🌧️ Seattle Weather

The truth about Seattle's rain

Seattle has a reputation as one of America's rainiest cities — and the numbers say otherwise. The city receives roughly 37 inches (940 mm) of rain a year, which is actually less than New York (about 47 inches), Boston, Atlanta, or Houston. So why the soggy image? Because Seattle's rain comes in a fundamentally different form: not heavy downpours, but a fine, persistent gray drizzle spread across roughly 150 cloudy days a year. It's the number of damp days, not the depth of the rain, that built the legend.

Why it feels wetter than it is

Seattle sits in a marine climate, squeezed between Puget Sound to the west and the Cascade Range to the east. Moist Pacific air rides in on the prevailing westerlies and gets lifted gently over the terrain, producing low clouds and light rain rather than violent storms. Thunderstorms are genuinely rare here — many years pass with only a handful. The flip side is the famously long "June Gloom" and winter overcast, when the sun can hide for weeks and the short days of December run dark by 4:30 p.m.

The summers are the secret

What locals know — and try to keep quiet — is that mid-July through early September is glorious. The rain all but shuts off, humidity stays low, and highs settle comfortably in the mid-to-upper 70s°F (24–26°C) under clear blue skies, with Mount Rainier on full display. These weeks are some of the most pleasant summer weather anywhere in the country, which is exactly why so many people move here after visiting in August and are surprised by their first November.

When Seattle does see extremes

Mild as it usually is, Seattle isn't immune to drama. The June 2021 "heat dome" pushed the city to an astonishing all-time record of 108°F (42°C) — in a place where most homes have no air conditioning. Winter occasionally delivers a paralyzing snowfall when cold air slips down from the Fraser Valley, and powerful atmospheric rivers can dump heavy rain that triggers regional flooding and mudslides. Late summer now brings a newer hazard: wildfire smoke drifting in from fires across the Cascades and British Columbia, turning skies orange and air quality hazardous for days at a time.