Cities With Lots of Cloudy Days But Little Precip? (live, deal)

[Trailhiker]

Besides cities along the California coast, can anyone think of a city, big or small, that has a lot of mostly cloudy days but not a lot of precipitation?

[Thomas R.]

Seems like an almost contradictory request, but maybe not.

Of towns with lowest precipitation Bend, Oregon; Pocatello, Idaho; and Pueblo, Colorado seem to have a good deal of cloudy days. Although most of them get fairly cloudless in the Summer.

http://www.city-data.com/top2/c463.html

Of towns with the fewest cloudless days Missoula, Montana looks to be about the driest. They get a fair amount of snow though.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Missoula-Montana.html

[northstar22]

Anywhere in Michigan. We've had one sunny day in the past week, and summer is the sunniest time of the year. If you like clouds, you'll love MI.

[ABQConvict]

I have no experience 'on the ground' in these cities, but I was surprised to find out how low the rainfall totals for Seattle and Portland are yet they are known as cloudy cities.

I grew up in the NYC area which seems pretty sunny a lot of the time but gets almost 20 more inches of rain a year than the PNW cities.

Seattlites and Portlanders, please explain what it is like there!


ABQConvict

[TexasTheKid]

Originally Posted by ABQConvict

I have no experience 'on the ground' in these cities, but I was surprised to find out how low the rainfall totals for Seattle and Portland are yet they are known as cloudy cities.

I grew up in the NYC area which seems pretty sunny a lot of the time but gets almost 20 more inches of rain a year than the PNW cities.

Seattlites and Portlanders, please explain what it is like there!


ABQConvict

The average annual rainfall measured in inches is low, but measured in days of the year receiving rain, it's high. Rain is ever-present there, but not like the rare rains you'll get in Albequerque. When it rains in the ABQ, it pours - fast and heavy. When it rains in the PNW, most often it comes down like a mist - soft and barely noticeable. It can make many people miserable, but those cities do come alive when the clouds eventually part and the sun shines through.