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The Best Time to Visit Seattle

Seattle has a stronger dry season than its reputation suggests. From July to early September it barely rains at all, days run to a comfortable 24°C and the sun sets close to 10pm. The rest of the year it does earn the reputation, though the rain is persistent drizzle rather than downpours, which is why locals genuinely do not carry umbrellas.

See hotels in SeattleLive prices for your dates
By Alice5 min readPublished
Table of contents
The Seattle skyline with Mount Rainier behind and a ferry crossing Puget Sound
Photo: SounderBruce · CC BY-SA 4.0

In Brief

When is the best time to visit Seattle?

July and August are the best time to visit Seattle - reliably dry and sunny at around 24°C, with daylight until nearly 10pm and Mount Rainier visible most days. September is the value pick, holding summer warmth as crowds and prices drop. November through February is cheapest, with the grey drizzle Seattle is known for. Late March to April brings cherry blossom at the University of Washington quad.

Key takeaways

  • July and August are the dry season - Seattle gets very little rain then, contrary to its reputation.
  • September keeps much of the summer weather while hotel rates and crowds fall away.
  • Winter rain is persistent drizzle rather than heavy downpours, which is why locals skip umbrellas.
  • Mount Rainier is only visible on clear days; summer gives you by far the best odds.

Best time to go

July-September

Cheapest time

November-February

When to avoid

November-January for weather

Seattle climate at a glance

Avg daytime high (°C / °F) · rainfall · season
Peak seasonGreatShoulder / valueOff-peakmore drops = wetter
  • 8°46°F
    Jan
  • 9°48°F
    Feb
  • 12°54°F
    Mar
  • 14°57°F
    Apr
  • 18°64°F
    May
  • 21°70°F
    Jun
  • 24°75°F
    Jul
  • 25°77°F
    Aug
  • 21°70°F
    Sep
  • 15°59°F
    Oct
  • 11°52°F
    Nov
  • 8°46°F
    Dec

Find your month

Every month in Seattle is rated for weather, crowds and price. Drag the slider to find your sweet spot - the greener the month, the better value the trip.

Sweet spot - best value

Cheapest window: November-February

February: $ · Low crowds · 9°C, cool, wet

See February hotels
Flights to SeattleCompare fares for your month on Trip.comHotels in SeattleBook earlier for peak-season datesThings to doTours & tickets in Seattle

Seattle month by month

Every month rated for weather, crowds and price, so you can match the trip to the month.

Peak seasonGreatShoulder / valueOff-peak
MonthWeatherCrowdsPriceWhat it's like
Jan8°C, cold, wetLow$Wettest, darkest stretch of the year and the cheapest. Good for Pike Place, museums and coffee culture.
Feb9°C, cool, wetLow$Still grey and damp but the days lengthen quickly. Low hotel rates and no queues anywhere.
Mar12°C, cool, showersLow$$Spring stirs and cherry blossom usually starts late in the month at the University of Washington quad.
Apr14°C, mild, showersModerate$$Blossom peaks, tulip fields bloom an hour north in the Skagit Valley, and the rain begins to ease.
May18°C, mild, drierModerate$$The dry season begins. Long pleasant days, green everywhere, and prices still below summer peak.
Jun21°C, warm, mostly dryHigh$$$Often starts grey - locals call it June gloom - then clears. Long days and the ferries and islands open up.
Jul24°C, warm, dryPeak$$$The driest and sunniest month, daylight to almost 10pm and Rainier out most days. Peak prices.
Aug25°C, warm, dryPeak$$$Warmest month and reliably dry. Occasional wildfire haze from the wider region can dull the views.
Sep21°C, mild, dryModerate$$The value sweet spot - summer weather holds, crowds disperse after Labor Day and rates drop noticeably.
Oct15°C, cool, wetterLow$$Autumn colour in the parks and few visitors, though the rain returns properly through the month.
Nov11°C, cold, wetLow$The wettest month, dark by mid-afternoon. Cheap, and the indoor city - markets, music, coffee - carries it.
Dec8°C, cold, wetModerate$$Wet and dark, but the holiday markets, lights and Pike Place at Christmas give the month real charm.

When to book Seattle

On the table above, Jan, Feb and Nov sit in the bottom price band and Jun, Jul and Aug in the top one. Find the row that sounds like your trip.

Booking windows for Seattle, by what the traveller wants
If you wantMonthsWhy
The best trip for the moneyApr, May and OctRated good above without hitting the top price band, so you are not paying peak rates for the conditions.
The lowest price, whatever the weatherJan, Feb and NovThe bottom price band. Check the weather column first, because some of these are cheap for a reason.
Peak season anywayJul, Aug and SepBusiest and dearest. This is the window where booking early changes the price, not just what is left.
To know what to skipJan and NovRated off-peak here. The low price is the compensation, not a bargain.
Check Seattle hotel pricesSee what Apr, May and Oct actually costs for your dates
  • Free cancellation on most rooms
  • No booking fee
  • Prices on Trip.com

Time it right: Seattle's seasonal highlights

  • Cherry blossom at the UW Quad in Seattle

    Cherry blossom at the UW Quad

    Late March-early April

    Around thirty Yoshino cherry trees bloom for roughly two weeks on the University of Washington campus - the city's spring set piece.

  • Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Seattle

    Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

    April

    Commercial tulip fields an hour north of the city bloom through April, a Dutch-scale display most visitors do not expect in Washington.

  • Seafair in Seattle

    Seafair

    July-August

    A summer-long festival of hydroplane races, an air show over Lake Washington and neighbourhood parades - peak Seattle summer.

  • Dry season and Rainier views

    July-September

    The reliably dry months, when Mount Rainier is visible most days and the ferry trips and island hopping are at their best.

Best time to visit Seattle: FAQ

The timing questions travelers ask most before booking.

July or August if you want the weather, September if you want value. July and August are Seattle's dry season - genuinely sunny, around 24-25°C, with daylight until nearly 10pm and Mount Rainier visible most days - and they are also the busiest and priciest. September holds most of that weather while crowds disperse after Labor Day and hotel rates fall, which makes it the best-value month of the year and the one locals tend to recommend.

Less than the reputation suggests, and differently. Seattle gets fewer inches of annual rain than New York or Miami; what it has is far more rainy days, and the rain is persistent light drizzle rather than heavy downpours. That is why locals genuinely do not carry umbrellas - a hooded jacket handles it. The wet season runs roughly October to May, with November the worst. July through September is reliably dry, which surprises most first-time visitors.

November through February, excluding the Christmas fortnight. Hotel rates drop sharply, there are no queues at Pike Place or the Space Needle, and the city's indoor culture - coffee houses, music venues, the Chihuly glass museum, the art museums - is what it is built for anyway. The trade-off is around 8-11°C, frequent drizzle and darkness by mid-afternoon. If you want cheap but still pleasant, late September and October give you far better weather at shoulder rates.

On clear days, which is mostly a summer proposition. The mountain sits about 90km away and is hidden by cloud for much of the wet season, so July through September gives you by far the best odds - locals say the mountain is out when it appears. If seeing it matters, build flexibility into your plans rather than booking a single viewpoint day, and note that late-summer wildfire haze can occasionally dull visibility even on rain-free days.

Yes, if you take it on its own terms. Winter is wet, grey and dark by mid-afternoon, but it is also the cheapest time and the city has more genuinely good indoor things to do than most - Pike Place Market, the Museum of Pop Culture, Chihuly Garden and Glass, the Seattle Art Museum, and the coffee and live-music scene that the weather arguably created. Ski areas at Snoqualmie and Crystal Mountain are within a couple of hours, which adds a reason to come.

Three days covers the city: Pike Place Market and the waterfront, the Space Needle and Seattle Center museums, and a walk through Capitol Hill or Ballard with a ferry ride across Puget Sound. A fourth and fifth day open up what makes the region special - Mount Rainier National Park, the Olympic Peninsula rainforest, or the San Juan Islands, all of which are far better in the dry summer months than in the wet season.

Staying in Seattle? Book the area before the hotel

Picking the month is half of the decision. The other half is the area, because that is what sets how far you walk and what a room costs in Seattle. These go into the detail:

Compare all hotels in SeattleLive rates for the dates you picked
  • Free cancellation on most rooms
  • No booking fee
  • Prices on Trip.com

Continue Planning Your Trip

Photo credits (3)

Photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under their respective licences.