Trust me, I love snow too, but our locale close to the Pacific means there can be awfully long stretches of clouds and rain in the summer (our wettest climo is late summer...but it begins as early as mid June), so combined with a total lack of winter sun, prolonging the winter like this during our driest time of the year is a big blow, especially for outdoor enthusiasts who like to hike (mtns are snow covered still...with mud a likelihood deep into the hiking season). This isn't the lower 48 where you are basically guaranteed a nice stretch of weather in summer.