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is the method/criteria for counting an hour as a "sunshine hour" different?
I was perusing a list of sunshine hours by continent on wikipedia, and noticed a real dearth of cities in North America with less than 2000 hours of sunshine a year. Only six cities had that distinction, which is less than the other continents except for Oceania, which has comparitively few cities of note. Speaking of Oceania, it appears none of New Zealand's biggest cities receive as much sunshine as... SEATTLE. Seattle does have a robust sunny period that also features very long days in the summer months. But, it still seems hard for me to believe that a place like Auckland has less sun than notoriously gloomy Seattle.
I have seen some photographs of places in New Zealand which described "overcast" weather, yet it was really mostly cloudy with patches of blue sky. Might their criteria for qualifying an hour as a "Sunshine hour" be stricter? Maybe it has to be mostly sunny for the full hour in some places, whereas other places count any hour with some sun as a sunshine hour?
is the method/criteria for counting an hour as a "sunshine hour" different?
I was perusing a list of sunshine hours by continent on wikipedia, and noticed a real dearth of cities in North America with less than 2000 hours of sunshine a year. Only six cities had that distinction, which is less than the other continents except for Oceania, which has comparitively few cities of note. Speaking of Oceania, it appears none of New Zealand's biggest cities receive as much sunshine as... SEATTLE. Seattle does have a robust sunny period that also features very long days in the summer months. But, it still seems hard for me to believe that a place like Auckland has less sun than notoriously gloomy Seattle.
I have seen some photographs of places in New Zealand which described "overcast" weather, yet it was really mostly cloudy with patches of blue sky. Might their criteria for qualifying an hour as a "Sunshine hour" be stricter? Maybe it has to be mostly sunny for the full hour in some places, whereas other places count any hour with some sun as a sunshine hour?
Most of New Zealand's main cities receive similar Sunshine hours to Seattle, Christchurch is pretty much identical. The sunniest parts of New Zealand is quite a bit sunnier than Seattle. For those who live in New York would you see it as a Sunny climate?
As for US sunshine hours being different. The best way to check this would be comparing areas on the US/Canadian border and US/Mexican border that are right next to each other to see if there is a large Variation. I have to say i'm shocked to see that somewhere such as New York only receives a hundred less sunshine hours per year to Sydney
Most of New Zealand's main cities receive similar Sunshine hours to Seattle, Christchurch is pretty much identical. The sunniest parts of New Zealand is quite a bit sunnier than Seattle. For those who live in New York would you see it as a Sunny climate?
As for US sunshine hours being different. The best way to check this would be comparing areas on the US/Canadian border and US/Mexican border that are right next to each other to see if there is a large Variation. I have to say i'm shocked to see that somewhere such as New York only receives a hundred less sunshine hours per year to Sydney
I don't think Mexico reports sunshine hours? But with Canada, you see the difference
Windsor: 7.2% less than Detroit
St Catharines: 8.3% less than Buffalo
Sault Ste Marie: 14.2% less than Sault Ste Marie MI
Abbotsford: 1.1% *more* than Bellingham
I don't think Mexico reports sunshine hours? But with Canada, you see the difference
Windsor: 7.2% less than Detroit
St Catharines: 8.3% less than Buffalo
Sault Ste Marie: 14.2% less than Sault Ste Marie MI
Abbotsford: 1.1% *more* than Bellingham
With those Canadian destinations i'd expect the percentages to be pretty consistently different from US cities as you have shown it still varies. What do you think the reason for these differences are? Does the US count Sunshine differently?
I did a search here and found a couple of folks claiming it is the USA which may overstate sunshine hours. Those were over ten years old, though.
There are other possible explanations for differences between places nearby. So, that wouldn’t be a 100% foolproof way to look at things.
I suppose something else to consider is the nature of the distribution of sun throughout the year. Whereas Seattle has a glorious sunny period for 3-4 months of the year, with the other 8-9 months being very gloomy, NZ is more balanced all twelve months. So, personal preference is a variable. Personally, a sky that is 90% cloudy and 10% blue/sun is dramatically more appealing than a 100% cloudy sky. It’s just hard to tell if any place is more likely to be 90/10 vs 100% cloudy.
I don't think Mexico reports sunshine hours? But with Canada, you see the difference
Windsor: 7.2% less than Detroit
St Catharines: 8.3% less than Buffalo
Sault Ste Marie: 14.2% less than Sault Ste Marie MI
Abbotsford: 1.1% *more* than Bellingham
Seems Abbotsford is the outlier here.
Some information is lacking:
1. What is the distance between these cities?
2. Are there any terrain features in between or near one/both of them, that could obscure the sun more for one of them, or that that could influence clouds differently (mountains etc)?
3. Any other difference that could influence sun recording (trees giving shadow, etc)?
Sault Ste Marie is of course very close to Sault Ste Marie, MI.
2. Are there any terrain features in between or near one/both of them, that could obscure the sun more for one of them, or that that could influence clouds differently (mountains etc)?
3. Any other difference that could influence sun recording (trees giving shadow, etc)?
Sault Ste Marie is of course very close to Sault Ste Marie, MI.
Bellingham can be affected by the Puget Sound convergence zone; I don't think Abbotsford is.
2. Are there any terrain features in between or near one/both of them, that could obscure the sun more for one of them, or that that could influence clouds differently (mountains etc)?
3. Any other difference that could influence sun recording (trees giving shadow, etc)?
Sault Ste Marie is of course very close to Sault Ste Marie, MI.
I don't know what the exact siting of the weather stations are, but Windsor and Detroit's stations are both airports, and the whole region is very flat, with the elevation varying by only a few meters throughout the county that Windsor is located in, and the flat terrain continues into Detroit. It's only NW of Detroit (20-30km NW of Detroit's airport) that you have a plateau where the elevation increases by about 100m.
St Catharines is located on the S shore of Lake Ontario, while Buffalo is located on the E side of Lake Erie. St Catharines is also at the bottom of a ridge, while Buffalo is above it, with an additional 85m of elevation.
These ridges and plateaus aren't close enough to the airport weather stations to cast shadows though, it's just a question of whether they'd impact weather/clouds, and I'm skeptical that they'd account for so much of a difference.
Places in the NE US like Boston are very sunny for the latitude in winter, that's for sure.
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