Oregon coast sunshine comapred to NW WA (Astoria, Lincoln City: gated, live in)

[al_123]

Hello all,
Just a quick question on sunny days on the coast. This can apply anywhere from Brookings to Lincoln City.

Currently I live in Bellingham. According to the information on Bellingham (//www.city-data.com/city/Bellin...ashington.html), no months have above 50% sunshine.

Looking at a similar listing for Lincoln city (//www.city-data.com/city/Lincoln-City-Oregon.html), there appears to be more sunshine.

Is this mitigated by fog, or is this accurate?

Thank in advance!

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Solar insolation is often measured over large areas, but there are some generalities that can be gleaned. As to the central Oregon coast up thru the full Washington coast, I would agree fog may be a mitigator. I also checked and Astoria, OR has more solar insolation than Seattle, WA.

Solar Insolation Chart - Shows average USA sunlight available for solar panel electricity production

U.S. Solar Radiation Resource Maps (http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsrdb/redbook/atlas/ - broken link)

[Fiddlehead]

The southern Oregon coast might have a bit more sunshine in winter. Summers will likely be nicer in Bellingham. Except for during the "Chetco Effect," which can kick temps into the 90s once in a while, most of the summer it is 50s or 60s, with a lot of fog. What I have noticed is that in winter when storms are rolling through, the coast gets a bit more sun than the interior here in Oregon. I still doubt sun is anything to brag about though, maybe 30%. The further south you go, the better it gets, but you have to head into California to get much.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

Solar insolation is often measured over large areas, but there are some generalities that can be gleaned. As to the central Oregon coast up thru the full Washington coast, I would agree fog may be a mitigator. I also checked and Astoria, OR has more solar insolation than Seattle, WA.

Solar Insolation Chart - Shows average USA sunlight available for solar panel electricity production

U.S. Solar Radiation Resource Maps (http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data/nsrdb/redbook/atlas/ - broken link)

I like this insolation map, compiled by U of O, a little better, mostly because I know that they have 3 sources of data local to me and the map scale is a little more useful.

http://solardat.uoregon.edu/Assets/ayrdn.jpg

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

Solar insolation is often measured over large areas, but there are some generalities that can be gleaned.

Quite true, and this can be a problem with charts and graphs. Fog liability varies with topography and one area can get twice as much fog as another one a half-mile away. As a general rule, coastal sites that are windy get less pervasive fog than those that have some protection from wind. Fog can also vary tremendously from one year to the next, with some summers being depressingly overcast throughout and others being quite sunny.