This Heat and Humidity (Pittsburgh, Denver: month to, tornadoes, to live)

[Mugatu]

Originally Posted by Craziaskowboi

Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy
Cloudy

Well since this thread is as appropriate as any to ask this, has anyone else noticed that, regardless of the actual weather, the official conditions at NWS Pittsburgh Int Airport often are listed as "mostly cloudy"?

Yesterday was a perfect example. I went for a walk on my lunch hour at noon, sun was shining brightly and there were only a few small puffy clouds in the sky, but the weather reading from PIT was "mostly cloudy". I live and work in the western 'burbs so it's not like the weather would be dramatically different a few miles down the road. I notice this a lot. After a run on the Montour Trail where I am dripping with sweat from the sun beating down on me, I get back to my car and look at my phone, and yup, "mostly cloudy".

Does the NWS use the yinzer guidelines for sky cover? There is one cloud in the sky so that means CLOUDY!

I am truly curious why this is, and if any of our other resident weather buffs here have noticed this.

[doo dah]

Originally Posted by Mugatu

Well since this thread is as appropriate as any to ask this, has anyone else noticed that, regardless of the actual weather, the official conditions at NWS Pittsburgh Int Airport often are listed as "mostly cloudy"?

Yesterday was a perfect example. I went for a walk on my lunch hour at noon, sun was shining brightly and there were only a few small puffy clouds in the sky, but the weather reading from PIT was "mostly cloudy". I live and work in the western 'burbs so it's not like the weather would be dramatically different a few miles down the road. I notice this a lot. After a run on the Montour Trail where I am dripping with sweat from the sun beating down on me, I get back to my car and look at my phone, and yup, "mostly cloudy".

Does the NWS use the yinzer guidelines for sky cover? There is one cloud in the sky so that means CLOUDY!

I am truly curious why this is, and if any of our other resident weather buffs here have noticed this.

Today I learned!

You have to take into consideration if it is the forecast, or if it is the current conditions, and go from there.

The real nitty-gritty.

[Johnny C]

This thread is priceless. It's like taking candy from a baby....

[doo dah]

Originally Posted by Johnny C

This thread is priceless. It's like taking candy from a baby....

I hope it's a clean baby.

[DurangoJoe]

Originally Posted by Craziaskowboi

People who don't see the sun for weeks at a time either sleep all day, don't go outside, or just aren't paying attention. Yeah, it can be cloudy for days at a time, but the only time you'll go a week or more without sunshine is in December, the month when Christmas lights and holiday festivities make people happy. Otherwise, "no sunshine for weeks at a time" is the biggest lie since "educated young people fleeing in droves." Here's the breakdown of clear, partly cloudy and cloudy days in Pittsburgh from November 2014 through March 2015:


November 2014

<snip>

December 2014

<snip>


January 2015

<snip>

February 2015

<snip>


March 2015

<snip>

Days shaded in BLUE and LIGHT BLUE are days when the sun was observed in Pittsburgh by people who are paid money to observe the weather. December 2014 was a very cloudy month; in fact, it was abnormally cloudy even for December standards. But you know what makes me LOL? A couple of things: First of all, December is the clear outlier above. Second of all, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit and Rochester were even cloudier in December than Pittsburgh was, and Buffalo, Chicago and Columbus were in the ballpark, so it's as if the cloud cover that month was a macroscale phenomenon, as opposed to the microscale phenomenon that self-loathing Pittsburghers treat it as.

By the way, there hasn't been more than four cloudy days in a row in Pittsburgh since January 28, but I guess the people who get paid to observe this stuff are wrong. On a related note, be sure never to vacation in any of the following international cities that get fewer sunshine hours per year than Pittsburgh:

Auckland, Lyon, Osaka, Kobe, Shanghai, Macau, Halifax, Vancouver, Vienna, Budapest, Milan, Zagreb, Tokyo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Guangzhou, Sarajevo, Minsk, Sapporo, Moscow, Munich, Prague, Amsterdam, Paris, Luxembourg, Berlin, Rotterdam, Frankfurt, Zurich, Hamburg, Brussels, Cologne, Dublin, Manchester, London, Birmingham (UK), Reykjavik, Glasgow, Chengdu.

That list of cities gets progressively less sunny as you read through it. If you think Pittsburgh doesn't get enough sunshine, then don't even bother with any of the cities I just listed, because they get even less. For that matter, you might as well forget about Singapore since it averages one whole hour of sunshine more per year than Pittsburgh does, and you should probably avoid Istanbul too, since it averages a whopping four more hours of sunshine per year.

In the meantime, it's sunny outside. Off I go for a walk.

Just based upon counting the number of cloudy days listed per month, every one of the months you listed was cloudy 50% of the time or more. That's a lot of clouds regardless of where you live.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by DurangoJoe

Just based upon counting the number of cloudy days listed per month, every one of the months you listed was cloudy 50% of the time or more. That's a lot of clouds regardless of where you live.

Nonetheless, it thoroughly belies your "no sunshine for weeks at a time" notion.

[speagles84]

Originally Posted by bluecarebear

This is like last year. Two weeks of spring. Almost a complete jump from winter to summer (80s in May).

Did you forget March and April happened?

It was between 55-75 degrees everyday in April except 4 days (3 in the 40's and 1 in the 80's.)

Pittsburgh April Weather 2015 - AccuWeather Forecast for PA 15213

[DurangoJoe]

Originally Posted by Craziaskowboi

Nonetheless, it thoroughly belies your "no sunshine for weeks at a time" notion.

In the last 5 years I was there....I saw three stretches during the winter where the sun did not shine for 11,11, & 10 days. That's damn near two weeks. Check the post again listing the cloudy days. There is at least one 7 day stretch & one 14 day stretch listed as cloudy. No matter how you cut it, that's 1-2 weeks at a time.

[Der Schwabe]

One week up to a week and a half my friend. Hyperbole will get you no where. It isn't two weeks no matter how hard you stretch. Seven up to eleven cloudy days at a time in the middle of winter. "Weeks at a time" is absurd.

It's wonderful that you were able to retire out there and I'm sorry that you've turned to anonymous message boards to validate your sunshine-based decision (lingering doubts, too little to occupy your time? - I wouldn't dare speculate), but I really don't see what you're hoping to prove?

Looking pretty chilly and rainy this weekend in Durango, I'd bundle up. We'll be out enjoying the sunshine.

[erieguy]

You tell 'em. Although if this keeps up there's only gonna be about 30 full days of sun left for the year compared to his 250+.