Hi Katie. We moved here from Michigan, so we were used to cold (mostly grey) winters before moving to Seattle. Here the winters stay mild. Most days were in the 40s this past winter, so that was a welcome relief. The few days where snow did fall it pretty much closed everything down and no one left their homes. The hills and lack of infrastructure to handle big snow storms here makes it interesting when it snows. There were only about 5 days of real snow all winter (which I’m told is more than usual) and it melted in a day or two. If you like snow, though, the mountains get plenty of it and aren’t far away at all.

It definitely does rain here in the winter, but the rain here isn’t like it is in the Midwest. In Michigan rain general meant if you were outside without an umbrella for more than a few minutes you got pretty wet. Here, it’s more of a mist than a rain most days and umbrellas are only for “transplants” and tourists. Overall I’d say the winters are more tolerable here than Michigan.