Sequim is famous for its Blue Hole, and it is real and I have the proof.  Sequim gets an average of 16 inches of rain annually, and from concentric circles extending out from Sequim, the rainfall increases dramatically into the Olympic Mountains to the south until the rainfall reaches 200 inches annually.  If you want to live in an area with a manageable and pleasant climate, you may want to live in the Sequim Blue Hole.

The Sequim Blue Hole

The Sequim Blue Hole is a Rain Shadow

The rain forest is only 40 miles as the crow flies south of Sequim into the Olympic Mountain Range.  To officially be called a rain forest, the area must receive at least 100 inches of rain annually, and at the peak this area receives 200 inches per year.  That’s a lot of rain.  The Sequim blue hole is explained by scientist Andrew Boyd this way, “During the winter months, strong, moist west winds blow in from the Pacific. The mountains deflect those winds upward from sea level to over seven thousand feet. They’re cooled on the seventy-mile trip across the mountains; almost all the water they contain condenses out in the form of snow or rain. That’s what causes the Olympic rain forests. Then the air, now wrung out and relatively dry — makes its steep descent. Only after it passes over Sequim, does it begin taking on more water as it heads off toward Seattle.”  This darn Sequim blue hole really does exist.

The Sequim Blue Hole is Real

This is one of the reasons Sequim is such an incredibly pleasant climate, and it’s no surprise so many retirees have been moving to Sequim for years.  Enlarge the image above and see how the rainfall increases as you move outward from Sequim toward Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Port Ludlow, and Port Hadlock.  The Sequim blue hole makes Sequim weather something very special for all of us.

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