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Never spent much time in Florida but I'm really surprised to see a Floridian city being dead last for sunshine hours --- I don't really hear about vacations in Panama City but I have heard about them in Pensacola, which isn't too far away.
[edit: I'm dumb, this is all of North America, that's probably the one in Panama the country]
I would not have guessed that San Francisco gets more sunshine than San Diego.
It depends on where, in what part of the city are they measuring. Especially concerning SF and SD, if you are measuring directly on the coastal side of Point Loma in SD versus measuring on the bayside/embarcadero side of SF you will have "distorted" outcomes. They should measure the sunniest part of SF against the sunniest part of SD, or the cloudiest part of the SF against the cloudiest part of SD.
Here's the difference, it may be more cloudy, foggy, overcast in SD but a cloudy, overcast foggy SD is 5-10 degrees warmer than SF,with less wind, less "wind chill" and the water in the bay and beach in SD is warmer than SF all year long, especially in the summer over SF's bay and beach. And 5-10 degrees difference goes all long way concerning comfort level especially on the California coast.
No real surprises at the top. I always thought Sac was the sunniest large metro in CA, now I see evidence of that.
The surprising twist with all that sun in Sacramento is that Sacramento also has one of the Coolest summertime mornings, nights, and evenings. Just a handful of major metros are as Cool as the 50's and 60's during those hours: SF Bay Area, Portland, Seattle, Denver and Sacramento. Most of the country is uncomfortably humid/hot during those hours, temps in the 70's and 80's.
They say Sacramento is the sunniest place on the planet in July.....hmmm
There's no way you get the same sunshine hours in a year at say Point Vicente lighthouse that you would get in Riverside or San Bernardino. Marine layer will take those numbers down.
And significantly. West of the 405, you might not see the sun until 2-4pm on many days. It'll peak for a couple hours before going down. Meanwhile in the IE, the sun is shining bright by 10am. This makes a big difference.
I love the amount Seattle gets. I can’t stand too much sun and find clouds and light rain to be comforting. Plus, it’s what makes the area so lush and green, unlike brown and dry California and most of the cities at the top of the list.
The surprising twist with all that sun in Sacramento is that Sacramento also has one of the Coolest summertime mornings, nights, and evenings. Just a handful of major metros are as Cool as the 50's and 60's during those hours: SF Bay Area, Portland, Seattle, Denver and Sacramento. Most of the country is uncomfortably humid/hot during those hours, temps in the 70's and 80's.
They say Sacramento is the sunniest place on the planet in July.....hmmm
You know, I had a normal childhood in Pittsburgh, and I remember plenty of days with sunshine, even including days on end. I wasn't aware that I was supposed to have a pity party because of the weather. I was too busy going outside and touching grass, especially when I saw the sun in the sky. Thanks to City Data for educating me otherwise, though.
Interesting list. I’ve looked into all these before but to see it here is nice firsthand. Personally, I’d want somewhere with NYC level of sun or less.
Btw, notice that Boston is the sunniest major city east of the Mississippi (Minneapolis) and north of the 36-37th parallel (VA Beach). Boston is sunnier than many people assume.
It very much is.
The position in which it sticks out in New England + distance from Lake effect squalls + at the basin of multiple hill/mountain ranges from NYS inwards + wind pattern make it not AS gloomy as one would think.
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