Is it REALLY that cloudy for that long?

[Eric G.]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

I would have to say the sky cover information in the table above only reinforces what I said earlier: southern Oregon offers no significant improvement in the "gray season" from Nov. to Mar. (getting "only" 24 cloudy days in January...as opposed 25...is hardly a reason to favor the Rogue or Umpqua River Valleys over the Willamette Valley. As an example of a meaningful difference, Eugene gets on average 1 hr. 58 minutes (16% of possible sunshine) each day in January. Medford gets a little more -- an average of 2 hrs., 25 minutes of sunshine in January (17% of possible sunshine). But Redding, CA, just 150 miles to the south gets a daily average of 6 hrs. 43 minutes (70% of possible sunshine) in the same month. Now that's a meaningful difference that will affect your emotional disposition. It certainly puts touting a 1% difference into perspective.

Here are some sunlight summaries that might be useful OREGON

Read both the "location" summary at the top and the "comments" below.

Yep, not a lot of difference.

And you can see what I'm dealing with (and the argument my wife makes, haha) with where we are now:

ELKO

Speaking of which, is solar power even something worth considering in an area that has that much cloud cover during the Winter? I plan on using it extensively wherever I end up.

[lilypad]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

There's no significant difference in winter cloudiness north to south in western Oregon. The Dec./Jan. cloud cover ratio is 80-90% for just about all of western Oregon including the Umpqua River Valley (Roseburg). There isn't much of a break in the Rogue River Valley, either until March or so. The "roaring 40's" is a well-named band of latitude; a lot of storm cells come through there. You really have to get down to about Redding, CA before there's a notable let-up in winter gloom. Roseburg is also subject to quite a bit of winter fog. There could easily be blue skies at 3000 ft., but you'd never know it down in the valley because of the thick scud of water vapor being held down on top of you by an air inversion.

BTW, "SAD" is a genetically-linked condition. It has little to do with how you feel about cloudy weather, but is a physiological response to full-spectrum light privation. You won't experience it unless you've inherited the gene for it.

I probably do have the SAD gene! I start getting a closed in feeling when there are days and days of gloom and rain. But there is an out! I will drive over to eastern Oregon for the weekend to find sun, usually find it past Hood River and beyond, or at least more than in the Portland area.

[Grenoble_slopes]

General Climate Information more climate maps

[thelocaldish]

No Problem Eric, hope the charts gave you a little something more to think about. Southern Oregon does get warm in the summer, and it would very much depend on what your definition of "hot" is as to how long it stays warm. Usually we have a couple of weeks that are 100+ days, and it tends to be more around 95 for most of the summer.

In response to Stever's comments - I think the big difference that you find is the length of times that clouds seem to be around..at least that has been my experience from living up north and from hearing stories from others in those areas. The main point of the chart was to show the totals...of course it will be cloudy in January..that's winter !

Compare the totals though and you see that Salem has almost 40 more cloudy days a year, and Eugene has a few more than that. Almost 1.5 months more of cloudy days seems like a fair amount of extra to me - and having a father who lived in Eugene, Corvallis, and Portland who suffers from SAD - he noticed the difference after moving South.

All that said I can understand Stever's POV and I think it's a personal choice as to how much is going to bother you!

[ak.nessa]

Corvallis is cloudy and rainy - I lived there for a few years and all I remember was how depressing it was. I loved the summers though - they were a bit humid.

If you want sunshine - Central & Eastern Oregon (on the other side of the cascades) is much sunnier. Even though it is high desert and dry, you can still garden. In fact I am from the willamette valley and I don't know anyone who has a garden there. But all the people I know in Central Oregon (near Bend) have gardens and grow a lot of their own food. It is much more beautiful on that side of Oregon as well. Breathtaking, actually. I miss it!! It would be a great place to consider, there are some wonderful small towns all over the state though.

Eugene - dirty, overpopulated, lots of liberals/hippies, lots of drug problems
Ashland - liberals, lots of hippies, some drug problems
Medford - out of all the towns you listed this has the best climate/most sunshine, BUT also has a huge drug problem

I recommend some of the smaller towns in Southern Oregon. Unless you are open to Central Oregon which I favor over any other part of the state.

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by ak.nessa

Eugene - dirty, overpopulated, lots of liberals/hippies, lots of drug problems
Ashland - liberals, lots of hippies, some drug problems
Medford - out of all the towns you listed this has the best climate/most sunshine, BUT also has a huge drug problem

I recommend some of the smaller towns in Southern Oregon. Unless you are open to Central Oregon which I favor over any other part of the state.