Port Ludlow :: a Master Planned Resort Community for All Ages :: Birding, Boating, Golfing, Hiking, & More

Port Ludlow residents enjoy the constant change that having four seasons brings to the natural environment. However, we also enjoy the fact that both winter and summer are mild.

Of course Seasons are a matter of opinion...

• People who are originally from places like Michigan or Eastern Washington who really love strong seasons don't think Port Ludlow has any seasons at all since we rarely get any snow and bulbs start blooming in early February.
• People originally from the U.S. East Coast think our Fall season is a little dull. We have some nice pleasant crips days in the fall but we don't get cold snaps like they do back east so although we do have nice red fall foilage from maples and blueberry bushes, and beautiful gold and orange leaves from other types of trees, our fall foilage just isn't as brilliant.
• People originally from the south don't think we have much of a spring or a summer because you can open your windows here without getting the inside of your house coated with pine tree pollen, and you don't feel like you need air conditioning or ten showers a day in the summer.
• In contrast, people originally from California, Hawaii, or other warm, moderate climates notice vivid differences. They marvel at the trees with multiple shades of red leaves. During the winter they watch the forecast and pray for snow so they can run outside and stick their tongues out to catch the rare snowflakes. They enjoy growing bulbs without the extra chore of digging them up and storing them in the freezer for the winter. In the spring when the trees start budding, they think of pointillism paintings, and enjoy breaking out their old wardrobes for the summer months.

Port Ludlow's topography is varied, which has the effect of creating microclimates so that everyone experiences the seasons a little differently.

• Homes that are a few blocks away from the water or are located on the South Bay side with western exposures experience higher temperatures in summer than waterview homes in the North Bay. Typically, breezes come from the northeast during warm weather.
• Homes in Port Ludlow which face northeast sometimes have "built in air conditioning" in the summer. This is particularly true of the waterfront properties on the North Bay side which have an unobstructed view of Mount Baker. Most of the time the temperature difference is only a degree or two but during a heat wave, when temperatures are in the 70's elsewhere in Port Ludlow (and in the 80's in Seattle or Bremerton), the temperature can stay in the high 60's in the daylight basement areas of these houses.
• Port Ludlow homes which are a quarter mile or more away from the water and on higher elevations can see a little more snow in the winter. It's unusual to have more than one or two snow events per year, and even more unusual for the snow to last more than a day or two. Homeowners who live on top the hills in Port Ludlow can wake up to twice as many dustings of snow if they are early risers and see it before it melts. A few miles inland, in neighboring communities, the same snow event can yield a couple inches and last for a week.

If you want more information on microclimates in Port Ludlow and how they modify the way the seasons are manifested in Port Ludlow neighborhoods, make friends with some of the members in the Port Ludlow Gardening club.