Sunny Days in Pittsburgh: 145 (Not 59) (York, Washington: calculated, to live, vs)

[reddesertfox]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

I know this post is old but...

I'm afraid your "scientist" friend is a quack. He does junk science.

So Pittsburgh experiences total cloud cover 90% of the year
and 8% it is partly cloudy
and 2% it is completely clear skies?

Yes,quite right sir.....now a single old fool I am.The climate in Pittsburgh
is not kind to S.A.D.sufferers and sadly there are many fine hospitals/clinics
who are World renown regarding excellent care for depression.This is not a
flippant remark,but something dear to my family.God Bless..."but for the grace of God go thee."

[gallacus]

This has officially turned into the single longest thread-to-nowhere. Just about everything that could have been discussed about Pittsburgh's weather was summed up in the first 3 or 4 pages, and yet it lives on. If I may, I'll sum it all up for you, so we can let this die once and for all:

• A guy thought it seemed odd that the official number of "Sunny" days in Pittsburgh was so low.
• He performed some research of his own.
• He discovered that, scientifically speaking, we have an average of 59 days classified as "Sunny" by the NWS, but that many of the days the NWS classified as Partly Cloudy, Mostly Cloudy, or otherwise, were still sunny enough for the author to subjectively call it a sunny day, using no metrics other than his observation.
• He concluded that it is misleading to cite the NWS's official count of "Sunny" days when talking to someone casually about the number of days one might be able to enjoy sunshine in Pittsburgh.

If I can site one metric that will put an end to all debates about the amount of sunshine Pittsburgh gets, it's the NOAA's chart of cities ranked by percent of possible sunshine. From this, you can plainly see that we are just about the cloudiest city in the country, but the difference isn't quite as striking as some would have you believe. For example, Denver, even though it is hailed as one of the sunniest places on Earth, enjoys only about 53% more sunshine than Pittsburgh. Sure, that's a lot, but Denverites will tell you that they have 300 sunny days a year, and reddesertfox will tell you that Pittsburgh only has 59. These numbers would have you believe Denver gets 5 times more sunshine than Pittsburgh. Quite a difference.

[safak]

woot! we beat pago pago!

[pghdude28]

I don't know why there's much debate on this.... Pittsburgh is NOT a sunny, clear blue sky lover's paradise. We receive sunshine barely half the time annually. We have clouds in the sky the vast majority of the time. In the winter, our skies are dreary and bleak. In the summer, it's puffy white clouds in a sea of blue with the sun usually shining. That's a stark difference from the west coast or southwestern U.S. I'm not sure why Pittsburgh is always the subject of the "sunny days" debate. Cleveland, Seattle, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse are just as gloomy/sunny as here.

[gg]

To me today was awesome! Just a nice flakey snow and so quiet. Perfect day. I love the skiing it provides and all the wonderful outdoor activities. I actually love cycling in the snow. Also the losers seem to stay home more, so it is nicer in the city. More quiet.

Can't get any better than Pittsburgh weather. Now if you love sunshine all the time, you shouldn't live here. I have no idea why anyone like that would live in Pittsburgh? Odd.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by pghdude28

I don't know why there's much debate on this.... Pittsburgh is NOT a sunny, clear blue sky lover's paradise. We receive sunshine barely half the time annually. We have clouds in the sky the vast majority of the time. In the winter, our skies are dreary and bleak. In the summer, it's puffy white clouds in a sea of blue with the sun usually shining. That's a stark difference from the west coast or southwestern U.S. I'm not sure why Pittsburgh is always the subject of the "sunny days" debate. Cleveland, Seattle, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse are just as gloomy/sunny as here.

You summed it up quite well. People can debate the number of sunny/grey days, but the overall conclusion always seems to be that Pittsburgh has a lot of grey weather. I would also clarify that coastal northern CA has grey weather. If you go inland a few miles the weather is much sunnier, but along the coast it is grey, especially in the summer. In fact, many people from Sacramento and the Valley vacation along the NoCal coast in the summer to get out of the heat.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Now if you love sunshine all the time, you shouldn't live here. I have no idea why anyone like that would live in Pittsburgh? Odd.

One of my best friends is a Philadelphia native who moved to CA years ago partly because she suffers from SAD and couldn't take the East Coast winters. I can't stand extreme heat. I would be miserable in a desert climate. I cannot understand why people actually choose to move to those places. Just as they probably can't understand why I choose to live in the foggiest part of SF and am moving to grey Pittsburgh. I plan to hole up in my air conditioned house and vacation elsewhere as much as possible in the hot humid summers. I haven't spent enough time in Pittsburgh to comment on the number of sunny days, but from everything I've read and what people have told me, it does seem like there are fewer clear days than elsewhere. I should be just fine.

[gg]

Originally Posted by juliegt

You summed it up quite well. People can debate the number of sunny/grey days, but the overall conclusion always seems to be that Pittsburgh has a lot of grey weather. I would also clarify that coastal northern CA has grey weather. If you go inland a few miles the weather is much sunnier, but along the coast it is grey, especially in the summer. In fact, many people from Sacramento and the Valley vacation along the NoCal coast in the summer to get out of the heat.

I guess, but I don't feel it is "dreary and bleak". Today for example, isn't dreary to me. It is a PERFECT day for skiing and those that are out there are having a great time. Guess it all depends on what people like. If it was super sunny today, it would be wildly bright and I would no doubt need sunglasses since my eyes are very sensitive to light. I'll take this weather, it is amazing! You can keep your Portland/Seattle rain all the time. I'll take some snow!

[pghdude28]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

I guess, but I don't feel it is "dreary and bleak". Today for example, isn't dreary to me. It is a PERFECT day for skiing and those that are out there are having a great time. Guess it all depends on what people like. If it was super sunny today, it would be wildly bright and I would no doubt need sunglasses since my eyes are very sensitive to light. I'll take this weather, it is amazing! You can keep your Portland/Seattle rain all the time. I'll take some snow!

Today was pretty nice for a winter day. It did start off dreary and bleak, but my the afternoon the clouds broke apart to let in some sunshine and parts of a blue sky. It's actually quite sunny and nice now. Not a lot of grey. But lets be honest about the winter days overall -- there are lots and lots of days where its dreary and bleak all day with no sun.

[gallacus]

Agreed, winters are pretty cloudy. Here's the overall breakdown of the percentage of daylight hours that are sunny in Pittsburgh:

January: 32
February: 36
March: 43
April: 46
May: 50
June: 55
July: 57
August: 56
September: 55
October: 51
November: 36
December: 28

When you take into consideration that the average amount of daylight hours we get in December are a little over 9, that means that in the month of December we get about 80 hours of sunshine total. In July, on the other hand, we get about 260 hours of sunshine.

What I take from this, and what I think an outsider should take from this when considering Pittsburgh, is that there is quite a lack of sunshine from November to February, but once you hit March things start looking up, and summers are quite nice.