Sunny days in Denver, the myth and the reality

[BarryK123]

No 300 days of sunshine any more? It must be caused by global clouding...

[Hschlick84]

When they say 300 days of sunny, that's including partly cloudy and mostly cloudy, not clear days without clouds. Denver doesn't get many clear days without clouds during the summer.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Hschlick84

When they say 300 days of sunny, that's including partly cloudy and mostly cloudy, not clear days without clouds. Denver doesn't get many clear days without clouds during the summer.

In my experience here in COLO SPGS, we get well over 300 days where sun "predominates," so I say that "300 days of sunshine" is NOT a myth. I can count maybe 15 days a year when there is solid cloud cover all day and no direct sunshine. The vast majority of my days start out mostly or totally cloudless and then the sky gets some to a lot of puffy white clouds as the day progresses. Summer "monsoon" season sees mostly clear mornings with thunderstorms rolling across in many afternoons and clearing as the sun goes down and storms go east.

[otterprods]

Too hard to put a number like that on it, bit it's sunny (for at least a good part of the day) a lot more often than it's cloudy. Also it depends on where you're at. It's often cooler and cloudier at higher elevations tucked up next to or in the foothills than it is in downtown or out east. If you really want a lot of sunshine, move out toward the prairie and enjoy the wind!

[Wheatridger]

Good discussion, folks. Looks like there's not really much disagreement here, just differences of definition. But that "300 days" is repeated often enough that I thought I'd make my very first post here with a point of clarification. Not to say that Denver has a bad climate, but it's a very unique and individual one. We came our weather up fresh every day, like a good bakery.

On the topic of prevailing winds: the high-level steering winds that direct the weather come out of the west, as they do everywhere else in the mid-continent. It often doesn't feel that way. Within 20 or 30 miles of the foothills, the typical surface breeze blows from the east, while a few thousand feet up, the wind is still blowing from the west. That's a "rotor," or vertical eddy in the atmosphere, similar to an eddy at the bank of a stream. That's normal, but when a big weather system hooks eastward out of the great Plains is when we receive large snowstorms and rainfalls.

As I write this morning, the sky is full of high clouds, with snow on the way. I'll still need to wear sunglasses.

As Smokey Robinson sings to "My Girl" --
"I've got sunshine on a cloudy day..."

[Neditate]

Originally Posted by otterprods

It's often cooler and cloudier at higher elevations tucked up next to or in the foothills than it is in downtown or out east.

And sometimes it is warmer and sunnier at higher elevations due to inversions... like yesterday, last weekend and many times over the past few weeks.

[emm74]

Originally Posted by Katiana

OTOH, I think if you looked at the number of days the sun is out, even for a short time, 300 would be about right. I doubt there are more than 65 totally cloudy "sun never came out today" days in Denver. When we first moved here, I missed those days. Even "cloudy" means 7/8 or more cloud cover per the NWS.
NOAA's National Weather Service - Glossary

Agree!

Plus the power of the sun is so different here than many other places. I moved to Denver from Boston, and on even the coldest of days, being outdoors in Denver in 15 degree weather is a world away from being outdoors in Boston in 15 degree weather.