North County and Bellingham often get shut out when there's a true Arctic blast. Happened in 1989 and 1990. Big time blasts mean the moisture is too far South.

I'm surprised a top 3 winter there is only 12" above average. Must be a pretty consistent snow climate then which I guess makes sense somewhere that usually gets a lot of smaller snowfalls.

Looks like AL is waking up from his slumber and readying to turn the faucet back on.

Yes. I know for a fact Whatcom County had widespread decent snowfall in Jan 2005. Brennan lived up there at the time and he talked about it.

FWIW, we are way happier in Sioux Falls than we ever were in Redmond, Carnation, or Maple Valley. Strong thunderstorms in the summer (a haboob and a derecho during first spring/summer here) and occasionally extreme winters (already had a top 3 winter with 54 inches, average of 42 inches). Yeah the humidity is a bit much sometimes and it's almost always windy but it's also a lot more sunny than Seattle, which I'm surprised how much that makes a difference on the psyche versus the endless gray skies. I thought I'd miss the mountains and trees and everything else, which I do to some degree. But at the same time as a weather enthusiast it's almost better to have a wide open expansive sky from horizon to horizon. Not to mention way less people, way less traffic, more sense of community, every amenity you need less than 15 mins away. So many positives. Point being, take the leap of faith if you can. It's incredibly daunting at first but the pay off can be so, so worth it.