Hey, I'm going to be moving to Seattle come September. I noticed someone in a different thread mentioning blizzak winter tires that was from Seattle. I was surprised that winter tires would be needed up there with as little snow as Seattle gets... I know all about Snowpocalypse last year but my understanding is that this is not at all normal weather for Seattle. I'm curious how many of you run winter tires? I just got a new set of Conti ExtremeContact DW that probably isn't ideal for the rainy season but I was hoping that I wouldn't have to get a new set of tires. Does anyone run max performance summer tires up there or is that just in general a bad idea?

I'm looking forward to getting out of this heat/humidity in Houston and living somewhere picturesque... it's hell down here!

 

The problem with snow up here in the northwest is that what little snow we get there aren't enough plows to completely clear the roads. And, of course, all the hills make things more difficult. Or after a snow and not being cleared completely, it could ice over.
It doesn't happen that frequently, but when it does, it can get pretty bad.

 

I lived in Sugarland (just outside of Houston) for a while and will warn you to get ready for the rain in any/every way possible because it rains in the PNW very often (actually much too often in my opinion).

You may not miss the thunderstorms but I'm fairly confident you'll miss the much nicer over-all weather.

I would not attempt to run summer tires year round in the PNW, especially on a RWD vehicle with a reasonable amount of power (just my honest opinion).

Best of luck,
Jason

 

Thanks for the info on the summer tires... but Houston has to be one of the ugliest cities in America and some grey skies and regular rain Seattle imo is a much better trade off than the 6 months in Houston where you pretty much can't go outside without getting drenched in your own sweat. It's debatable where "nicer over-all weather" is in Houston or Seattle.

I'd rather be cool and wet in Seattle with a rain coat than in shorts and a tshirt and dripping with sweat in Houston. So in reality both are wet but one is miserably hot. We call it the armpit of the US down here. IMO the only reason to live in Houston is for affordable housing.

 

congrats on getting out of houston...lol hate it there and that heat is unbearable

 

DWS will be a great tire for most of the year.

 

Toss most all of your winter clothes, won't need them. Winter tires too

 

I'm running Michelin Pilot Super Sports. So far, so good in the rain. Got them just a few months ago, so will have to see how they do for the winter.

 

I had to run blizzaks for a few weeks in Jan.

 

Im using these too, seems to be ok.

 

I live on the other side of WA state where we actually get 4 seasons. For the most part as long as you have all season tires there I would imagine it would be okay for the most part. But you are in the NW and I would just suggest a winter DD, its easier.

 

Well certainly there will be varied opinions on better weather but I have lived in 9 different states from east coast to west coast and several in between but can say with total honesty that the weather in the PNW is easily the worst for outdoor activities about 3/4 of the year. I lived in Texas, Florida and California so I understand the 'insta-sweat' issue but look at it this way, you'll be trading roughly 1/4 of the year of that for 3/4 of the year with rain. Personaly I would rather enjoy some nice cold A/C for that 1/4 versus dealing with all the rain 3/4 of the year, but that's just my opinion. Basically pick your poison, stay inside 1/4 of the year due to heat or 3/4 of the year due to rain (easy choice for me).

Best of luck on the move, will be interesting to hear if you still feel that way after living in Seattle for a year or two.

Jason