C'mon, is the weather really that bad?

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Algiz

So today I left the house at 12:30 pm to drive south to Lynnwood. I was on I-5 going through the Everett Flats where it's super wide open, no trees to obscure any light and...

I realized my headlights were on, which means it was so dark today around noon that my car's auto-light sensor turned on the headlights.

People, THAT'S how dark it is here in the winter - it feels like dusk much of the day, and this is not a subjective observation given that the headlight feature that automatically turns on the lights when it starts getting dark...usually toward nightfall...turned on around noon. And that's not driving through the trees. That's through wide open space on the freeway.

Today was a bit darker than usual, but not by much. I've had this happen so often I now look at the headlights to see if they're on. It's become kind of a game, just to see.

I noticed that yesterday at about 3:00 when it seemed almost as dark as night. Still, I find the winter afternoon sun like we had Monday annoying, having to close the blinds on my office windows to be able to see the computer screen, and use sunglasses driving home with more glare from the wet roads.

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by FJhg

This winter so far has been very mild, quite a few sunny days in December even which I don't remember so much in the six years I've lived here. Will be really great if we start seeing warming and sun again in February which sometimes happens in a early spring. Depends on the year, couple years ago it was brutal with the record rainfall and length of winter gray. It's nice not having to blast a furnace or AC too much here (at least in a newer well insulated home).

December 2017 had around 10 sunny days in a row which was more than this year. High pressure in winter is rare and doesn't last long, but happens occasionally.

[fluffydelusions]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Wah, Wah, Wah...

Here is a partial list of cities that have less winter daylight than Seattle:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Munich, Germany
Frankfurt , Germany
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
London, England
Liverpool, England
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Copenhagen, Denmark
Oslo, Norway

Are we talking weather or daylight? Cause all the cities are further north and get less daylight in winter than here anyway.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by fluffydelusions

Are we talking weather or daylight? Cause all the cities are further north and get less daylight in winter than here anyway.

You are being too intelligent. I of course, am referring to daylight in the above post, but yes, weather factors in. That said, weather in these areas north of Seattle's latitude is generally as dreary as Seattle. (there may be a few exceptions, such as Calgary/Edmonton), but I digress.)

[dav51lin]

dreary wet cold yes bad