST some of Seattle’s weather myths! ![]() I have personally lived in Seattle for my entire life, and in the past 35 years, I’ve gained extensive knowledge about the city as a whole, with a particular understanding of the weather here and its patterns.
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