portland and seattle are wet in january. seattle more likely than portland to have snow and cold. That said, there is skiing and snowboarding in closer to Portland, than Seattle. there is the coast an hour away . The willamette valley is GREEN in the winter especially. Portland is a great small (400k) city, with lots of stuff to do and good public transportation. Kids can go out and about on their own for the most part. san diego is nice, more pollution though and very urban. Definitely warmer in January though