Redding, California the 2nd sunniest US city? (San Francisco, Sacramento: 2014, tax)

[Brandon Graves]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

It happens, mainly in Spring. I remember driving from Phoenix to Anaheim on 3/26/11, and up until Thousand Palms, it was clear blue skies, then from TP to NPS saw the thick grey wall right ahead, and by Banning all the way to Anaheim was overcast

Wow... That sounds quite like a phenomenon!

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by Brandon Graves

Wow... That sounds quite like a phenomenon!

In late spring, the marine layer can certainly reach into the IE, Riverside, Redlands, Ontario, etc, which is about 55 miles inland. Not a ton of mountains blocking it.

[Brandon Graves]

Originally Posted by tstieber

In late spring, the marine layer can certainly reach into the IE, Riverside, Redlands, Ontario, etc, which is about 55 miles inland. Not a ton of mountains blocking it.

Oh, yeah. How can I possibly forget about the fact that there aren't a ton of mountains to block the marine layer?

It's been such a long time since I have lived in the IE (first in Riverside, then in Perris), and a long time since I've been out that way also, so that's probably why. What you just mentioned does make perfect sense.

[pnwguy2]

The "marine layer" is common up and down the Pacific coast. It happens almost year 'round, but is perhaps most common from May 15-July 1st. In SoCal they call it "The June Gloom". Everywhere else they just say "morning clouds, afternoon sun". Pretty typical.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by DKM

Not just at the low end, there is no part of Redding below 400ft. He probably meant to type 540 ft. which is high enough to block valley fog, but so are the hills south of redding blocking valley fog.

Thank you. I didn't know about the hills to the south blocking the fog, but that could also be a factor.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Hah! Let me dispel your thinking as far as cooling off in the evenings. This tricked me, too. And I'm a research-aholic. If you look at the data for hourly forecasts, you will learn that the nighttime low doesn't occur until about 4am. So, you do not get the evening or nighttime cooldown temps you'd expect.

Then, by about 10am, it's unbearably hot again. So, your only window of comfortable outdoor temps is from about 4am to about 10am max. Forget the rest of the day, and forget the evenings.

I think what would be helpful for you, is to look at the monthly calendars on a weather website, like here:

https://www.wunderground.com/history...calwx_calendar

Then, also look at the hourly data, so you can see when it gets hot and when it cools down.

That's a good point.

But if someone is considering Phoenix, Redding is clearly not as bad. Phoenix has the worst "urban heat island" effect in America. Low temperatures in summer are now about 12 degrees hotter than they were before World War 2, and only 2 of those degrees are attributed to climate change. Typical 4AM to 6AM lows in PHX are around 80 in July. But often, the low is higher than that. There are several times a year where the morning low is 90 degrees. Phoenix really needs to do things to mitigate the urban heat island (yes there are things that can be done), but that's another thread.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

It happens, mainly in Spring. I remember driving from Phoenix to Anaheim on 3/26/11, and up until Thousand Palms, it was clear blue skies, then from TP to NPS saw the thick grey wall right ahead, and by Banning all the way to Anaheim was overcast

Yes, that May Gray and June Gloom definitely make it to the IE. I've been there when that happened. I didn't know it made it all the way to Palm Springs at times. That's interesting.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

The "marine layer" is common up and down the Pacific coast. It happens almost year 'round, but is perhaps most common from May 15-July 1st. In SoCal they call it "The June Gloom". Everywhere else they just say "morning clouds, afternoon sun". Pretty typical.

SoCal gets the worst of the low clouds/fog in May & June. Starting north of Point Conception in Santa Barbara County, July & August are the biggest months for low clouds/fog while May and June are actually quite sunny, although still cool.

[grega94]

I have a hard time believing that Redding gets almost 4,000 hrs of sunshine, especially since it gets so wet in the winter, it's only slightly drier than Portland and Seattle, but that's only because Redding is drier in summer, but the winters are just as rainy, and yet has no winter gloom, even SLC with a wet winter/dry summer pattern but with significantly less rain gets some winter gloom and only manages to get around 3,000 hrs.

List of cities by sunshine hours and rainy days from Nov-Feb

Reno: 799.3 hrs | 25.3 days | 31.59 hrs/day
Redding: 937 hrs | 38.8 days | 24.15 hrs/day
Sacramento: 682.8 hrs | 36.5 days | 18.71 hrs/day
Salt Lake City: 554 hrs | 38.5 days | 14.39 hrs/day
Boise: 486 hrs | 41.9 days | 11.60 hrs/day
Spokane: 329.2 hrs | 50.7 days | 6.49 hrs/day
Portland: 345 hrs | 70.5 days | 4.89 hrs/day
Walla Walla: 241.9 hrs | 50.6 days | 4.78 hrs/day

So I just have a hard time believing that Redding never falls below 200 hrs per month, even Reno falls bellow 200 hrs in winter.

[pnwguy2]

And where is Tri-Cities? Pasco is the weather location. I can't believe they are not in this mix.