This may be silly, but what do you consider to be a 'sunny day'? (Portland: live, office)

[CantStandTheHeat]

I mean, to many people (who may or may not be aware of standardized definitions pertaining to exactly how many hours of actual sunshine comprise a 'sunny' day) this is a highly subjective term. For example, I would call a day with large, cumulo clouds drifting along lazily with plenty of bright, blue sky a 'sunny' day. For me, a cloudy day would be one with far more extensive cloud cover, but where the sun may occasionally break through. A dreary day would be a monotonous sheet of grey (but not fog), hanging low, giving a sense of being closed-in.

Now, don't mistake this as me asking what the weather up there is like. I'm just curious from a sociological point of view.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by CantStandTheHeat

I mean, to many people (who may or may not be aware of standardized definitions pertaining to exactly how many hours of actual sunshine comprise a 'sunny' day) this is a highly subjective term. For example, I would call a day with large, cumulo clouds drifting along lazily with plenty of bright, blue sky a 'sunny' day. For me, a cloudy day would be one with far more extensive cloud cover, but where the sun may occasionally break through. A dreary day would be a monotonous sheet of grey (but not fog), hanging low, giving a sense of being closed-in.

Now, don't mistake this as me asking what the weather up there is like. I'm just curious from a sociological point of view.

In Northern Alaska there are twelve different terms for "snow" (if you've heard that there are hundreds, what you heard is an urban legend).

But we're talking about Oregon. Same thing, really. A day with fluffy clouds and blue sky is a day with fluffy clouds and blue sky. A day with some rain and a few sun breaks is a mostly rainy day with some sun breaks. Sometimes a day will start out with fog which will burn off and the sky will be blue until the clouds come in and it rains and then it might hail for a bit, and soon there will be a sunny patch of sky and it will be raining or hailing at the same time; by the time sunset comes the sun might be shining again.

[hamellr]

Any day where you can see the blue sky for a good portion of the day, AND there is 0% precipitation.

[jjpop]

More blue than white.

It's interesting that you consider "a monotonous sheet of grey, hanging low, giving a sense of being closed-in" to be "dreary". I always thought the term "dreary" to be a negative descriptor. I would call that "cloudy" or "typical Portland fall/winter/spring weather."

[Minervah]

A day that I have been outside for too long and have gotten a headache. That's when I know it's been a sunny day.

[philwithbeard]

IMHO, a clear day is a maximum of 10% of the entire sky contains clouds, and it remains that way for a minimum of 4 hours at any contiguous time period during daylight hours.

Until you have lived in Portland during July and August when the mid-day to early evening has NO CLOUDS WHAT SO EVER, and the temp is around 85 to mid-90s, with the humidity so dry your skin feels cool due to how fast you sweat dries.... This is the Portland "BLAZING" summer sun.

Just imagine, here you are stuck inside an office building, air conditioning running, re-circulating the air over and over and over, yet outside your window is this totally brilliant blazing sunshine in mild easy to take temperature range. Trust me on this weather will call you do something outdoors, like bicycle, walk a dog (even if it is your neighbor's dog) SOMETHING. Portland's green outdoors loudly calling you near the end of the work day, and as quiting time approaches, the Outdoors is shouting at you.... AND THEN, you vile evil boss walks up to you with a demand for overtime tonight.....

BTW: Did you know Portland has a low murder rate? maybe a bit surprising low, considering.....

[CantStandTheHeat]

Originally Posted by jjpop

More blue than white.

It's interesting that you consider "a monotonous sheet of grey, hanging low, giving a sense of being closed-in" to be "dreary". I always thought the term "dreary" to be a negative descriptor. I would call that "cloudy" or "typical Portland fall/winter/spring weather."

Yes, I hesitated to use the term 'dreary' given the negative connotation, but couldn't come up with a better descriptor at the time. Perhaps 'somber'? No, even that sounds negative. I didn't want to use cloudy again. Perhaps you can help with a better one?

[CantStandTheHeat]

Some interesting responses so far. When I thought of the idea for the post I thought I would have more than a few minutes to go in to a little more detail, but the kiddos decided they just were not having any of that 'nap-time' stuff
Anyhow...after a few months of reading all the questions and responses about the weather in Portland and having a rather different point of view than many of the people I live around, here in the Valley of the Sun (I prefer cold, rain, mist, and relatively cool summers) I began to wonder just how subjective the interpretations of the weather really were. For example, even if a day is cloudy in the morning but only partly cloudy/mostly sunny in the afternoon, I think the day has been too sunny, whereas many of my friends will say that it has not been very sunny. When we get one of our rare spells of rainy weather (not the thunderstorms that we get during the monsoon) where it is mostly cloudy for up to two weeks (I know this is nothing compared to the PNW, but for the DSW, it is a long time) the sun will still make an appearance once or twice a day for brief (think half-hour) intervals. Many people I know will call this gloomy and awful weather and claim things like they 'have not seen the sun for days'. But to me, a few peeps of the sun a day are almost too many when I am in the mind to enjoy some overcast weather.

These are the differences I was trying to articulate through my cold-medicine-addled brain fog.

I find the different ways in which people interpret their surroundings to be very interesting, particularly when contrasted with what I have observed in the other places in which I have lived. There tends to be a very local flavor to the ways in which people talk about and debate the weather. So, please pardon my eccentricity and thanks for playing along

[CantStandTheHeat]

Originally Posted by philwithbeard

IMHO, a clear day is a maximum of 10% of the entire sky contains clouds, and it remains that way for a minimum of 4 hours at any contiguous time period during daylight hours.

Until you have lived in Portland during July and August when the mid-day to early evening has NO CLOUDS WHAT SO EVER, and the temp is around 85 to mid-90s, with the humidity so dry your skin feels cool due to how fast you sweat dries.... This is the Portland "BLAZING" summer sun.

Just imagine, here you are stuck inside an office building, air conditioning running, re-circulating the air over and over and over, yet outside your window is this totally brilliant blazing sunshine in mild easy to take temperature range. Trust me on this weather will call you do something outdoors, like bicycle, walk a dog (even if it is your neighbor's dog) SOMETHING. Portland's green outdoors loudly calling you near the end of the work day, and as quiting time approaches, the Outdoors is shouting at you.... AND THEN, you vile evil boss walks up to you with a demand for overtime tonight.....

BTW: Did you know Portland has a low murder rate? maybe a bit surprising low, considering.....

You are killing me!! Here I am, 98 degrees the forecast high tomorrow, getting ready to hunker down for the long, hot, dry, months ahead, praying that the A/C lasts just one more summer and you are teasing me with the very notion of venturing outside to play! Enjoy the cool green grass and warm, Summer sunshine. Spare a thought now and then for me and my kids, shut-ins until August

[khyron]

Originally Posted by Minervah

A day that I have been outside for too long and have gotten a headache. That's when I know it's been a sunny day.

Exactly this. It's "sunny" out, no matter where I am in the world, if I go outside and before walking a block or two I realize that I'm regretting leaving my sunglasses back on my desk, in the car, or in the pocket of some other article of clothing.