What is the sunniest city in the Midwest ? (best, places, population)

[northstar22]

There are no real cities out there. Goodland? Scottsbluff? I've already mentioned Rapid City.

[Trimac20]

Probably the far Southwest. North Dakota is dry but about as sunny as say Dallas, which might get twice the precipitation.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by jm02

Eastern Colorado is flat, and therefore I think if it geographically as the mid-west. For me the mountain west starts at Rockies.

Ooops, I'm digging a deeper hole.

That's fine but Denveronians can no longer claim their mountain views as one of the benefits of living there, welcome to the Midwest Denver.

[Toxic Toast]

It's always sunny in Indianapolis.

[Steve-o]

Minneapolis is pretty decently sunny. The winter months average 50% sunshine, summer months over 70%, which isnt bad. Basically, the further north and west you go in the Midwest, the sunnier and drier. The further east and south, the cloudier and rainier.... for the most part, that is.

[Chicago76]

If you're looking at the biggest metros, by % of total available sunshine:

Omaha and KC: 60%.
Twin Cities: 58%
St. Louis 57%.
Indianapolis: 55%
Milwaukee and Chicago: 54%
Detroit: 53%
Columbus and Cincinnati: 50%
Cleveland: 49%
Grand Rapids : 46%

Source: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/...pctposrank.txt

[Scott5280]

Originally Posted by jm02

Eastern Colorado is flat, and therefore I think if it geographically as the mid-west. For me the mountain west starts at Rockies.

Ooops, I'm digging a deeper hole.

I see mountains from my upper story windows in central Denver. To answer the question, Denver is solidly a western city, not midwest.

[west336]

Originally Posted by Chicago76

If you're looking at the biggest metros, by % of total available sunshine:

Omaha and KC: 60%.
Twin Cities: 58%
St. Louis 57%.
Indianapolis: 55%
Milwaukee and Chicago: 54%
Detroit: 53%
Columbus and Cincinnati: 50%
Cleveland: 49%
Grand Rapids : 46%

Source: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/...pctposrank.txt

THAT is the data I was looking for! Now I'd like to see how other metros in the U.S. stack up. I'm a little surprised to see that the Twin Cities or Omaha are only SLIGHTLY sunnier than say Chicago or Detroit, because when I visit those cities I feel like it's cloudier more often. When I lived in Columbus I was astonished at how cloudy it was compared to where I grew up!

[french paris]

Good link Chicago76 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Xander_Crews]

Denver may seem Midwestern to some people, but the simple fact is that it does not fall into the Midwest region, therefore it can not be the sunniest city in the Midwest.

Having grown up in the Midwest and now living in Denver, I can not see how anyone can see Denver as Midwest. The differences are rather pronounced.