Seattle Washington Climate Overview
Seattle is the largest city in Washington State. It has a warm, temperate oceanic climate (Köppen climatic classification Cfb) with cool, wet winters and mild, mostly dry summers.
Nestled between the majestic Olympic and Cascade Mountains, the Seattle area in the lowlands of Puget Sound is widely known for being one of the cloudiest regions in the United States. The climate of this Pacific Northwest metropolis is further shaped by the arid winds from the Cascade Mountains and Fraser Valley.
Summertime temperatures range from 68°F (20°C) to 73.4°F (23°C), are pleasant and moderately dry, and have a tolerable average humidity of 66.1%. The summer season is made more enjoyable by the gorgeous blue skies, little rain, and lengthy daylight hours of up to sixteen hours.
Seattle experiences chilly, rainy winters. The rain gauge gathers about 5.8 inches (147mm) of rain on the average of 18 days per month when it rains. Snowfall of up to 1.7 inches (43mm) is not unusual mainly in December and February. The season’s average humidity is 79%, and there are typically two hours of sunshine per day.
Spring and fall have mildly cold weather and only a little bit of rain. The sky stays mostly cloudy, but most days are warm and sunny, and pleasant.
When Is The Rainy Season In Seattle?
The rainy season in Seattle lasts from October to March, with November typically being the wettest month. However, precipitation is distributed fairly evenly throughout the winter and early spring months, with an average of 18.4 rainy days and more than 75% of the annual precipitation occurring during the winter wet season.
Seattle’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s coast is to blame for this type of weather. The largest ocean in the world transports a substantial amount of moisture over the Olympic Mountain range to the state of Washington. When it reaches the mountains, the cool air transforms the vaporized moisture from the Pacific into raindrops.
In fact, the Olympic Mountains are covered by a rain shadow as a result of this process, acting as a sort of wall between the city and the sea. This implies that Seattle would experience year-round rainfall that is significantly heavier if the mountains weren’t there.
Seattle Rain By Month
The monthly rainfall in Seattle varies greatly throughout the year. The table below clearly shows the change in average temperature as well as average rainfall over the months of the year in Seattle.
