Umbrella or no umbrella, that is the question in Seattle.

I grew up in the Seattle area. All of my formative years, all the way through high school, I lived near Burien, so I have more than a little experience with the weather in Seattle. And in all those years, I never personally owned an umbrella. Ohh, don't get me wrong, my folks had them, but I never owned one, I never used one. 

I just figured it's raining, I'll get wet and when I go indoors, I'll be fine. I went to College in Ellensburg, WA and rain wasn't as big an issue. Wind was the big problem and of course wind is the nemesis of all right-minded umbrella owners.

All of this is a prelude to some interesting research that was done recently. 

According to axios.com,
‘The majority of the 287 readers who responded to Axios Seattle's survey in November (82%) said they own an umbrella — yet only 6% reported using one exclusively when it's wet out. Instead, 60% opt for a rain jacket alone, while 29% prefer to use both.’ 

Well, this makes perfect sense to me. 70% of the rain in Seattle is basically just drizzle. It's not really coming down that hard. Your rain resistant jacket, maybe it's got a hood on it. You pull that Up and you're on your way. 

These days When it's raining out, or snowing for that matter, I find myself grabbing a hat. I didn't used to but as I get older, I have less hair up there to protect my melon so, I'm wearing a hat these days. Especially when there is precipitation to contend with. 

Now I live in Eastern Washington and the kind of rain we have in Eastern Washington is nothing compared to what I used to encounter in Seattle. Sometimes it would rain so hard in Seattle that the water would hit the ground and then it would bounce back up again. I've only seen that in Eastern Washington one or two times in the last 20 years. 

If you own an umbrella, use it, enjoy it, revel in its uniqueness in Eastern Washington because it's not getting used a lot over here and apparently not in Western Washington either. Those Hardy souls born and raised in the Seattle area know how to deal with rainy weather. 

I'll tell you about a place I could have used an umbrella, Ketchikan, Alaska. I found myself in Ketchikan without a rain jacket or an umbrella and got caught in a downpour that made Seattle rain look like a light spring shower. It was raining so hard that just running across the street I got soaked to the skin in less than 3 seconds.  

Yes, I would have been happy for an umbrella on that trip. 

Umbrellas spark debate in rainy Seattle - Axios Seattle
Climate change could turn Seattle into an umbrella city - Axios Seattle
🌂 Your hot takes on umbrellas - Axios Seattle