seasonal affective disorder in bay area? (San Diego, San Jose: spring break, school, live in)

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by tstieber

It depends where you are and what you define as "better." Coastal weather in the Mediterranean is much warmer in the summer, but it's about the same in the winter, and just as rainy. Inland weather is actually sunnier and hotter out here. In fact, Redding, CA, near the OR border, has the hottest climate of any city in the world at a latitude of 40 degrees or more from the equator. Looking at some examples, the average high temp in Barcelona for the year is 68 degrees (cooler even than San Jose or Walnut Creek), while Redding's is 76 degrees. Barcelona averages 149 hours of sunshine in January, while Redding averages 226. Barcelona averages 310 of sunshine in July, while Redding averages 451. Even Jerusalem gets less heat and sun than Redding. So it's all a matter of microclimates, and what you like in terms of weather. If you're talking strictly summer beachgoing, then the Mediterranean wins hands-down. If you like hot, sunny weather, then California wins.

I was specifically alluding to the fact that other than oddities such as Redding, at the same latitude as Mediterranean Europe the typical West Coast US climate is typically Marine West Coast.

But the real thing I was implying was that the Native Mediterranean cultures of Europe experience a worse winter sun angle than we do here in the Bay Area, so the lower-SAD connection with Mediterranean cultures may be related to food not sun angle itself.

[smgmcse]

Having lived in and worked in all areas of the Bay Area I would suggest San Jose, CA. San Jose, like most of the Bay Area, has a Subtropical Mediterranean climate.[28] San Jose has 300+ days of sunshine and an average daily high temperature of 73 °F (23 °C) annually. Although San Jose lies inland and does not front the Pacific Ocean like San Francisco, it is surrounded on three sides by mountains. Because of this, the city is somewhat more sheltered from rain, giving it a semiarid feel with a mean annual rainfall of 14.4 inches (366 mm), compared to some other parts of the Bay Area, which can get about three times that amount.

Monthly Averages from the Weather Channel:

Jan 58°F 39°F 49°F 4.94 in.
Feb 62°F 41°F 52°F 5.06 in.
Mar 66°F 43°F 55°F 3.63 in.
Apr 70°F 45°F 58°F 1.40 in.
May 76°F 49°F 63°F 0.54 in.
Jun 81°F 52°F 67°F 0.10 in.
Jul 85°F 55°F 70°F 0.00 in.
Aug 84°F 55°F 70°F 0.03 in.
Sep 82°F 53°F 68°F 0.18 in.
Oct 75°F 49°F 62°F 1.01 in.
Nov 64°F 43°F 54°F 2.37 in.
Dec 57°F 39°F 48°F 4.01 in.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by smgmcse

Having lived in and worked in all areas of the Bay Area I would suggest San Jose, CA. San Jose, like most of the Bay Area, has a Subtropical Mediterranean climate.[28] San Jose has 300+ days of sunshine and an average daily high temperature of 73 °F (23 °C) annually. Although San Jose lies inland and does not front the Pacific Ocean like San Francisco, it is surrounded on three sides by mountains. Because of this, the city is somewhat more sheltered from rain, giving it a semiarid feel with a mean annual rainfall of 14.4 inches (366 mm), compared to some other parts of the Bay Area, which can get about three times that amount.

Monthly Averages from the Weather Channel:

Jan 58°F 39°F 49°F 4.94 in.
Feb 62°F 41°F 52°F 5.06 in.
Mar 66°F 43°F 55°F 3.63 in.
Apr 70°F 45°F 58°F 1.40 in.
May 76°F 49°F 63°F 0.54 in.
Jun 81°F 52°F 67°F 0.10 in.
Jul 85°F 55°F 70°F 0.00 in.
Aug 84°F 55°F 70°F 0.03 in.
Sep 82°F 53°F 68°F 0.18 in.
Oct 75°F 49°F 62°F 1.01 in.
Nov 64°F 43°F 54°F 2.37 in.
Dec 57°F 39°F 48°F 4.01 in.

But the mountains make for a later sunrise and earlier sunset. Especially down in Almaden. Everything is a trade off.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by tstieber

I'm not surprised by this. My family is originally from Europe, and I lived there as a kid for a few years. Cloudy all the time. A week of sunny weather had people talking about drought, any time of the year. The Mediterranean is better, but still cloudier than California.

Yep, that's what I learned, too...although parts of the Mediterranean are competitive with CA in terms of sunshine, especially the Eastern Mediterranean & N. Africa.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by tstieber

It depends where you are and what you define as "better." Coastal weather in the Mediterranean is much warmer in the summer, but it's about the same in the winter, and just as rainy. Inland weather is actually sunnier and hotter out here. In fact, Redding, CA, near the OR border, has the hottest climate of any city in the world at a latitude of 40 degrees or more from the equator. Looking at some examples, the average high temp in Barcelona for the year is 68 degrees (cooler even than San Jose or Walnut Creek), while Redding's is 76 degrees. Barcelona averages 149 hours of sunshine in January, while Redding averages 226. Barcelona averages 310 of sunshine in July, while Redding averages 451. Even Jerusalem gets less heat and sun than Redding. So it's all a matter of microclimates, and what you like in terms of weather. If you're talking strictly summer beachgoing, then the Mediterranean wins hands-down. If you like hot, sunny weather, then California wins.

Can you tell me where you got those weather stats? I would love to have them. I am a weather junkie!

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

I was specifically alluding to the fact that other than oddities such as Redding, at the same latitude as Mediterranean Europe the typical West Coast US climate is typically Marine West Coast.

But the real thing I was implying was that the Native Mediterranean cultures of Europe experience a worse winter sun angle than we do here in the Bay Area, so the lower-SAD connection with Mediterranean cultures may be related to food not sun angle itself.

Yes, good point, and one I also alluded to in an earlier response about the diet and culture being a significant factor. The Mediterranean basin is farther north than the Bay Area and does get even less daylight and a lower sun angle. I think lifestyle is more important than anything.

[zombocom]

Originally Posted by fair weather cumulus

Hi,

I suffered from a bad case of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) for 5 years when I lived in the northeast and midwest - basically unable to function from Oct to March. It's a seasonal depression that is brought on by reduced exposure to sunlight and cold temperatures. Since then, I've lived in AZ and southern CA and have not had problems. We're considering either moving to the Bay Area of California or to Raleigh NC for our work. Do any of you live in these areas and have SAD? How hard is it to live with SAD in these places?
How grey and cold are these areas?

Thanks!

Not very, we have over 300 days of sun, only 13 inches of rain a year, and it's 70 degrees right now...

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

Can you tell me where you got those weather stats? I would love to have them. I am a weather junkie!

Hey, I got these ones off of Wikipedia actually. But I've also seen Redding in many rankings of America's sunniest cities as having one of the highest average probabilities of sunshine in the country, even though there are a fair number of rainy days in the winter rainy season, even compared to the Bay Area. But outside of those actual rainy days, it seems pretty much all of the other days are sunny, and that ranks Redding right up there with desert cities in terms of sunshine. Except the desert cities don't get nearly as much rain; but they still get cloudy days without rain, so the total sunshine amounts are quite comparable.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by tstieber

Hey, I got these ones off of Wikipedia actually. But I've also seen Redding in many rankings of America's sunniest cities as having one of the highest average probabilities of sunshine in the country, even though there are a fair number of rainy days in the winter rainy season, even compared to the Bay Area. But outside of those actual rainy days, it seems pretty much all of the other days are sunny, and that ranks Redding right up there with desert cities in terms of sunshine. Except the desert cities don't get nearly as much rain; but they still get cloudy days without rain, so the total sunshine amounts are quite comparable.

I've also seen the stats on Redding. The problem is that it's only based on 10 years' worth of data.

[dalparadise]

In just over one year in San Francisco, I have had approximately seven days without some sun and blue skies. Total. Anyone who suffers from SAD here either is a hermit, or they don't know how to walk for 15 minutes in any direction.