Located on Puget Sound, and surrounded by water and mountains, Seattle is a vibrant and scenic city offering a wide range of cultural and recreational activities and an active urban lifestyle. The Seattle metropolitan area is home to over 2 million people and is known for its variety of residential neighborhoods, each with its own unique character. In short, Seattle is a wonderful place to live and work!
Seattle enjoys a mild climate throughout the year. Despite its reputation, Seattle has a lower annual rainfall than Boston, New York, Chicago, Houston, or Washington DC. Most of the rain here is light and misty, so you rarely need more than a raincoat, and people are still able to run (and even bike) outside!
Winter
Winter remains temperate with average high temperatures of 47-52 degrees in November through February. Average low temperatures are 36-40 degrees. Given our latitude, in the winter there is considerably less sunlight than in other parts of the country; on the shortest day of the year (the Winter Solstice) the sun rises at 7:55am and sets at about 4:20pm. Getting a sunrise alarm clock can really help with those dark mornings. Although the city of Seattle is notoriously gray and rainy from November to March, the surrounding mountains become a snowy winter wonderland with skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing galore.
Spring and Fall
Seattle’s spring and fall seasons are anybody’s guess! Days can be like summer, like winter, or anywhere in between. Our temperate climate means that the crocuses and cherry trees will start to bloom in late January and February, and warmer days will occur with increasing frequency until summer.
Summer
Seattle’s summer climate has been ranked number one in the nation with its mild temperatures, cool nights, no humidity, and gloriously long days! Summer features an average high temperature of 72 degrees and rarely rises above 85 (although they have been getting hotter in recent years). These magical days of summer seem to last forever, with the early sunrises and late sunsets afforded by Seattle’s northern location. In June, sunrise is usually around 5:12 am, and sunset around 9:10, so daylight can easily last until about 10 pm. Seattle summers are spectacular!