Having spent all but the last seven weeks of my life living in a desert climate I can’t by any means begin to call myself an expert on the weather along the Oregon coast. In fact, people often laugh when I tell them I love the weather in Seaside. They say, “just wait!”
I oblige and admit that I’ve moved to Seaside at the most opportune time, the summer season. But that’s what makes it so great. For well over 30 years, weather in the summer for me meant many days with temperatures in the 90s and trying to find a cool place to get out of the heat. Don’t get me wrong, a warmer climate has its advantages. If you like shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops and the extra perspiration that comes from extreme heat from 9 a.m. until well after the sun goes down for a solid three months, then the desert is a great place. It rarely rains, thunderstorms happen, but by and large it includes days of conversation that center around, “boy it sure is hot today.”
Anywhere you live, the conversation nearly always centers on the weather. It’s too hot, or it’s too cold. We complain about how cold it is and can’t wait for summer to get here but then when summer gets here we find ourselves longing for something a little cooler. April and October have always been my favorite months because the seasons change and temperatures find their way into the 60s. Pure bliss if you ask me. It means I can wear shorts, t-shirts, hoodies, jeans and well, basically anything that fits.
So I often imagined life in a place where the weather was fairly similar throughout the calendar year. It’s difficult, right? I mean how many places on this great big earth of ours can say the mercury stays between 40 and 70 degrees 12 months a year. I don’t have the answer, but I love weather and I know from watching the temperature maps on tv and in the newspaper that there aren’t many.
Seaside, I’ve been told and experienced so far, fits that billing. And you can analyze the historical temps to see just that. Sure it will have extremes. We had a 95 degree day in Seaside my third week here. And I’ve seen pictures with a few inches of snow on the ground. But my short life in Seaside during the months of June and July have been just what I dreamed a perfect weather life could consist of… shorts, t-shirts, hoodies, jeans and even a sun tan.
But what I really enjoy is the overcast mornings where a fresh rain shower has cleaned the air and walking outside is as peaceful and calming as those April and October days that only come a few times a year, at least where I’m used to living. Now I get those days during actual summer months. Yes, the rains will come and that’s when I’ll get to experience storm watching at its finest… another fascinating weather phenomenon I’ll be excited to write about.
