Tell anyone who lives outside of the Northwest that you live in Seattle, and the response will either be: “Wow, I’ve heard Seattle is great!” or “You all get a ton of rain over there, don’t you?” Obviously, the first statement is completely accurate. The second, however, is a bit farther from the truth.
Contrary to popular belief, Seattle is not the rainiest city in the US. In fact, Seattle doesn’t even enter the list of the top 25 rainiest cities (based on annual rainfall). Houston, New York, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Miami all receive more annual rainfall than Seattle. So why does Seattle have such a rainy reputation? Here’s the bottom line: Although the rain never amounts to much, there is still a very high frequency of rain in the city. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, rain falls an average of 150 days per year in Seattle. Now that’s a lot of time in the rain! Additionally, Seattle experiences an average of 201 fully cloudy days per year and just under 100 partly cloudy days. So it feels like it’s raining, or might rain, or should rain, almost all the time. Hence Seattle’s nickname—Raintown.
Being a Midwesterner, I find the rain in Seattle to be extremely frustrating. I mean, it never really actually rains! It drizzles, it sprinkles, it mists, but it never falls from the sky in the terrific, torrential downpour that characterizes Kansas thunderstorms. And the lack of thunder leads me to believe that Seattle children probably don’t grow up reading Thunder Cake. Sigh.
The high number of rainy days in Seattle has created a very specific “rain gear style” that immediately enables local Seattleites to identify tourists and newcomers. As one of my co-workers put it, “All I have to do to tell a seasoned Seattleite from a newbie is look at their shoes.” Acceptable business causal rain shoes have a sturdy heel, are closed-toe (duh), and made from leather, rubber, or durable weatherized suede. They are ‘practical’ and fashionable in an “I want you to think I bought these at a thrift store but they’re really $100” sort of way. In addition to the “right” shoe, a black/dark raincoat with a reliable hood is a must. Especially on hipster Capitol Hill. I, however, break the norm with my neon white raincoat, pink/yellow scarf, and flowery umbrella. Especially when it’s not sunny for days—why not wear bright colors to lift the mood?
Seattleites are so used to rain that the city will proceed with business as usual, no matter how much rain falls from the sky. People run in the rain, sporting events happen in the rain, markets are open in the rain, picnics aren’t rescheduled due to rain, and the weather is not an acceptable excuse for being late. A few weeks ago my co-worker and I had scheduled a Middle School fieldtrip to a corn maze as a teambuilding activity between foster youth who attend different schools. When the day of the field trip arrived, rain fell from the sky in a constant and disgusting drizzle. I naively assumed that the corn maze would be out of the question, what with the mud and grossness that rain causes. My co-worker laughed when I asked if we were going to reschedule. “Really?” She laughed. “When would we reschedule it for? Because I promise you it will rain that day too.” So we picked up our students and drove to the corn maze and had a tremendous time in the rain. Even though my students were wearing short sleeve shirts and ballerina flats with no socks. One of my students looked at me and asked, “How did you know to wear hiking boots and a raincoat?” I guess they still have a few things to learn from me.
Here's to finding the sunny side even on the cloudiest of days,
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