2025.11.06 Article: RAIN DEFINES SEATTLE’S RHYTHM AS ANOTHER WET SEASON BEGINS

As autumn settles over the Pacific Northwest, Seattle enters its familiar cycle of mist, drizzle, and slate-gray skies — a seasonal shift so characteristic that it has become both a cultural symbol and a scientific point of interest. While the city’s reputation for constant downpours is exaggerated, Seattle’s rainy climate remains one of its defining features, shaping everything from commutes to local identity.

Meteorologists note that Seattle averages around 150 days of measurable precipitation per year, though much of it falls as light, steady drizzle rather than intense storms. “Seattle’s rainfall is less about volume and more about duration,” one climatologist explained. “It’s the persistence of wet weather that stands out, not how hard it falls.”

Despite its reputation, Seattle receives less annual rainfall than many East Coast cities, including New York and Miami. What sets it apart is the cloud cover — more than 220 overcast days per year — giving the city its moody atmosphere and famously soft light.

As the rainy season stretches ahead, forecasters expect the typical mix of showers, mild temperatures, and long stretches of gray sky. And for Seattleites, that means settling back into the familiar cadence of life under the clouds — a climate as much a symbol of the city as its skyline or its coffee shops.

Yet the city’s rainy image, some argue, inspires a sense of cozy resilience. In neighborhoods from Ballard to Capitol Hill, people continue their routines undeterred: cyclists pedal through misty bike lanes, ferries cut through fog across Elliott Bay, and crowds gather at farmers markets under tarps and awnings.