Best Weather Cities in the United States
Cities with the Most Annual Sunshine
1) Yuma, Arizona - 90%
At 90% Yuma, Arizona is not only the sunniest city in the United States but according to the Guinness Book of World Records it is the sunniest place on planet Earth. About 100,000 people live in Yuma though the number swells to almost double that in the winter as people flock to the hot, dry and sunny desert city to escape cold temperatures and snow. Yuma only receives about 3 inches of annual rainfall.
2) Redding, California - 88%
At 88% Redding ranks as the second sunniest city in the United States. Redding is located in central Northern California and is the county seat of Shasta County. A bit over 100,000 people live in Redding and it is believed the city holds the world record for the highest average daily temperatures recorded above the 40th degree latitude. Redding gets an average of 33.5 inches of yearly rainfall. While most people associate Southern California cities like Los Angeles and San Diego with sunshine it's Redding that has the most sunshine in the Golden State. LA at 73% and San Diego at 68% sunshine do not even make this list.
3) Las Vegas, Nevada - 85%
The entertainment capital of the world as Las Vegas bills itself is also one of the sunniest places in the world. Las Vegas became a city in 1911 and today almost 2 million people live in the greater Las Vegas area. Las Vegas is also known as Sin City but the huge gambling resort has fallen upon tough times with the economic downturn and leads the nation in foreclosures and has a high unemployment rate but at least the sun shines 85% of the time. Vegas receives just 4.5 inches of annual rainfall but it does actually snow sometimes along the Strip in winter.
3) Phoenix, Arizona - 85%
Phoenix ties Las Vegas for 3rd place at 85%. With 1.5 million residents and 4.5 million people living in the greater Phoenix area this is the largest city on the list. Average annual rainfall in Phoenix is 8.3 inches.
3) Tucson, Arizona - 85%
Tucson ties Phoenix and Las Vegas for 3rd place. Tucson is located over 100 miles south of Phoenix and averages 11.8 inches of rainfall per year. Roughly 550,000 people live in the city and 1,000,000 people live in the greater Tuscon area.
6) El Paso, Texas - 84%
El Paso is in western Texas right across the Rio Grande river from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Roughly 600,000 people live in El Paso and 750,000 live in the greater area which receives 8.74 inches of annual rainfall and El Paso does get snowstorms totaling over 1 foot on occasion being at an elevation of 3,800 feet.
7) Reno, Nevada - 79%
Reno is not nearly as big a resort town as Las Vegas but is nicer in some ways for the 220,000 people who live in the city itself and 310,000 who live in the greater area. Reno averages 7.25 inches of rain and also averages 22.9 inches of snowfall per year.
7) Fresno, California - 79%
Fresno ties Reno for 7th place and has a population of 500,000 and nearly 1,000,000 people live in the greater Fresno area which receives 11.23 inches of yearly rainfall.
9) Flagstaff, Arizona - 78%
Might be a surprise to some but Flagstaff ranks 9th in annual sunshine. Some 60,000 people live in the city and 130,000 people live in the greater area which gets 22.91 inches of annual rain and 100.3 inches of snow. Snowstorms are not unusual at all for Flagstaff but then the sun usually shines the next day.
9) Sacramento, California - 78%
California's capital city ties Flagstaff for 9th place with 78% sunshine. About 470,000 people live in the city and 2.1 million live in the greater area. Sacramento receives 21.45 inches of annual rainfall and snowfall is very rare here.
11) Key West, Florida - 76%
Key West ranks 11th in sunshine and is the only city on the list located along a coast. Some 24,000 people call Key West home and the city is actually closer to Cuba than it is to Miami. Key West gets 38.91 inches of annual rainfall which makes it the driest city in Florida. The temperature is unbelievably moderate in Key West with the record cold being just 41 degrees and record heat is just 97 degrees.
11) Pueblo, Colorado - 76%
Pueblo ties Key West at 76% sunshine. Just a little over 100,000 people call the city home and Pueblo receives an average of 14 inches of rain per year.
11) Albuquerque, New Mexico - 76%
Albuquerque ties both Key West and Pueblo at 76% sunshine for 11th place. Some 520,000 people live in the city and 850,000 live in the greater area. Albuquerque is located along the Rio Grande river well up from El Paso and receives 8-9 inches of rain per year. Albuquerque is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States.
14) Roswell, New Mexico - 74%
Guess aliens like sunshine or maybe they need solar power to get around as Roswell ranks 14th on the list with 74% sunshine. Some 50,000 humans call Roswell home but nobody is sure about the alien population. Roswell receives 13.34 annual inches of rain.
14) North Little Rock, Arkansas - 74%
North Little Rock ties Roswell with 74% sunshine. Some 60,000 people live in the city which gets 50.5 inches of annual rainfall. That is the most rainfall of any city on the list.
14) Midland-Odessa, Texas - 74%
The Midland-Odessa area ties both North Little Rock and Roswell with 74% sunshine. Roughly 260,000 people live in the combined cities which receives 14.96 inches of yearly rainfall.
Did you guess most of these best weather cities? Some are easy like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tuscon and El Paso but you really know your weather statistics if you knew Flagstaff, Pueblo and even Key West were on the list. And if you knew that Yuma, Arizona is the sunniest place on planet Earth you are a weather genius. As far as states go Arizona leads the list with four sunshine cities with California second at three followed by Texas, New Mexico and Nevada tied with two cities each and Florida, Arkansas and Colorado each having one sunniest city. If you thought a city from Hawaii would make the list Honolulu is the sunniest city in the Aloha State with 71% sunshine.
Sources: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/online/ccd/pctpos.txt
http://www.census.gov/
http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/
Published by Joe Dorish
Joe Dorish is a writer who lives in the NYC area. He writes primarily about the things he is passionate about - sports, business, economics, weather and travel. He loves to drive and used to own a Limo company. View profile
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17 Comments
Post a Commentsince when is getting cooked in an oven all year round considered "best" weather? Try the Bay Area in CA. You can actually enjoy the sun without dying of dehydration or skin cancer
Ive lived in the Redding Area for over 15 years. What this article does not mention is the nasty, grumpy people that live in Redding and how unhappy of a place that it seems to be. The high unemployment rate , the welfare state, and not to mention the meth heads and dope addicts.. The city police are a joke and dont do anything but hassle innocent people for stupid traffic violations in hopes of getting a drug bust. The over spending of the city seat is also epic.... A city hall that was built in the shadow of a recession and then sold for pennies on the dollar to out of the country investors. Redding is a poorly run town with vertualy nothing to offer anyone. If you like the sun and 110-115 deg summers then by all means its the place for you. But if want to live in a sunny town with nice people, good schools, good dinning and any kind of diversity look elsewhere. I moved from there 6 yrs ago just 25 miles south to Red Bluff and its like living in a different country.
Tracy, you are very correct. For many people, the sunniest cities are the worst, but they don't care about ranking the best cities for us. I live in the Seattle area too and I think we get too much sun, I want less.
Hi Brandy,
I have an article listing the 10 windiest cities in the USA. You can also see this site you will have to copy and paste - http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/online/ccd/avgwind.html
I am looking to relocate my family and am comparing weather and schools, but notice no one ever talks about how strong winds can get and what kind of bad weather to be prepared for in that area. Any help would be appreciated. Althoght this information helped some.
I have lived in Redding since 1984 and am a native born Californian from the San Francisco Bay Area . I am retired and recently married and have been thinking of relocating elsewhere. So, I Googled "best yearly weather in the United States " and was astounded to see Redding at #2 . We have a gorgeous home on 5 incredible hilltop acres . It is lots of work , but after looking at prices near the ocean in other states and then finding this statistic , my whole thought process has been redefined. I knew that we had a lot of sun, but this news came as a pleasant surprise.
i love usa places, and specially, arizona and capital phoenix. i love the sun. i hate the snow.
Tracy, yes it is subjective but in general people prefer sunshine to rain.
Nice list, but I guess most people are aware "best" and "worst" weather are totally subjective and it seems sunshine has been defined as "good". I've lived in Seattle, Dallas and Atlanta. Of the three, I loved Seattle's the best. So much in fact I moved back here last summer.
Would like to see more sunshine data too Peter. Find it pretty interesting. Some weather websites list it for individual towns but I couldn't go through every town that way. Thanks for the info!