I moved from Michigan (lived there all my life) to Metro Washington DC in Jan 06. Well for reasons I won't name, I've decided that I don't like it here and will be looking to move in the next year or two. I want the next move to be my last.

I am a middle-aged single female. My personality is mainly laidback, conservatively liberal, love the outdoors, prefer a more adult community as opposed to a place with a lot of kids.

Besides the expense, I hear favorable things about Washington State. I also like the idea that it's dog friendly, scenic and outdoorsy. I'll be concentrating my job search in the Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia areas. I am concerned about the amount of rain. How much does it rain during the 'rainy season'. I read the rainy season is btw Oct and May. Does it rain everyday during this time or 3/4 times or week? Or is it just mostly cloudy with rain only once or twice a week. I'm trying to get some perspective on the amount of rain I'd be dealing with.

The following site gives you the possibility of comparing annual weather patterns in any two cities: http://www.weather.com/outlook/event...om=wed_setdate

Most of the time in the season it rains several times a week, but seldom the kind of drenching rain one gets elsewhere (and usually no more than a few days of snow/sleet.) We get weather fronts coming off the Pacific that typically go in 3- or 4 day cycles - cloudy/breezy, then rain, then clearing after the front with breezy days, then repeat the cycle. It's not a continental climate like Michigan or the east coast, it's a coastal climate.

It really doesn't hamper life very much - one gets used to grabbing a brolly or a rain jacket. The dog park I visit almost daily with himself is seldom rained out, and they've put in a lot of gravel and wood chips to prevent it becoming a mud hole.

The upside is that you rarely go a week without a sparkling sunny day, or at least parts of days. On the flip side, it's almost never hot and humid (at the same time) during the summer.

Note that there are a number of micro- or mini-climates hereabouts too. Olympia tends to be wetter (also colder and hotter) than Seattle because of its location; places like Whidbey Island are dryer (quite a lot) because of the "rain shadow" cast by the Olympic Mountains. Location, location, location.

Seattle is number 47 on the list of precipitation for 100 bigger towns in the US. IIRC Portland is no. 48, or vice-versa.

It is mostly that it can be gray and drizzly, sometimes for weeks on end, that people complain about. We actually don't get that much neavy precipitation (our rainfall is not significantly more than many places).

katolb90~ If you go to the Forums at www.tripadvisor.com (not the hotel reviews, but the community forums) for Seattle... you'll find lots of discussions on moving here and what people (both locals and transplants) think of the weather.

For me, the problem in that part of the country would not be the rain but the grayness. I am a sunshine-requiring animal. Give some thought to that.

It is overcast and grey, or drizziling and grey, or raining and grey for months on end. You always need some sort of coat for drizzle/chill. Not enough for an umbrella, but a jacket every day.

Really, no sunshine for months. In the spring, when the sun starts to shine, you can't get any work done because everyone is just outside looking at the sun. Seriously. No sun.

If you can't find what you're looking for in Seattle, try Portland. This morning's Oregonian had a feature story about the high-rise condos being built all over the city, desperately in search of buyers. You could probably find a good deal.

I live in Eugene, Or and the rain doesnt bother me that much but what bothers me the worst is that it doesnt really get to be summer until the beginning of Jul - so around May when I know the rest of the country is basking in sunshine - I start getting a little grouchy that I am still wearing my winter clothes.

Many times it is sunnier in the mountains though - so a trip over the pass will give me a dose of sunshine

It is definately very outdoorsy here-
if thats what you are looking for

LOL beachbum I saw that article. Doesn't look good for the economy at all.

I wouldn't worry about the weather. As in everything in life, your attitude will be a big portion of how it affects you. Granted, I was born and raised here in OR (similar weather to Seattle), but I love this kind of weather. It is quite grey today, with a few sprinkles. My kind of day. And yes, the weather really doesn't stop anyone from doing anything. Just grab a jacket and go.

I disagree about "no sun"... we have some brilliant crisp cold clear sunny days in the winter. And in the summer sometimes weeks at at time without rain (causing a drought which is a whole 'nother can of worms).

katolb,
I grew up in Ohio and now live in Seattle. When people here "complain about the weather" I just have to laugh. After the Midwest, it's mild. No extremes, very little snow, and the most beautiful summers I've seen anywhere. I love it here and yes, I need my "sunbreaks", but if you love gorgeous big trees, mountains, lakes, and great dogparks, plus a liberal community, you might love it here.

Check it out first. Infact, there's a Fodors GTG here on Nov. 2 and that would be a good reason for you to visit, right?

katolb90~ I want to toss in an unasked for comment as a local (living on Capitol Hill, working in Belltown)... and as a fellow middle-aged single female, with similar views and preferances you mention...

I find Seattle an *ideal* place to live. I moved here 20+ years ago to "try it for a year" and never left (I've also lived in the states of CA, CT, MA, VT, NH).

Just make sure to take a vacation mid-winter for a week or two to Mexico or Hawaii every year and get some sun. That's what I do. Works out great.

Suze and Gardyloo are giving you the straight dope, I think.

My 2 cents: "No sun" is a bit of an overstatement, but I would caution against over-optimism about the winter weather, as well. Seattle can go for 2-3 weeks at a time with steady overcast between November and May. Combine that with the very short daylight hours during the winter, and one has a recipe for some grouchy people by April.

To artlover's and Suze's point, though: it's all a matter of attitude. Some folks acquire it and thrive here, others never do and go nuts about the overcast and drizzle.

A good test for you might be to visit Seattle for a couple weeks in, oh, January or February. If you're not going stir-crazy at the end of your visit, you'll probably be fine with the climate.

The upside of the coolness and rain: the air seems always fresh and clean-smelling, even in the middle of the city. Drizzle also raises the ozone level in the air, and a few deep breaths can give one an incredible sense of well-being.

When it rains hard: read that favorite book, have a cup of hot soup, get together with friends for a movie, take a walk in the nearest park where even in the Winter there is fresh green-ness to be enjoyed.

Believe it or not, some Seattle natives I know, actually get grouchy when it's sunny for too many days in a row!

I'm one of those grouchy with too much sun people.

I'm with suze and lennyba. When we take a trip east of the Cascades or (horrors!) east of the Rockies, where the sky is wall-to-wall blue, we can hardly wait to get back to Puget Sound.

A staple of TV football broadcasts from Seattle shows the commentators huddled under an umbrella, with water dripping from all sides....then the camera backs off to show someone with a hose watering down the umbrella while the background is blue sky and fleecy clouds.

I wonder if that was Emmett Watson's idea, Bobmrg! KBO...

Wow, thanks for all your input.

It does indeed sound wonderful except the drizzling weeks on end. I can probably deal with successions of cloudly days cause that's how Michigan is in the winter. I do love trees and woods and as I get closer to 50, heat and humidity aren't nearly as 'fun' as they use to be!

And how are the people there? People here in general are 'high stress' folk who love to talk about what they've got or what they're doing. Its a very 'ME' oriented environment.

One thing I do like about where I live now is that I have a couple of parks with 5 mile trails within 20 minutes of my house. Does Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia have a ton of parks?

They don't call it the Emerald City for nothing. Have a gander - http://www.seattle.gov/parks/listall.asp