Redding, California the 2nd sunniest US city? (Fresno, Sacramento: live, retire)

[KC6ZLV]

The weather clears after it rains in Redding. When a front passes the winds will come from a northerly to westerly direction. That is downslope for Redding, so the wind is a bit warmer and drier, which pushes any fog to the south. Being slightly higher than the rest of the Sacramento Valley in combination with cold air drainage at night creates a breeze that brings drier air across Redding at night, which lowers the dewpoint and prevents a nocturnal inversion from setting in over the far north end of the Sacramento Valley. And then there is just being up there to the north further away from the high pressure cell that reinforces the inversion layer that locks in an overcast foggy pattern that is typical for the San Joaquin Valley during the winter months.

[GSR13]

Poorly, poorly written article by the author at Nerdwallet. The key tidbit not explained -

Percent of Possible Sunshine— - Of the total amount of possible sunshine this represents the average annual amount. This measurement is the total time that sunshine reaches the earth expressed as the percent of the possible maximum amount of sunshine from sunrise to sunset (with clear sky conditions.)

https://www.easidemographics.com/mdb...e_sunshine.htm

Basically, this is a measure of how the strong the sun is on a clear day.

NOT how many sunny days you have over the course of the year.

Assuming it isn't a forum violation for calling non-members names, the article author is a retard.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by poibon77

What does this have to do with how often it's sunny in Redding?

It's only based on 10 years' worth of data, so I think it may be an overestimate. Comparable places in the Valley with similar climates, such as Sacramento, only get about 78%--and Sacramento has fewer rainy days in winter. Redding probably gets fewer fog days because of its slightly higher elevation, so it may, indeed, be sunnier than Sacramento.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by sav858

Fresno, and the rest of the Central Valley, can get a lot of Tule fog during winter. I think Redding being at the very far northern end of the valley manages to avoid a lot of it somehow.

It's not because it's at the northern end. It's because of elevation above the valley floor. Cold, damp air is heavier than warm air. So cold, damp air sinks to lower elevations.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

It's not because it's at the northern end. It's because of elevation above the valley floor. Cold, damp air is heavier than warm air. So cold, damp air sinks to lower elevations.

It’s evelvation is only 340ft, not exactly an altitude that would make a huge difference alone. According to post #11 it appears its location at the northern end does indeed play a role.

[AFtrEFkt]

Originally Posted by poibon77

I read that Redding, California is the 2nd sunniest US city with 88% possible sunshine with Yuma, Arizona being number 1 with 90% possible sunshine. How is this possible?? Redding is much closer to Oregon than Arizona. Even cities that are south of Redding like Fresno are not even close to being that sunny. So my question is: Is Redding, CA really sunny 88 percent of the time?

Also, Redding gets about 33-34 inches of precipitation per year. It would be hard to believe that a place like that would be sunny 88% of daylight hours.

I'm pretty sure any of the cities of the Coachella Valley can beat that. It's sunny right now.

[Elliott_CA]

Nobody has mentioned latitude. The reason Redding and Sacramento score so high on "total sunshine" lists is due to climate and latitude. These two cities are unusual for having such a dry climate in summer so far north at 40 deg latitude. During the summer there's no marine layer fog, no desert monsoon, no humid thunderstorms. At 40 deg North the sun is out nearly 15 hours a day in June/July, so Redding and Sacto rack up a lot of sunshine hours in those months.

[Brandon Graves]

Originally Posted by AFtrEFkt

I'm pretty sure any of the cities of the Coachella Valley can beat that. It's sunny right now.

You got that right!

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by poibon77

I read that Redding, California is the 2nd sunniest US city with 88% possible sunshine with Yuma, Arizona being number 1 with 90% possible sunshine. How is this possible?? Redding is much closer to Oregon than Arizona. Even cities that are south of Redding like Fresno are not even close to being that sunny. So my question is: Is Redding, CA really sunny 88 percent of the time?

Also, Redding gets about 33-34 inches of precipitation per year. It would be hard to believe that a place like that would be sunny 88% of daylight hours.

I've wondered the same. How is Redding sunnier than Phoenix and Tucson, doesn't seem to make sense. I've read the posts and I guess it's possible that Redding dumps rain and then clears up and is sunny but it just doesn't seem like a city with this level of rain would be the 2nd sunniest in the nation.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

I've wondered the same. How is Redding sunnier than Phoenix and Tucson, doesn't seem to make sense. I've read the posts and I guess it's possible that Redding dumps rain and then clears up and is sunny but it just doesn't seem like a city with this level of rain would be the 2nd sunniest in the nation.

I think it's based on hours of sunshine. As another poster pointed out, Redding doesn't get the monsoon in the summer like Phoenix, Tucson and Las Vegas do; and it has days that are about an hour longer than Phoenix in June