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Old 01-15-2017, 10:58 AM
 
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
11,936 posts, read 13,103,006 times
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Isn't sunny rainforest an oxymoron?
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Old 01-15-2017, 12:50 PM
 
Location: St. Augustine, Florida
633 posts, read 661,505 times
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Fort Lauderdale is likely the winner, though i'm not so sure it is (at least not by as much of a margin as people think). its important to consider all of the variables. here is some math:

Miami Annual Rainfall: 61.9"
Fort Lauderdale Annual Rainfall: 65.75"

Annual Rainfall Adjustment: 65.75 / 61.9 = 1.06219709208401

Miami Annual Rainy Days: 135.2
Fort Lauderdale Rainy Days: 144.7

Annual Rainy Days Adjustment: 144.7 / 135.2 = 1.07026627218935

Adjustment Average: ( 1.06219709208401 + 1.07026627218935 ) / 2 = 1.06623168213668

Miami US Sunshine Hours: 3154
Fort Lauderdale US Sunshine Hours: 3154 / 1.06623168213668 = 2958.08129962854

Fort Lauderdale International Sunshine Hours Projection 1 (85%): 2958.08129962854 * 0.85 = 2514.36910468426
Fort Lauderdale International Sunshine Hours Projection 2 (90%): 2958.08129962854 * 0.9 = 2662.27316966569

so Fort Lauderdale could be between 2514.4 and 2662.3.

highest i found otherwise (so far) with actual statistics is Easter Island at 2513.7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island#Climate

Last edited by Sir Goosenseresworthie; 01-15-2017 at 01:34 PM..
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Old 01-15-2017, 03:03 PM
 
Location: 64'N Umeå, Sweden - The least bad Dfc
2,155 posts, read 1,540,758 times
Reputation: 859
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Goosenseresworthie View Post
Fort Lauderdale is likely the winner, though i'm not so sure it is (at least not by as much of a margin as people think). its important to consider all of the variables. here is some math:

Miami Annual Rainfall: 61.9"
Fort Lauderdale Annual Rainfall: 65.75"

Annual Rainfall Adjustment: 65.75 / 61.9 = 1.06219709208401

Miami Annual Rainy Days: 135.2
Fort Lauderdale Rainy Days: 144.7

Annual Rainy Days Adjustment: 144.7 / 135.2 = 1.07026627218935

Adjustment Average: ( 1.06219709208401 + 1.07026627218935 ) / 2 = 1.06623168213668

Miami US Sunshine Hours: 3154
Fort Lauderdale US Sunshine Hours: 3154 / 1.06623168213668 = 2958.08129962854

Fort Lauderdale International Sunshine Hours Projection 1 (85%): 2958.08129962854 * 0.85 = 2514.36910468426
Fort Lauderdale International Sunshine Hours Projection 2 (90%): 2958.08129962854 * 0.9 = 2662.27316966569

so Fort Lauderdale could be between 2514.4 and 2662.3.

highest i found otherwise (so far) with actual statistics is Easter Island at 2513.7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island#Climate
Actually, the Bahia region of Brazil gets over 2700h (most likely).
Salvador gets over 2500h, and is one of the less sunny cities along that coast. I remember finding one village with roughly 7.44h average per day, i.e. over 2700h, and Aracaju, just north of the AF line also gets over 2700h. Too bad there are almost no sunshine recording stations around that area. Take a look in Solargis' solar map though; it's pretty red.
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Old 01-15-2017, 03:52 PM
 
Location: João Pessoa,Brazil(The easternmost point of Americas)
2,540 posts, read 2,004,296 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by YITYNR View Post
By Köppen's definition, a climate with a coldest month mean of 18*C (64*F) or warmer is a tropical climate. This means that there are indeed tropical climates outside of the tropics and there are subtropical climates in the tropics.

A tropical climate with less than 60 mm (about 2.4 in) in the driest month is monsoon or savanna; tropical rainforests have at least 60 mm in every month.

My ideal climate has 3,200 hours of sun in the average year (non-US method) and classifies as tropical rainforest, but it's a fictional climate so it doesn't count.
I trought that my climate was Tropical rainforest,but we average 3 followed months with precipitation below 60mm,after all,the annual average sunshine hours here is 2695.
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Old 01-15-2017, 03:56 PM
 
Location: St. Augustine, Florida
633 posts, read 661,505 times
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according to wikipedia Bora Bora misses the Tropical Rainforest classification by 0.3 mm (driest month is 59.7 mm) and clocks in at 2687.9 sunshine hours.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bora_Bora#Climate

however Motu Tape (on Bora Bora) states 60 mm for the driest month and an estimated 2705 sunshine hours.

Bora-Bora Motu Climate Bora-Bora Motu Temperatures Bora-Bora Motu Weather Averages

https://weather-and-climate.com/aver...ench-Polynesia

for reference: Bora-Bora Vataipe Climate Bora-Bora Vataipe Temperatures Bora-Bora Vataipe Weather Averages

which means (at least a part of) Bora Bora Island has a Tropical Rainforest climate with more sunshine hours than Fort Lauderdale.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Baba_Wethu View Post
Actually, the Bahia region of Brazil gets over 2700h (most likely).
Salvador gets over 2500h, and is one of the less sunny cities along that coast. I remember finding one village with roughly 7.44h average per day, i.e. over 2700h, and Aracaju, just north of the AF line also gets over 2700h. Too bad there are almost no sunshine recording stations around that area. Take a look in Solargis' solar map though; it's pretty red.
yes we could talk about dozens of areas around the world that probably have more sunshine hours, the issue is finding actual data to support it. i could talk about how Adamstown, Pitcairn Islands may very well have the highest sunshine hours of them all with only 97 rainy days annually but its impossible to know for sure without actual data for sunshine hours.

if you could find data in Bahia to support your claim that would be great, but otherwise we must go by what we know with documented statistics.

i looked at Global Horizontal Irradiation (solarGIS), which is the total amount of shortwave radiation. this is affected by latitude and cloud cover primarily. i'm not sure what the conversion would be for kWh/m^2 (probably a ratio around 0.75 relative to international sunshine hours). the map for North America is on a scale that only goes to 2300 (with areas of South/Central Florida as orange indicating near 2000). there are orange areas in Bahia (around 2000 on a scale that goes to 2800). definitely a number of areas with similar values but i'll have to look if any of them are in fact Tropical Rainforest (most likely not). good find nonetheless.




Last edited by Sir Goosenseresworthie; 01-15-2017 at 04:50 PM..
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Old 01-16-2017, 12:44 AM
 
Location: 64'N Umeå, Sweden - The least bad Dfc
2,155 posts, read 1,540,758 times
Reputation: 859
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Goosenseresworthie View Post
according to wikipedia Bora Bora misses the Tropical Rainforest classification by 0.3 mm (driest month is 59.7 mm) and clocks in at 2687.9 sunshine hours.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bora_Bora#Climate

however Motu Tape (on Bora Bora) states 60 mm for the driest month and an estimated 2705 sunshine hours.

Bora-Bora Motu Climate Bora-Bora Motu Temperatures Bora-Bora Motu Weather Averages

https://weather-and-climate.com/aver...ench-Polynesia

for reference: Bora-Bora Vataipe Climate Bora-Bora Vataipe Temperatures Bora-Bora Vataipe Weather Averages

which means (at least a part of) Bora Bora Island has a Tropical Rainforest climate with more sunshine hours than Fort Lauderdale.



yes we could talk about dozens of areas around the world that probably have more sunshine hours, the issue is finding actual data to support it. i could talk about how Adamstown, Pitcairn Islands may very well have the highest sunshine hours of them all with only 97 rainy days annually but its impossible to know for sure without actual data for sunshine hours.

if you could find data in Bahia to support your claim that would be great, but otherwise we must go by what we know with documented statistics.

i looked at Global Horizontal Irradiation (solarGIS), which is the total amount of shortwave radiation. this is affected by latitude and cloud cover primarily. i'm not sure what the conversion would be for kWh/m^2 (probably a ratio around 0.75 relative to international sunshine hours). the map for North America is on a scale that only goes to 2300 (with areas of South/Central Florida as orange indicating near 2000). there are orange areas in Bahia (around 2000 on a scale that goes to 2800). definitely a number of areas with similar values but i'll have to look if any of them are in fact Tropical Rainforest (most likely not). good find nonetheless.


Direct normal is much better than Global horizontal and reflects cloud cover much better since it's not as dependable on solar angle.

I found the place that I was thinking of, but I'd forgot that it wasn't in Brazil, but in Saint Kitts.
Basseterre averages very roughly 7.41h/day giving 2709h annually.
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Old 01-16-2017, 01:40 AM
 
Location: St. Augustine, Florida
633 posts, read 661,505 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Baba_Wethu View Post
Direct normal is much better than Global horizontal and reflects cloud cover much better since it's not as dependable on solar angle.
i don't think so, at least i don't think one is necessarily better than the other. Direct normal is showing higher values than it should for Patagonia (Comodoro is only 2097.2 sunshine hours but is near an an area of reddish/orange indicating values greater than Salvador, which shouldn't be the case)

besides, since solar angle determines sunshine hours, is it that horizontal exaggerates the effects of solar angle? if anything using Direct normal should make Fort Lauderdale look to have higher sunshine hours since it is located further from the equator.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Baba_Wethu View Post
I found the place that I was thinking of, but I'd forgot that it wasn't in Brazil, but in Saint Kitts.
Basseterre averages very roughly 7.41h/day giving 2709h annually.
good find.

Last edited by Sir Goosenseresworthie; 01-16-2017 at 01:48 AM..
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Old 01-16-2017, 02:56 AM
 
Location: 64'N Umeå, Sweden - The least bad Dfc
2,155 posts, read 1,540,758 times
Reputation: 859
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Goosenseresworthie View Post
i don't think so, at least i don't think one is necessarily better than the other. Direct normal is showing higher values than it should for Patagonia (Comodoro is only 2097.2 sunshine hours but is near an an area of reddish/orange indicating values greater than Salvador, which shouldn't be the case)

besides, since solar angle determines sunshine hours, is it that horizontal exaggerates the effects of solar angle? if anything using Direct normal should make Fort Lauderdale look to have higher sunshine hours since it is located further from the equator.
Solar angle doesn't determine sunshine hours by much at all, since even a 1° solar angle is enough for 120w/m2 (although there will be a higher density of clouds relatively at lower angles, and the sun won't be able to penetrate through as thick clouds). Global horizontal values sun angle a lot more than direct normal though because at low sun angles, the sunshine will be spread out and diminished on a horizontal surface, whereas direct normal is the same way that ordinary sunshine hours is calculated. Global horizontal has its value though, which is estimating evaporation and sun heating effects etc., but direct normal much more resembles sunshine hours.

Edit: And Trelew gets over 2600h, not too far north of Comodoro. Solargis doesn't seem to notice the very sharp drop off in sun hours somewhere between the two cities. It could be because it's so close to their sunshine map limits or something giving hem less data around that pöace or something, I don't know.

Last edited by Baba_Wethu; 01-16-2017 at 03:11 AM..
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Old 01-16-2017, 12:56 PM
 
Location: St. Augustine, Florida
633 posts, read 661,505 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Baba_Wethu View Post
Solar angle doesn't determine sunshine hours by much at all, since even a 1° solar angle is enough for 120w/m2 (although there will be a higher density of clouds relatively at lower angles, and the sun won't be able to penetrate through as thick clouds). Global horizontal values sun angle a lot more than direct normal though because at low sun angles, the sunshine will be spread out and diminished on a horizontal surface, whereas direct normal is the same way that ordinary sunshine hours is calculated. Global horizontal has its value though, which is estimating evaporation and sun heating effects etc., but direct normal much more resembles sunshine hours.
how wouldn't solar angle determine sunshine hours? Barrow, AK?

here are some calculations based on a simple 0.67 conversion. i mean sure i could be using a terrible number for conversion but i think we need to know the actual conversion for sunshine hours (if there is one, maybe neither type is directly comparable to sunshine hours).

53.3°N
Dublin Horizontal: ~950 / 0.67 = 1417.9
Dublin Direct Normal: ~700 / 0.67 = 1044.8
Dublin Sunshine Hours: 1447.3

48.9°N
Paris Horizontal: ~1150 / 0.67 = 1716.4
Paris Direct Normal: ~1000 / 0.67 = 1492.5
Paris Sunshine Hours: 1661.7

41.9°N
Rome Horizontal: ~1700 / 0.67 = 2537.3
Rome Direct Normal: ~1700 / 0.67 = 2537.3
Rome Sunshine Hours: 2472.8

30.1°N
Cairo Horizontal: ~2100 / 0.67 = 3134.3
Cairo Direct Normal: ~2000 / 0.67 = 2985.1
Cairo Sunshine Hours: 3451

15.7°N
Khartoum Horizontal: ~2350 / 0.67 = 3507.5
Khartoum Direct Normal: ~2000 / 0.67 = 2985.1
Khartoum Sunshine Hours: 3580.7

0.4°N
Libreville Horizontal: ~1650 / 0.67 = 2462.7
Libreville Direct Normal: ~850 / 0.67 = 1268.7
Libreville Sunshine Hours: 1716.6

of course i'm eyeballing it so there is probably quite a bit of error here. but i'm just not seeing which one is better. some areas seem more consistent for Direct Normal while other areas seem more consistent for Horizontal.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Baba_Wethu View Post
Edit: And Trelew gets over 2600h, not too far north of Comodoro. Solargis doesn't seem to notice the very sharp drop off in sun hours somewhere between the two cities. It could be because it's so close to their sunshine map limits or something giving hem less data around that pöace or something, I don't know.
good point. but really all i'm saying is there is inconsistency using both types.
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Old 01-16-2017, 01:55 PM
 
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Tôlanaro on Madagascar is one at 2739 hours:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%B4lanaro#Climate
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