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Oppss.. I guess I started a firestorm when I posted that I thought Oregon's many so-called "cloudy days" was a misleading connotation in that during "cloudy days" one can have intermingled...blue skies and sunbreaks too...which is very often the case. I am being attacked for this?
One CAN find a study proving about anything you want. I actually took a class on that in college. Pick any subject.
What I am trying to say is that if Oregon's weather (too much rain) gets one down, then think of the parched areas of the world where they have no water...or remember what LA's water TASTES like...jog on a treadmill or go fast walking around a mall, or anything else to get those endorphins going. FACT: There is no place on earth which is perfect. Any place you live will have some negatives for anyone...albeit all different depending on one's own psyche, emotions at the time, or even just thinking about the "studies", and you WILL be able to find or manipulate a "study" to prove it is causing your "depression". But, for heaven's sake! Look around! Oregon is spectacularly beautiful! Beauty just abounds everywhere. I have traveled all over the US...Oregon is a paradise. Appreciate it!!
You're not being attacked for having the opinions you do, but you do seem to have a hard time understanding how other people can respond to a stimulus differently than you do...that your personal response to a particular climate and a particular kind of landscape is just that -- a personal response -- and not some kind of objective reality that other people should be able to share in if they'd just stop being sissies and change their outlook.
It is true that no place is perfect and you've found a place where your personal preferences are maximized and your idiosyncratic intolerances are minimized. You prefer damp chilly weather to warm dry weather. You prefer green landscapes to more arid ones. That's fine. But there's a difference between fact and opinion. On a relative scale, western Oregon ranks low in annual sunshine for a state in the western U.S. (with the Rogue Valley being closer to average). http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/climmaps/hrssun13.gif
If adequate light during the winter months (or summer, for that matter, if you live on the coast) is not high on your list of priorities, then fine, western Oregon may be your Shangrila. But if you are one of those individuals for whom abundant sunshine is something you require for your mental well-being, don't think that you can just "snap out of your funk" or "eventually get used to it" if you live here long enough.
Oregon is spectacular, but so are Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and a host of other western states. The important thing is not to let one person's pride of place become a pair of rosy-colored glasses through which people for whom western Oregon might not be a good fit will come to make a major mistake in finding their place.
All I can say is that if a person is unhappy in the state they are living in, then MOVE. It is subjective and you cannot predetermine it for someone else.
Also, what is the determining factor on this "sunshine scale"? All I said in my original post is that during CLOUDY DAYS (which may or may not be included as to be being any sunshine at all on the "scale") we can still have sunbreaks, duration small or short, so that a cloudy day may not be as it sounds. It may be considered a cloudy day, yet may not be "cloudy" all day. At the coast it changes in a heartbeat. I have seen heavy rains with bright sun, more rain, more sun....this still may be a rainy day on the "scale", yet for someone experiencing it, it isn't straight rain/gray. Having an argument when all I was doing was pointing out a blessing, is ridiculous.
Youre putting forth a very worthy effort Oregonbeachlover, and I totally applaud you! I also happen to agree completely with you. On a personal note, Im so glad to see another poster on here that sees the sunshine in an only partly cloudy day.
Unfortunatly, theres a large amount of people who focus mainly on the cloudy parts of those days. That even if its a day that has equal amounts of sun/clouds/rain/clear, they just see/claim gloom. Its a never ending battle. Ive seen in your posts how you do refer to the clouds/rain/etc. and give an honest post about how we have both, just that you personally, focus on the better parts, but again, theres many posters who will fight/argue/dispute every thing you say. Some just want us all to post that its constantly misting...always dreary...9months of dark gray skies and rain... and truly, thats all they want to see. But again, I applaud your efforts to show that there is actual sunshine here too. You keep pointing out the blessings. Some are listening.
Tiffany
ps...just to let you know, i posted a live webcam overlooking the bay here in Coos Bay, and actually had someone email me, all upset, saying that I had photo shopped it because it was a beautiful clear sunny day and they just KNEW there was no such thing happening on the Ore. coast during the winter. lol
Sorry, I have to go with Steve on this one. Beachlover, of course there are sunbreaks on days that are listed as cloudy or partly cloudy. But that is the case for ANY location, so it doesn't magically make Oregon less gray in the winter compared to other areas around the country. Yes, all that rain creates beautiful scenery through the PacNW, but that doesn't change the amount of direct OR diffuse sunlight a person receives here compared to most areas of the nation. This is important for readers who might worry about SAD. Studies certainly can be manipulated, but straight statistics based on a consistent scale (such as from the NOAA) CAN be used to make objective comparisons - no manipulation required. Just give people the facts/stats and let them make up their own mind. The simple truth is YOU are the one manipulating the data when you talk about the sun break during overcast days. It's not like the NOAA/weather service has a hidden agenda to make Portland weather look bad!
I do no live in Portland. I live in Salem and Lincoln City. I was not manipulating any facts. I have weather channels on my computer. Many times I see that they say 100% cloudy/rainy for the entire day in Salem or Lincoln City and I LOOK out the window and see many beautiful patches of blue sky and sunbreaks. No reporting agency is saying this, but I am observing FACTS. Take it or leave it, as I don't care. I was just letting people know that all the "cloudy" days they read about are not necessarily accurate. I probably shouldn't be saying this either, but there are countless "WINTER" days where I am able to walk on the beach or read books out in the SUN on my deck on the beach....without need of a jacket. ( I won't mention that the air is the freshest cleanest air, oh no). Those are facts.
Thank you for your post, Tiffela. I was actually feeling depressed by being attacked merely for typing FACTUAL observations about our "cloudy days". Hey, maybe there is a study which can name my depression for being needlessly attacked on a public forum? Wow, that is unbelievable that they tried to negate your webcam. Wow, I am speechless.
I do no live in Portland. I live in Salem and Lincoln City. I was not manipulating any facts. I have weather channels on my computer. Many times I see that they say 100% cloudy/rainy for the entire day in Salem or Lincoln City and I LOOK out the window and see many beautiful patches of blue sky and sunbreaks. No reporting agency is saying this, but I am observing FACTS. Take it or leave it, as I don't care. I was just letting people know that all the "cloudy" days they read about are not necessarily accurate. I probably shouldn't be saying this either, but there are countless "WINTER" days where I am able to walk on the beach or read books out in the SUN on my deck on the beach....without need of a jacket. ( I won't mention that the air is the freshest cleanest air, oh no). Those are facts.
Thank you for your post, Tiffela. I was actually feeling depressed by being attacked merely for typing FACTUAL observations about our "cloudy days". Hey, maybe there is a study which can name my depression for being needlessly attacked on a public forum? Wow, that is unbelievable that they tried to negate your webcam. Wow, I am speechless.
I'll only post one response to this as I don't want to be seen as attacking, that is not my intention. I merely wanted to point out the disconnect in your arguement between what you are observing and weather data posted by established sources using established and well thought out recording procedures (such as done by the NOAA). I'll acknowledge that you don't live in Portland, though from a climate standpoint the differences are minimal. And I'm NOT trying to dispute the FACT that you can see blue sky out your window on a day that is listed by the weather service as "overcast". I'm sure that is entirely true. But the same types of weather observations could certainly be made at different times by ANYONE in ANY LOCATION in the country. It is therefore, illogical - and a form of data/fact twisting - to try to use specific instances from specific locations as a means of refuting a system of weather recording that is applied consistently across the whole nation (actually, the whole world). People interested in or concerned about the weather in the NW probably want a valid comparison between where they are now and where in the NW they are thinking of moving. They can only make that comparison using a scale that is consistently applied nationwide (again the NOAA/weather service's data). As I said in the last post, I really don't think the NOAA has any agenda to portray the weather in the NW in a negative light (pun intended)! Personal observations from a specific location can ONLY be useful to others if you have lived in BOTH the location a person is moving away from AND the location to which they are thinking of moving. Then and only then can your personal observations (factual though they may be) hold any validity for them.
I'm sure someday soon weather data will be recorded with hourly webcam shots so people can truly judge for themselves, but until then...
On a relative scale, western Oregon ranks low in annual sunshine for a state in the western U.S. (with the Rogue Valley being closer to average). http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/climmaps/hrssun13.gif
I was surprised to see that between here in Salem and where I used to live close to NYC there was a difference of only ~500 sunlight hours per year. There are also some zones in the Northeast, particularly upstate NY, where the cloudiness is comparable to Portland/Salem. The interesting thing is that when I lived in NY, people didn't make such a big fuss about how overcast it was upstate, but I seem to hear a lot more clamor about how overcast it is around here.
One thing is for sure, though--I've never heard people complain about too much sunlight! When I lived in NM with 3500 hours of sunlight per year, it was enjoyable, but people DID complain about the wind, and the heat of course.
I've worked outside on a daily basis in all three states and all had their wonderful days, and all had the days when you just wanted to drop dead, and looking back I can't say any one area was preferable over the other because it all evens out in the end.
I was surprised to see that between here in Salem and where I used to live close to NYC there was a difference of only ~500 sunlight hours per year. There are also some zones in the Northeast, particularly upstate NY, where the cloudiness is comparable to Portland/Salem. The interesting thing is that when I lived in NY, people didn't make such a big fuss about how overcast it was upstate, but I seem to hear a lot more clamor about how overcast it is around here.
One thing is for sure, though--I've never heard people complain about too much sunlight! When I lived in NM with 3500 hours of sunlight per year, it was enjoyable, but people DID complain about the wind, and the heat of course.
I've worked outside on a daily basis in all three states and all had their wonderful days, and all had the days when you just wanted to drop dead, and looking back I can't say any one area was preferable over the other because it all evens out in the end.
I often complain about too much sun - I burn easily and it is something I have to work around. I also complain about too much heat as it enervates me. I also know people who complain about the gloom in the Great Lakes region. People have personal preferences and tolerance for sun and cloud cover.
These two threads (why a second one on the same exact subject?) are fairly silly after starting out with some very balanced posts. Steve and Roneb have been very balanced about the weather. It is what it is, the data have their problems, but are consistent across the country. Comparing the data from a place you know to one you are interested in can be very useful.
This insistence that it isn't all that cloudy in the Pac NW is just as silly as other threads insisting that it is nothing but clouds. For some it is too cloudy. For others it is just right.
If it was just right for every single person the globe, all 6 billion would want to crowd into the Pac NW.
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You keep pointing out the blessings. Some are listening. 
