We lived there for six weeks last year, just in a long-term AirBnB. Your read on it is pretty spot-on. It's not NEARLY as dreary as Seattle or Portland, although still definitely in the PacNW. It's also inland, actually in a bit of a valley, which moderates the weather quite a bit. Eugene pretty regularly gets up into the 90's in the summer, and even hit 100 fora couple of days we were there.
Amazing vibe to the town, incredibly friendly, etc. I found the airport perfectly serviceable - effectively two flights a day on each of the 4 major airlines, to a hub. So Seattle (Alaska), SF / Denver (United), DFW (American), and SLC (Delta), plus some regional carrier stuff. Not super-connected, but not off the grid either.
I'm looking at it as a retirement conversation, so where can we perhaps build our ideal house without needing to care about schools.