Do you feel as if you are living in a gray haze? Feeling like like it’s been raining forever?
Well, you’re not crazy. One look at the www.northbendweather.com and you can feel a wet, gray reality staring right back at you.
This might sum it up: Today is October 27th and so far there has been only one day this month without measurable rainfall according to North Bend Weather.
Yup, and folks in Seattle are complaining about the rain. Give me a break. They’re still over four inches behind the Snoqualmie Valley for total October rainfall… and people think Seattleites are the rain pros. Not even close – Snoqualmie Valley all the way.
Local weather forecasters are hedging bets on whether Seattle will have it’s wettest October ever – getting to over 8 inches of rain. Heck, we hit that a week ago and have had five days this month with more than an inch of rain. As of now, we’re over 13″ for the month and 53″ for the year.
It’s not a new rainy weather phenomenon either – one that apparently hadn’t caught my attention over the past 15 years of living in the Valley. I was born and raised in the Seattle area so I guess I am just used to rain and gray during the late fall and winter months – so what’s a little more?
Seriously, though. I knew it rained a little bit more in the Snoqualmie Valley, but not this much more. I guess you learn something new everyday.
Seattle averages about 37″ of rain per year. In the Snoqualmie/North Bend area it’s about 60 inches. Seattle sometimes catches the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, while often times we’re just a bit too far east for the shadow to reach. Also to thank are the mountains we sit near – for squeezing out every last drop of rain on us while they block the clouds for Eastern Washington.
There are trade offs, though. We get warmer in the summer and colder in the winter – more sunny days and more snowy days. So I will sit here and dream of sunshine and hope for snow while I watch the rain continually pouring down.
As far as the rest of October goes? A chance of rain each and every day. Is a sunbreak too much to hope for?
Stay dry Snoqualmie Valley – and I still love where I live!
