When it Rains It Pours

Here in Western Washington when it rains it pours; however, most of the time it drizzles.

Depend where you are the amount of rain can differ from one city to another. With some research I was surprised how much more annual rainfall we have in Gig Harbor than Seattle. The difference isn’t just an inch or two the average rainfall in Gig Harbor is six inches more per year than Seattle. I am surprised by that number because I figured we got about the same amount of rain.

Seattle’s rainfall average is about the same as the national average which thirty-seven inches per year while Gig Harbor is forty-three inches per year. The rainfall in November is about the same in both places around six and half inches. The amount of rain in December is about the same in both Gig Harbor around five and half inches but January is higher in Gig Harbor than Seattle. Seattle’s rainfall is the same in January as December while Gig Harbor is an inch and half more rain at around seven inches. These three months make up about half the years rainfall. The difference of rainfall between Gig Harbor and Seattle are in February, March, and April where Gig Harbor has just over an inch more rain each of those months. So we can say here in Gig Harbor when it rains it pours but not necessarily in Seattle. What makes it all interesting we are only thirty miles south and west of Seattle.

Doing a little more research I found that Tacoma which is only four or five miles east of Gig Harbor has two inches more of average rainfall than Seattle but is still getting four inches less than Gig Harbor.

I am really sure you find this all very interesting; however, I did a little more research and found that Bremerton which is twenty miles north of Gig Harbor so it is closer than Seattle has thirteen more inches of rain than Gig Harbor. Other words they are in rain belt for sure. The thing about Bremerton is that they are closer to the Olympic Rain Forest than we are in Gig Harbor.

When I was growing up our family frequently drove a lot to Bellingham and Vancouver, British Columbia. I thought it always rained in Everett; however, they have an average rainfall one inch less than Seattle. So you see we have more rain Gig Harbor which boggles my mind. Bellingham has about the same average as Everett; however, Darrington which is north and then east of Everett so it is in the Cascade Mountains has more than twice as much rain as Everett. Being near the mountains it makes a lot sense. I found other cities in the state that have less rain then I thought they would; however, they have more snow then rainfall. Here in Gig Harbor we don’t get a lot of snow. Actually Port Orchard which is about half way between Gig Harbor and Bremerton gets a lot more snow then we do.

So I see that when Seattle is drizzling we may be pouring and when we drizzle Seattle may not be having any rain at all. This all brings me back to when I was a kid waiting for the school bus. I had to wear quite the rain jacket otherwise I would get soaked. In elementary school our bus would go past our house, my brother Jack and I would look out the window to see when to catch the bus on its return. When the bus would go by the first time we would start out to catch it as the return was about ten minutes. This was very important so we would not get so wet and not stand outside so long. There were days we didn’t take the bus to school because our dad would drive us to school that was on his route to work in Tacoma. In seventh and eighth grade my mother would leave me off at the junior high on her way to her school in Tacoma. In those two years I walked home from school because the bus took a longer route so I get home a lot sooner walking. High School though I had to ride the bus all the time because it was not on the route for either my parents. I had to walk about a quarter mile to catch the bus so I really had to have a good rain jacket. When I got my driver’s license though I was able to drive to school sometimes; I usually drove when it rain because I had to pay for my own gas. Nice days I still took the bus primarily because of the pretty girls. I never thought about asking one of them if they wanted a ride to school. What was wrong with me? Actually I was shy around girls was the problem.

So what I found though it pours when it rains in Gig Harbor; most likely not doing the same in Seattle. Also, depending where you are in Western Washington the amount of rain can be different.

One thing I can count on the rest of November is that we will be getting more pouring rain. You can count to that I will not be going out with an umbrella. You see most people don’t use umbrellas here. Those who do are those dressed in business attire, and not native to Western Washington. Whether you have rain or not stay safe.