World’s Cities with Average Annual Sunshine Hours

Daylight is a natural product of this earth and its cycle of the changing seasons influences the hours of light that we enjoy at any given time. While in the Northern Hemisphere the summer solstice that occurs around June 22nd is the longest day of the year the opposite is true in the winter solstice that occurs around December 22nd. When you move from summer solstice to the winter solstice the days get shorter each day, and when you go from the winter solstice to summer solstice, the days get longer each day. If others want some more details of that phrnomena they should read about the ‘Shift of the Sun’s Direct Sunspot’ which has been described by Giorgio Graffi earlier.

The above is mostly worried with the variation of the period of day in a given region during a calendar year. If we want to search for the comparative data on the average sunshine time throughout the year we should take into account factors influencing this index.

Therefore it would be appropriate to differentiate between the two as Day length and Sunshine time. Day length implies the number of hours in a given region which should be mathematically equal to the difference between the length of the moment of sunset and the length of the moment of sunrise. The particular computation of the GioGraffi will also be explained further. This one is a high frequency test which is often a difficult task in the lot of students. Sunshine time is the total amount of time in which that place can receive direct sunlight or its approximation. It is mostly applied to describe the state of the atmosphere or climate profile of a given area. The major issues that determine sunshine time are climatic conditions rather than geographic location. This is an important point to bear in mind.

Now let us discuss the Cross Tabulation of mean annual sunshine hours for China. From the chart below, what can be deduced from it regarding existing laws? Which situations can be noticed as special?

The subsequent chart represents the distribution of average number of hours of sunshine in China over 2000-2018. From such a chart it is evident that the figures of the average of 10 hours of hours of sunshine per year, have a southeast-northwest gradient in China. This is mainly because the monsoon exerts influence over the southeast coastal regions which brings out more of the rainy season. This one affects number of hours for sunshine. On the other hand, the area referred to as the inland northwest has received considerably less precipitation and has more hours of sunshine. Besides, it is also found that the total sunshine hours in a year in the plateau area, say the Tibetan Plateau, the western part of the Inner Mongolian Plateau and the like is 3000 hours or so, largely because of high altitude, thin atmosphere and sunny climate. for example the Sichuan Basin region receives less than one thousand sunshine hours annually this is because of topography, high vapor pressure, and high cloud cover.

We will now look now at the world rating by average annual sunshine hours. In which cities, does the weather is brightest and where are the regions with most sunny days? Which are the cities that don’t see the sun at all round the year?

The following is a list of the top 10 cities with the highest average annual sunshine hours:

01. Yuma Arizona of USA has 4015.3 hours with average annual sunshine.

Yuma is located in the corner of the United States of America sub continent of Arizona just beside the state of California. Annual precipitation is less than 100 mm, the climate of the city is arid, making it the only city with more than 4,000 hours of sunshine per year This is an average of 10.96 hours of sunshine per day. In addition, it is an ideal location primarily because of it boasts the highest solar potential of any city in the United States of America.

02. Massa Alam, Egypt with approximately 3958 sunshine hours of the year.

Massa Alam is a seaport located in the Red Sea and its climatic condition is tropical desert. Small amount of cloud and much sunshine; heat is high and humidity is low all year round. Marsa Alam is relatively young resort that attracted tourists after inauguration of the local international airport in 2001 and it is very famous for diving in the Red Sea.

03. Calama, Chile – 3926.2 hours of sunshine per year

Calama is a city in northern Chile, in the foothills of the Andes, 21 km west of Chuquicamata open-air copper mine, at an altitude of 2266 meters above the sea level and experiences a very dry climate.

04. Dakhla Oasis, Egypt, receives 3943,4 hours of sunshine per year

Dakhla Oasis is located in the New Valley Governorate of Egypt and is one of the seven oases of Egypt in the Libyan Desert. The whole of the oasis in itself counts as a tourist attraction with people from different parts of the world visiting the area. It has more than Five hundred spas, many fruit gardens, ruins of medieval cities & villages, colored mud brick hued houses and various other attractions.

05. Phoenix, USA 3871.6h average annual sunshine hours

The best city to live in Arizona is Yuma while Phoenix as discussed above. Phoenix is also the home of the state capital. Furthermore, it also called Phoenix in Navajo which means ‘Hoozdo’ means ‘hot’ in English and place in Navajo. They found that Phoenix has a very dry climate with the highest average annual temperatures of any of the major cities in the U.S. Temperatures are consistently over 38F for 89 days in the year, mostly in summer, but rarely gets as summer as June, July and August. Also, it important to note that the name of a NBA team from Phoenix is known as the Phoenix Suns which is consistent with the climatic condition in the city that enjoys sunlit weather all through the year.

06. Kitmanshoop, Namibia, annual average of sunshine hours 3870h

Kitmanshoop is located in southern Namibia and acts as the capital of Karas Region. Location is in a transition zone between the desert and the escarpment and has apparent climatic conditions of Namib Desert with low rainfall and high sunshine.

07. Las Vegas, USA, it has total sun shine days in a year of 3825.3 hours.

Las Vegas is the largest city and regional center of the U.S. state of Nevada and is famous for its gambling. Las Vegas is located in the vicinity of the Nevada desert in the United States and the surrounding mountains range in altitude between 1000 and 3000 meters. Las Vegas like all other deserts has its summer season where temperatures during midday range from 38 degree Celsius to as high as 45 degree Celsius or more.

08. Tucson, USA has an average of sunshine hours per year 3806h

Consistent with the double-alpha name, the city has perpetually arid climate with abundant sunshine for the tourists especially retirees. Ableesement to this is the growth of the retirement industry which is exemplified in the present case by the convalescent centre. Many elderly people from the north-eastern part of this country have bought homes in Tucson. In addition, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is based in this city.

09. Harij, Egypt, avergae annually sunshine hours 3790.8

Harij is the greatest oasis in Egypt’s Western Desert; there are still vestiges of temples dating back to the fifth century BC. The place is amongst the most popular travel attractions in Egypt. Due to this favorable climate the community practices farming throughout the year and has therefore; developed ways to conserve water, improved on there farming associated soils, and most importantly improved on there farming.

10. Above average annual sunshine hours of El Paso, USA are presented in the figure and are approximately 3762.5h.

El Paso is located in the western part, of the state county in the United States of America known as Texas. The city can be named El Paso and it is Spanish for ‘The Pass’ which is in the bank of the river known as Rio Grande. It is desert like climate with little cloud content , moisture or Humidity in the air.

The next item on the agenda is the ranking of the ten places with the minimum sunshine.

01. Totoro is Colombian city with average annual sunshine of 637 hours.

The area known as Totoro is located in south-western part of Colombia and exacting falls the department of Cauca. The climate is warm and humid with temperatures rising to three digits most of the time and an estimate average rainfall of more than 1,500 millimeters per year.

02. The above locations include Tórshavn – Faroe Islands with an average of sunshine hours of 840 hours per year.

Tórshavn is the capital of the Faroe Islands and etymologically the name Tórshavn can be translated as Thor’s Harbour using the Thor – the name of the god of thunder in the Scandinavian mythology. Annual rainfall combined with cloud cover is high throughout the year as a result of westerly winds and the meeting of warm and cold currents. That leads to the deficiency in sunshine, which is more of a constraint for the Faroe Islands.

03. Chongqing of China, mean annual hours of sunshine is 954.8

Chongqing is China’s youngest municipality and dubbed the ‘City of Mountains’ and the ‘City of Mist’. Geographical features of Chongqing include; it is a place of mountains where mountains take more than two third of the total area of the city. It has a subtropical monsoon climate and uses water plenty in the whole year through the monsoon. Moreover, the Jialing River which is in Chongqing and opens into the Yangtze near Chaotianmen also cause foggy weather in the city. Similarly the amount of sunshine hours is also rather low.

04. Russia, Dixon 1164.3/ avg.ann sunshine.

Dixon is located near the mouth of the Yenisei River at latitude 73oN which means the area is under the Arctic climate with 10 months of winter. Cold, wet and high cloud mainly reflect low visibility due to the fact that during two months of the year the sun is absent.

05. Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, average annual sunshine of 1176.7 hrs

It is Situated on the mainland of the Equatorial Guinea and it comes under the tropical maritime climate zone and it is off shore island formed by the volcaonic activities around the sea. This causes an occurrence of abundant rainfall and very low mean annual resultant sunshine in the region Malabo.

06. Buenaventura, Colombia, average amount of sunshine per year 1178h

Buenaventura is Colombia’s largest port – and the largest city on the Pacific coast of the South American nation. It is an island city located in the Gulf of Buenaventura on the Cascajal Island joined to the mainland by a bridge. It is a noteworthy center in Colombia for imports and exports. The city lies in the coastal strip near the equator leading to high temperature, high humidity and high rainfall.

07. Lima, Peru,average annual shrinkage 1230h

Lima is the capital of Peru and is divided into two distinct parts: the old city and the new city. Lima is famous for not having any rain at all; no thunder, lightning or storm, all the year around. Also, the conditions of ice and snow are not found many of the time. Usually it rains little, but the average annual hours of sunshine in Lima are lower than average. Some scholars have argued that this may be because of pollution, occasioned by the growth of industry in Lima.

08. Ushuaia, Argentina, average annual sunshine hours: 1281.2h

Ushuaia is in Argentina and is 3200 km away from Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina but only 800 km away from the southern most city in the world known as the town at the end of the world.

Ushuaia is perfect for inaugurating sailing and restocking for the ventures and expeditions to Antarctica. Said to be located in the Westerly Wind Belt that experiences the prevailing westerly winds and westerly drift throughout the year, the climate that characterizes the city of Ushuaia is cold and wet all the year with little sun.

09. Reykjavik, Iceland, 1,326h average annual sunshine hours

Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland; it is also the first city in this country and the first seaport of the state as well. Reykjavik is geographically located at 64 degrees North latitude inside the Arctic circle. However, the true water temperate is modified by the influence of the North Atlantic Warm Current hence being comparatively mild. Still, due to the coastal climate and availability of geothermal qualities, water vapour over the capital city of Reykjavík is relatively high and impedes the number of sunlight hours.

10. Bogotá, Colombia, mean annual hours of sunshine per day 3.6h

Bogotá is the capital city in Colombia, and a significant number of cities in this country is experiencing rapid urbanisation throughout the Latin American region. The Bogotá Bus Rapid Transit is a model that has been copied by many other places throughout the world due to its success. They located the city of Bogotá in the highlands nevertheless, they are near the equator, they experience a cooler climate as compared to other areas with similar altitudes. The city has reasonable sunshine hours per annum or even more similar to Chongqing.