Pacific Northwest in early December

[Tickla]

Can anyone tell me what a family vacation to here would be like this time of year? We are interested in Seattle and the Olympic National Park area as well as coastal Oregon. Is is a bad time for an enjoyable vacation? (weather, things to do that time of year, etc.) Thanks for any info

 

[dizluvah]

winter in washington = rain

If you want a gorgeous time of year in Seattle - I suggest August.

(I lived in Puget Sound area for 4 years....)

 

[Silent1CB]

You would be enjoying the Hoh Rain Forest in the rain. Rain doesn't stop the locals from enjoying their outdoors however. Wear raingear, but leave the umbrella at home. You'll look like a tourist if you use an umbrella.

Of course, clouds will impair any views you wish to see from Hurricane Ridge.

Summer is the drier months.

http://www.seattletravel.com/seattleweather.html

 

[honugirl]

Seattle has lots to do as does the Oregon coast. But, you'll be doing it in the rain. It'll be freezing or close to freezing up here.

What exactly are you looking to do? If you're looking to go camping or hiking, no, not a good time to do it. But if you like to ski, we've got lots of places to do that. Seattle has the science museum and the experience music project and some other stuff. Seaside and Newport on the Oregon coast probably have the most for kids to do that time of year.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Another vote for touring the Pacific Northwest in the drier months. I live in Seattle, and I wouldn't choose to be here in December, if I had the choice. December will be cold and rainy (and can often be below freezing, which makes getting around MISERABLE - the city does not handle snow and ice well at all) and many parts of the Olympic National Park will be impassable. We've done the coastal parts of the park in February (in the rain, of course) and there is a bit of hiking that you can do in the Hoh rain forest area and on the northern edge of the park, but most of the park roads and a lot of the park facilities can be closed that time of year, depending on the weather. We were lucky enough to get up to Hurricane Ridge on that trip, but it was just pure luck that the roads were passable.

Pretty much all of the Cascade Mountain (the mountain range east of Seattle) parks are closed in December unless you're heading out to the ski parks.

As for city attractions, they are pretty well all open, but with reduced hours. And again, you will be touring in the rain with 40 degree temps, as an almost guarantee. The nice thing is that you won't encounter the same crowds and lines that you would in the summer during tourist season. The Seattle Center attractions (Experience Music Project, Pacific Science Center, the monorail, the Space Needle) are all pretty good and within a stones throw of each other. There are also Christmas events going on all December at the Seattle Center (skating, Christmas displays and concerts, pagents, etc.) and they are a nice diversion - I live about a 15 minute walk from the Space Needle and I love to take my dogs walking at the Seattle Center on Saturday afternoons at that time of year to get a cup of hot chocolate and soak in all the Christmas cheer.

And lastly, the Oregon coast is BEAUTIFUL, but I wouldn't choose to do it in the winter. You won't get the same views as you would in the sun, and walking around in the rain all day is pretty miserable.

Anyway, I love this part of the country, but I think there are better times to see it. Seattle itself is pretty desolate and gray in the winter and the really gorgeous mountain national parks (Mount Rainier, Mount St Helens, the Olympic National Park) are nearly entirely closed and snowbound for most of the winter. You can definitely see the cities and the coastal areas, but make sure to pack your umbrella.

 

[teacherlisa1978]

I totally agree with everyone else-I'm a lifelong Seattlelite and love, love, love living here but I would not encourage anyone to take a vacation here in early December. It will be cold and rainy and if it snows, good luck-the city shuts down (in our defense, we have serious HILLS here and you simply cannot drive on many of them).

As far as the coasts-both OR and WA coasts are two of my favorite vacation spots and DH and I hope to retire to a condo in one or the other some day. But we realize that most of the fall, winter, and spring we'll want to be snuggly inside watching the storms, not outside trying to enjoy the beach. The thing is, when it rains here, it tends to rain all day, so you're probably not going to get a 'break' when you can go take a quick walk on the beach-and it will most likely be windy.

Don't want to seem so negative-this is a beautiful place to live and visit but May-Sept and even October are such better times to come! If you're not worried about kids in school then I'd say early-mid September after Labor Day. The weather is usually great and most tourists will be gone.

 

[remfam5]

Sorry Seattle, but I must say that Oregon weather isn't nearly as wet.
We live in Portland and go to the Oregon coast every year at Thanksgiving or Christmas. EVERY year we have had beautiful coastal weather! Now by coastal weather, I mean: it can be windy, temps have been around 45-55 degrees, the sun has been brightly shining, but there has been drizzly, overcast rain too.
We always rent a beach house for 4 days and always have 2 (or more) good days of sun.

All the way up and down the coast, there are things to do in all the little towns.
*Newport has a nice aquarium. Don't miss the Devil's Punch Bowl north of Newport, it's pretty cool.
*Depoe Bay has some fun "beachy" shops.
*Lincoln city has yummy restaurants, great community pool and outlet mall
*Pacific city has our favorite place to eat, the Pelican. and a HUGE sand dune to climb right on the beach.
*Tillamook has the Tillamook Creamery where you can go on a tour to see how they make their famous cheese and get some yummy ice cream or fudge.
*Seaside has fun little shops and beach.
*Astoria- fun to explore Fort Stevens

Just a few suggestions.

I don't know how to post photos on the Dis, but we DO have sunny pics!

 

[MyManGoofy!]

I had to attend a training seminar in Seattle for 3 weeks from Dec 1 to Dec 20th a few years ago. It was very cold and rainy. I do not think the sun came out the entire time I was there. Most of the things we found to do on our down time seemed to involve shopping because it was indoors. But I will tell you - I would love to go back anytime - December or May. Met some really wonderful people there and the area itself is very beautiful.

Reading back over this - I am not sure how it will help you - but it is my 2 cents!!

 

[RadioNate]

Rainy and cold.

I spent 2 weeks in Oregon this past December. I think we had 3-4 nice days. 45-50 degrees and mostly sunny.

The rest were rainy cold and miserable. We even got snowed in for 2 days because it was too nasty to drive anywhere. My inlaws live up a big hill and it was too dangerous to drive down.

There is no way I'd want to do an outdoor vacation there in December.

Summer is beautiful. I think July-September is ideal.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Sorry Seattle, but I must say that Oregon weather isn't nearly as wet.
We live in Portland and go to the Oregon coast every year at Thanksgiving or Christmas. EVERY year we have had beautiful coastal weather!

It's true that there are places that aren't as wet and that we do get stretches of dry weather in the winter (we had two weeks of BEAUTIFUL sun here in Seattle in December this year with no rain!)..... however, if someone had never been to the Pacific Northwest and this could possibly be their only trip, would you seriously advise them to go in December? It's one thing if you live in the Pacific Northwest - DH and I drive down the Oregon coast and up through the Olympic peninsula in the winter all the time. We've had some fantastic weather and some great sun... we've also cowered in the car all day because of the rain and cold.

You're right that it could be nice and they could have fantastic weather for their entire trip.... but it could also be raining slush. I wouldn't take the chance for my first (and possibly only!) trip to the Pacific Northwest. I would go in the summer, when the sun will be shining (we only got 3 days of rain in Seattle from Memorial Day to Labor Day, last year!), the National Parks will be open, and you can really enjoy the beautiful coast.

 

[bumbershoot]

Dark (by 5), cold, and rainy. Sure there are exceptions (to cold and rainy) but it's better to expect cold and rainy.

 

[phragmipedium]

It might be cold and rainy, though fairly mildly cold. It also might be nice. I think December is a good time for whale watching on the coast and coastal storms are fun too! I wouldn't specifically plan an extended trip just to the Oregon Coast for December if it's the only time you might make it, but if you just want to see more of the area while you're already around for other reasons, I think it'd be worth a visit. It's just not going to be a representation of what it's like most of the year, and you may not have a lot of comfortable beachcombing time.

 

[Tickla]

Wow thanks so much for all the help! I think it's clear that I should find another area for our family vacation. I will have to try very hard to find a way to get my kids out there in the summer-they want to go there so bad! (as do my husband and I). We always take our vacations in early December because for work reasons it's harder to do other times of the year. Dang, but a HUGE thanks to all of you-it could have been a disaster

 

[RangerPooh]

I lived on the WA coast for a few years (Ocean Shores) and the winters there are miserable! Hurricane force winds (when we built our house we had to make it withstand winds of up to 100 MPH!) during many of the storms, rain, lack of daytime as it starts to get dark around 4:30. We did hike around the Hoh Rain Forest during the winter months but we were prepared for rain. Also depending on where oyu want to go there might be closures due to snow. Mt. Rainier NP can close as can Olympic NP. Even the highway passes to the east side of the state can close due to snow.

While I love WA and am eagerly anticipating our move back to eastern WA this summer, I would suggest taking a trip there in late spring, summer, or early fall.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

It sounds like you've changed your minds about the NW for December and I think it's a great choice!

If you want to come here, the best months are June and September imo, June being the better of the 2. We get rain about 8-9 months out of the year but during the summer, it's rare that we see a drop of rain which is why I think June is better, less dead grass around .

Summers here are very moderate. I think it's around 20-30% humidity with an average of 81 degrees.

One thing I'd like to make sure you know OP, or anyone else, our beaches are not warm. It's rare, even in the summer (less rare) that the beach could be considered hot and the water is definitely NOT warm at all. It's swimmable for crazies like me but most people opt out of doing so. Just a little warning. If you stay at a beach house, get one with a pool if your desires are to swim. The beaches are absolutely gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but they're just cold.

Oh yeah, and if you're a Twilight fan, Ecola State Park is where that surf scene in Twilight was filmed.