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In the case of this Seattle record the approx. 1930 hours sounds reasonable. The airport record however claims an annual average of about 47%. To have parity with Kew (or Heathrow) the Seattle city value would have to be about 1650 hours, and I don't buy that without some good evidence.
The 1981-2010 mean for Vancouver is 1938 hours.
I can't find numbers, but I'd guess the Vancouver site (Airport) is one of the sunnier in the city, as it's further from the mountains than most.
The U.S. and Europe use different methods of measuring sunshine hours. While it appears that Seattle is sunnier, London has more sunshine hours. Those hours matter more in winter when it's cold. Seattle may have slightly sunnier summers but their "summer rain" is still cold while London has the chance of getting a warm handsome thunderstorm a few times in summer. Both fail in the art of mastering proper summer temperatures so I might as well for the one that can deliver me some thunder n lightning.
sunny weather matters in the summer when the weather is warm. Also, Seattle almost never sees rain in the summer - 3-4 times and it's usually 0.1 inches.
The U.S. and Europe use different methods of measuring sunshine hours. While it appears that Seattle is sunnier, London has more sunshine hours. Those hours matter more in winter when it's cold.
I care more about sunshine in the summer, especially since it's when I'd want to out more. With summer temperatures as cool as Seattle, high sunshine is a big plus.
Then this is simply conjecture. You're assuming similar weather patterns for cities that are some measure apart geographically, with different local topographies.
Seattle is around 2100 hours a year. It's less wet and sunnier than Vancouver.
Seattle is around 2100 hours a year. It's less wet and sunnier than Vancouver.
While your number is a bit high if one allows for measurement methods, perhaps you can at least convince some of these posters that it beats London's 1650 or so!
Believe it or not, Seattle is drier and a little sunnier than Vancouver. London is drier than both but cloudier on average than the PNW cities. The reason - London can never get 15 consecutive cloudless days in the summer. You can have partly cloudy days with showers and sun, but PNW cities are brighter and sunnier in summer for days. There have been many years where Seattle hasn't received any precipitation for an entire month. All 3 summer months - July, August and September have had records with no precipitation at all. PNW weather in the summer is Mediterranean very similar to California. London can never such dry and sunny stretch in any month.
London can never get 15 consecutive cloudless days in the summer. You can have partly cloudy days with showers and sun,
Are you trying to suggest that it's never sunny for 2 weeks in a row, or that it's never dry for more than 2 weeks? London can and has gone without rain for whole summer months (eg August 1995). It's also gone without a single drop of rain for around 2.5 months in spring.
Believe it or not, Seattle is drier and a little sunnier than Vancouver.
The reverse would be harder to believe: seems like Seattle has to be at least as sunny as Vancouver, maybe slightly more. And less sunny than Victoria.
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