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Ive always wondered this. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and even Okinawa have comparable sunshine totals to London.
How is this possible? Where do the clouds come from? Especially the ones that affect Okinawa an island far away from the mainland, pretty much year round?
Heavy air pollution in Chinese cities block the sun’s rays, especially at low sun angles, so gives fewer sunhrs recorded due to falling below threshold.
Well, the second less sunny month in Tokyo coincides with the month with more days of precipitation (not the amount as it does not match the total rainfall). Menphis at the same latitude has only two months with averages of precipitation above 10 days, while the largest city in Japan has several months with on average 10-12 rainy days.
Although it is an isolated case, this may give a clue.
Perhaps because of the monsoonal influences during the perceived sunny time of year and hence exceptional cloudiness during the wet season?
but what about the winters? even the winters are cloudy and its the drier season in their climate. and i dont think japan is as polluted as china so that cant be used as the reason. might be wrong on that
If they use the methods we used to use (special paper) then I can see how the solar radiation is less there with smog and stuff. Not burning the special paper as if it was clear and direct sun shining on it
I lived in Sichuan ,close to Chengdu and Chongqing (aka the "Fog Capital").
From September to November, there is a "quasi-stationary front" in that area, because cold air from the north and warm air from the south (Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean) are equally strong. In addition to that, the mountains also help to make the front stationary. The record there is 40+ continuous rainy days. The rain is usually not too heavy, but the cloud is thick.
In winter, relatively warm airflow from the Indian Ocean and cold air from the north also meet, both being weakened by the mountains. There is often a "inversion layer" above Sichuan Basin, making it consistently cloudy.
To the east of Sichuan, in central/eastern China and most of Japan, there is a rainy season between spring and summer too.
In North America, monsoon is weak and cold fronts usually move fast. There is hardly any long-term stationary front.
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