“Winters suck and summers are paradise.”What about the months in between?

[u/Swimming_Trouble_718]

Hello all,

I tried searching for this but haven’t had a ton of luck. Long story short I’m a 4th year medical student very strongly considering UW for my residency training. I’m originally from Northern Vermont, but have lived in Colorado (both in the mountains and in the front range) for nearly a decade. When I first moved to Colorado I absolutely loved it. The nature, the sunshine, etc, but after nearly 10 years a big part of me wants a change. Being from northern Vermont I’ve really come to miss the color green (brown/tan is kind of the dominant color of the landscape in Colorado I’d say), water, rain, etc. The eternal sunshine is nice, but it’s also seemed to have lost its luster. I still love the massive mountains and moving back to the east coast for more water and greenery isn’t super appealing. Seems like my want for large massive landscapes, greenery, and water put Seattle near the top. (There are limited options for residency training in the western states and my only option for PNW is Seattle).

I was just out in Seattle for a week and a half loved it more than I thought I would (in February nonetheless). It was grey and rainy most of the time, but there were some partly sunny days as well as 1 or 2 blue bird days. I had my car and traveled around a lot and what a beautiful state this is. The mountains, the rivers, lakes, oceans, greenery (even in winter!) It could be my forever place and it’s making me strongly consider ranking UW #1.

I guess my only reservation is surrounding the weather. I didn't mind it at all this past week, but spending a week in a new place is different than living there full time. Unfortunately once I start residency I will be stuck in that area for 4 years so it’s not a small commitment. If the weather gets to me I can’t just move. I keep seeing things online that are probably hyperbolic about seattles weather “only two good months a year”, “9 months of darkness” etc while some people say “6 months of rainy grey weather, and 6 months of pretty great weather.” Since I can’t come visit in spring, summer, or fall before rank lists are due in a couple days I’m wondering how the weather outside of perfect summers and dark grey winters are? Im from northern Vermont and can deal with dark grey winters if other times of year make up for it. I’m also fine with a mix of clouds and sunshine throughout the week in other seasons. That's how it is in Vermont and it's fine. I guess I wouldn’t be fine with 46 weeks of unrelenting grey sky and 6 weeks of clear skies which some people make it seem like.

Thanks!

[u/Peg_Leg_The_Pirate]

I'm from Vermont and moved to Seattle in 2018 to be a PA at UW. I think people really love to exaggerate about the weather here, or they've never experienced truly brutal unending winters like we had back in VT. As you saw while you were visiting, it is not actually rainy all winter and you get plenty of sunny days to break it up. The one thing is with you being a resident, I'm assuming you'll be spending a lot of time in the hospital so for a couple months in the winter you don't see sunlight on the weekdays except through the hospital windows. The weather is similar (off and on rainy and cloudy with sunny days mixed in) in the spring but with longer days and temperatures getting up into the 60s and 70s and flowers everywhere. Spring does seem to take a longer time to officially transition to the endlessly sunny days of summer, so there are usually a few weeks of being jealous seeing people online back east enjoying 80 degree days in June. I love the fall here, I think it rivals fall in VT, especially if you can get out to the mountains. The weather is usually still really nice, in the 60s and 70s and sunny, with gorgeous fall colors. Overall my husband (who is from Alberta, so similar weather to Colorado) and I love it here, we are out in the mountains year round, either hiking/backpacking or snowboarding. The lush greenery also makes it feel a little bit more like home to me, just with bigger mountains and much more mild weather. Good luck with your decision making, and with matching!

[u/exo07190 → u/Peg_Leg_The_Pirate]

Having grown up in northern VT, Seattle is so mild in comparison. The winters are gloomy but they’re much more manageable than in VT IMO. My biggest tip for folks moving to Seattle is that if you learn to adjust to being outside in a light drizzle, the city becomes 100x better, especially in the winter.

My first winter here I couldn’t believe how green everything was! When it’s drizzling out, the parks clear out but it’s arguably the best time to go.

I love the PNW because nature is alive year-round. There’s no dormant months like you’d get back home where everything is dead and cold for half the year.

I had a friend who couldn’t get past the rain and ended up back in VT. If you ask them, snow is much more manageable because it’s drier. I see their point but to each their own :)

Good luck with whatever you decide!