While the Pacific Northwest may have a reputation for regularly seeing gloomy skies, a recent report showed Pittsburgh is the cloudiest city in the country.
A report published in July by World Atlas ranked major U.S. cities with the fewest hours of sunshine per year based on long-term National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
averages. Pittsburgh came out on top, with the fewest hours of sunshine per year on average.Here's a look at why the Steel City ranked so high on the list.
Pittsburgh ranks as No. 1 cloudiest city
Ranked at No. 1, Pittsburgh sees an average of 2,021 hours of sunshine a year — the fewest of any major city in the U.S., according to World Atlas. That's less than a quarter of the 8,760 hours per year.
The cloudiest season is winter, particularly the month of December,
when the Steel City may see just eight days of sunshine over the course of the month.
While the clouds make the winter dark and dreary, they also generally keep summer temperatures relatively mild.
Why is Pittsburgh so cloudy?
Pittsburgh is located close enough to the Great Lakes to experience the lake effect, according to both World Atlas and CBS News Pittsburgh.
As cold air moves over the warmer waters of the Great Lakes, warmth and moisture move into the lowest parts of the atmosphere, creating clouds, according to the National Weather Service. This causes snow, known as "lake effect snow," in colder months.
Additionally, areas of low pressure often settle north of Pittsburgh over the Great Lakes and near the Hudson Bay, which keeps storms in Pittsburgh for a longer period of time, CBS News Pittsburgh reported. Pittsburgh also doesn't see long intrusions of dry air that help give other states clear days, due to its distance from the Rockies and Southwest desert.
Top 10 cloudiest U.S. cities
These locations are the top 10 major U.S. cities with the fewest hours of sunshine based on long-term NOAA averages, according to World Atlas:
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 2,021 annual hours of sunshine
- Anchorage, Alaska: 2,061 annual hours of sunshine
- Seattle, Washington: 2,170 annual hours of sunshine
- Columbus, Ohio: 2,183 annual hours of sunshine
- Portland, Oregon: 2,341 annual hours of sunshine
- Detroit, Michigan: 2,436 annual hours of sunshine
- Indianapolis, Indiana: 2,440 annual hours of sunshine
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 2,484 annual hours of sunshine
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 2,498 annual hours of sunshine
- Chicago, Illinois: 2,508 annual hours of sunshine
Finch Walker is the Pittsburgh Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network.Contact Walker at FWalker@usatodayco.com. Instagram: @finchwalker_. X: @_finchwalker.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pittsburgh ranks as cloudiest major city in US, and science shows why
