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You may not deal with tropical cyclones, but please understand that where you live the weather can become quite violent. https://www.climate.washington.edu/sto

You may not deal with tropical cyclones, but please understand that where you live the weather can become quite violent. https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day_Storm_of_1962 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day_Storm_of_1962 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_windstorm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_windstorm

Diederich 6y ago
Thanks for these, I was aware after researching (for years!) places where we'd want our 'forever home'. Above, I specifically called out something you can't generally build for, which is flooding. Flooding comes either from water running down hill or from below, due to rising bodies of water. Our house is at the top of a very shallow rise/'hill', so we don't have to worry about the former. That we're more than 100 feet above any relevant body of water protects us from the latter. The other items are generally about high winds, and this house is pretty much proof against that. It was massively over-built. The only thing it could not withstand is a direct hit from a powerful tornado.
Diederich 6y ago
I wasn't aware of https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html great resource, thanks again!
UnpossibleJim 6y ago
No offense, but you're digging back to 1962 to find that weather. I live in the Seattle area, and the worst thing about it is the seasonal depression. Granted, I'm originally from the south eastern US, so I'm used to hurricanes, but this place is a cake walk. There are occasional winds of 15 miles an hour or so, but compared to the majority of the rest of the country, it's fairly isolated from inclement weather phenomenon.
- Diederich 6y ago
  Understand and agree with what you're saying! "Easy weather" was one of the big wins in our decision making process to move here. On the other hand, we're planning on the 70 year time horizon, which is basically reasonable MAX_AGE for our teenage son, so looking many decades back was appropriate for us as well. Further, as more and more energy ends up captured in the atmosphere, we expect rare atmospheric events to become a lot less rare. > it's fairly isolated from inclement weather phenomenon. Indeed, we're loving it, especially given that we generally like cool, wet weather as a baseline.

Diederich 6y ago

Thanks for these, I was aware after researching (for years!) places where we'd want our 'forever home'. Above, I specifically called out something you can't generally build for, which is flooding. Flooding comes either from water running down hill or from below, due to rising bodies of water. Our house is at the top of a very shallow rise/'hill', so we don't have to worry about the former. That we're more than 100 feet above any relevant body of water protects us from the latter. The other items are generally about high winds, and this house is pretty much proof against that. It was massively over-built. The only thing it could not withstand is a direct hit from a powerful tornado.

Diederich 6y ago

I wasn't aware of https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html great resource, thanks again!

UnpossibleJim 6y ago

No offense, but you're digging back to 1962 to find that weather. I live in the Seattle area, and the worst thing about it is the seasonal depression. Granted, I'm originally from the south eastern US, so I'm used to hurricanes, but this place is a cake walk. There are occasional winds of 15 miles an hour or so, but compared to the majority of the rest of the country, it's fairly isolated from inclement weather phenomenon.

Diederich 6y ago
Understand and agree with what you're saying! "Easy weather" was one of the big wins in our decision making process to move here. On the other hand, we're planning on the 70 year time horizon, which is basically reasonable MAX_AGE for our teenage son, so looking many decades back was appropriate for us as well. Further, as more and more energy ends up captured in the atmosphere, we expect rare atmospheric events to become a lot less rare. > it's fairly isolated from inclement weather phenomenon. Indeed, we're loving it, especially given that we generally like cool, wet weather as a baseline.