Thanks Jim. That's definitely interesting. Regional differences, such as annual sunlight, are quite significant.
<Average Annual Sunshine in American Cities
The tables below pull together figures on the amount of sunshine each of the largest cities in the United States usually has in a year.
The % Sun number measures the percentage of time between sunrise and sunset that sunshine reaches the ground. Total Hours is the average number of sunny hours the city normally has in a year. Clear Days is the average number of days annually when cloud covers at most 30 percent of the sky during daylight hours.
Hours of sunshine are the means calculated for 1961 to 1990. The other data are averages taken from years of weather watching.
Average annual sunshine % Sun City Total Hours Clear Days|
| 60 | Atlanta, Georgia | 2738 | 110 | | 60 | Austin, Texas | 2644 | 115 | | 57 | Baltimore, Maryland | 2582 | 105 | | 58 | Birmingham, Alabama | 2641 | 99 | | 58 | Boston, Massachusetts | 2634 | 98 | | 48 | Buffalo, New York | 2207 | 54 | | 62 | Charlotte, North Carolina | 2821 | 109 | | 54 | Chicago, Illinois | 2508 | 84 | | 50 | Cincinnati, Ohio | 2335 | 81 | | 49 | Cleveland, Ohio | 2280 | 66 | | 50 | Columbus, Ohio | 2183 | 72 | | 61 | Dallas, Texas | 2850 | 135 | | 69 | Denver, Colorado | 3107 | 115 | | 53 | Detroit, Michigan | 2436 | 75 | | 56 | Hartford, Connecticut | 2585 | 82 | | 59 | Houston, Texas | 2578 | 90 | | 55 | Indianapolis, Indiana | 2440 | 88 |
% Sun City Total Hours Clear Days |
| 63 | Jacksonville, Florida | 2880 | 94 | | 60 | Kansas City, Missouri | 2810 | 120 | | 85 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 3825 | 210 | | 73 | Los Angeles, California | – | 147 | | 56 | Louisville, Kentucky | 2514 | 93 | | 64 | Memphis, Tennessee | 2888 | 118 | | 70 | Miami, Florida | 3154 | 74 | | 54 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 2484 | 90 | | 58 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 2711 | 95 | | 56 | Nashville, Tennessee | 2510 | 102 | | 57 | New Orleans, Louisiana | 2649 | 101 | | 58 | New York, New York | 2535 | 107 | | 68 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | 3089 | 139 | | 56 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 2498 | 93 | | 85 | Phoenix, Arizona | 3872 | 211 | | 45 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | 2021 | 59 |
% Sun City Total Hours Clear Days |
| 48 | Portland, Oregon | 2341 | 68 | | 58 | Providence, Rhode Island | 2606 | 98 | | 58 | Raleigh, North Carolina | 2606 | 111 | | 63 | Richmond, Virginia | 2829 | 100 | | 51 | Rochester, New York | 2298 | 61 | | 78 | Sacramento, California | 3608 | 188 | | 66 | Salt Lake City, Utah | 3029 | 125 | | 60 | San Antonio, Texas | 2629 | 105 | | 68 | San Diego, California | 3055 | 146 | | 66 | San Francisco, California | – | 160 | | 47 | Seattle, Washington | 2170 | 58 | | 57 | St. Louis, Missouri | 2594 | 101 | | 66 | Tampa, Florida | 2927 | 101 | | 60 | Virginia Beach, Virginia | 2695 | 106 | | 56 | Washington, DC | 2528 | 96 |
Reference National Climatic Data Center. Comparative Climatic Data.
World Data Center for Meteorology. Climate of the World.>
ncdc.noaa.gov
Roof color is also a factor. Seen new metal roofs, in recent years, which are medium red and medium blue. We opted for more reflective "off white" to save on summer A/C usage. Winter isn't a problem as gas comes from shallow nearby well.
Iso |
