Which city is colder during winter: Seattle or Chicago?
Chicago, hands down. In Seattle, it rarely gets below freezing for the vast majority of the winter.Seattle Average Monthly Lows (not factoring in wind chill):December: 36FJanuary: 37FFebruary: 39FChicago Average Monthly Lows (not factoring in wind chill):December: 20FJanuary: 14FFebruary: 19FRef: Seattle Monthly Averages and RecordsWant the Average Monthly Temperatures for Chicago? See This
What is the average winter temperature in Seattle?
The cold months are generally Nov-Feb, with temperatures usually 35-45 degrees. The air tends to be drier though, and the wind chill can make it feel colder, depending on the cloud cover.Daytime temperatures rarely drop below freezing, and even at night, the temperatures never drop below 20 degrees.That being said, the peak of our winters are considerably shorter and milder than the East Coast, and certainly eastern Washington State. Snow falls only a few days each year, and its quite normal to see outdoor temperatures hover around 45-50 in the winter.
What is winter like in Seattle?
Wet, with a side of gray.Beware, the traditional definition of wet does not apply here. When people often think of Seattle as the rainiest city, they neglect to think about how much volume of rain we get. In terms of annual rain amount, it's actually lower than a large portion of the USA. The difference is, we just get a little bit of rain every day (most every, not literally every) throughout the winter.This also holds true for the sun. The majority of days are gray. The sun creeps out in the afternoon sometimes, and occasionally we'll have a sunny day from start to finish.Temperatures get as cold as the upper 30s, sometimes down to the 20s. The 0.2% design temperature for heating is actually 21F in Seattle, so that's only 16 hours that will likely be colder than that.
How long does "winter" last in Seattle?
It's usually from november to february. But, depending on the weather/climate of other places both north and south, our season can be effected. In february, for example, it is normal any given year for us to receive snow or to experience 65 degree sunny days. It all depends on the year. This year has been a sunny one, little rain except the rare shower or two. Our spring is usually from march to mid june. And, summer is june to beginning of september, and fall depends on the year again. Sometimes it starts to get colder at the end of august, and some years it's still warm at the beginning of october. But, usually it's from about the second week in september to the beginning of november. Rain is most common between october to january. But, if we are having a bad weather year, there can be lots of overcast and showers all the way through march off and on and eventually fading in april.
How many months is winter in Seattle? When does the rain season start and end?
"Rain season"? There isn't a sharp enough start or stop to the months of rainfall to call it a season.Here is a chart of monthly rainy days:Here is a chart of sunhour totals by month:Here are the same for London, UKSo there is a very clear summer, compared to London. But there is no sharp "rainy season". For comparison, look at the rainfall averages for Mexico City:Now that is a rainy season.
Is Seattle a good city to raise a family? Is it very cold in the winter?
Hi, been here since 1999. Have a 3rd grader.Seattle is a great area to raise a family. I myself might suggest looking outside the city limits to live (Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, etc), as the cost of houses will be less, and the school systems smaller and more manageable (and I think better).There is a lot of culture (museums, the arts, park, nature, etc) and lots of activities and things to do.It is not cold here in the winter. On average get one good snow storm per winter. Otherwise, pretty temperate.Weather-wise, you do get a long, gray, rainy season from October thru May, though. Be aware. It can be depressing. Locals don’t notice it as much as we transplants.
Is Seattle cold?
Cold or not, it's subjective. Seattle's winter is not too cold to me. It falls below 32F only several days every year. In my five years in Seattle, only a handful days in winter it was 20 something. Seattle's summer is cold. Cold in a good way. I like it that I sweat a lot less in summer in Seattle than in my home town, Shanghai, China. In Seattle, I don't need air conditioning. Nights are quite chilly in summer. Temperature drops to 60 something sometime.Overall, I feel Seattle's weather very mild and comfortable to live in. Rain doesn't bother me too much, and to be fair, rain isn't too bad here. I would recommend to read what Steven Sinofsky wrote about Seattle's weather: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/techtalk...
Why is Seattle cold?
This question presumes there is an absolute measure for “cold” and that Seattle falls below it. In point of fact, what temperature and conditions are seen as “cold” vary widely from person to person. In my experience, folks from the south and from California feel Seattle is cold. I grew up in the Midwest and find Seattle to be fairly moderate - rarely below freezing, which is my personal measure of “cold”.Still, Seattle is cooler than the southern areas of the 48 contiguous United States and that is so for a couple reasons.First, Seattle is at a northerly latitude. Much further north, in fact, than every other major city in the 48 contiguous United States. Seattle is north of Boston, New York City, Chicago and even Minneapolis/St. Paul. Seattle is north of several Canadian cities as well including Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.What that means is that Seattle gets a lot less sun in the winter and that sun is very attenuated (weak). So it’s not surprising that Seattle is cool in the winter. What is surprising is how warm Seattle is in the winter. Boston’s mean temperature in January is 29 F. Minneapolis is at 18 F. Seattle, by contrast, has a mean temperature of 40 F. Well above freezing.This is due to Seattle’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean which acts as a moderator to Seattle’s temperatures - warming Seattle in the winter and cooling it in the summer. And providing clouds and moisture throughout the year.So the second reason Seattle is perceived as “cold” to some is the cooling effects of the Pacific ocean and its steady supply of cool, moist air during the fall, winter and spring months.One last reason is that moist air Seattle gets. 45 degrees is not that cold to many of us. But the moistness in the air during the cool winter months does make the air feel even cooler. Similar to the wind chill effect in other places.