What U.S. city has the most sunny days in a calendar year?
Dear Tom,
What U.S. city has the most sunny days in a calendar year?
—Paul Pincawis, Elgin.
Dear Paul,
Few weather and sky phenomena lift our spirits more than a bright, sunny day,
especially after a cold, cloudy and snowy winter such as the one we have just put
behind us. Unfortunately, sunny days are often at a premium in Chicago and across
the Great Lakes region, and the area’s residents will not be surprised to learn that
they dwell in one of the nation’s cloudier areas; only New England and the Pacific
Northwest are cloudier. On average, Chicago logs 84 sunny days per year, well ahead
of cloudy cities like Seattle or Burlington, Vt., (58 days at both cities), but trailing far
behind cities in the nation’s desert Southwest. Yuma, Ariz., heads the list with 242
sunny days per year, followed by Phoenix (211) and Las Vegas (210).