How Often Does the Sun Shine in New York?

Do you know on average how often the sun shines in New York City?

The answer might surprise some people as New York City is not generally thought of as a sunny place. Certainly tourists from around the world do not travel by the millions every year to New York City because of the weather. And the weather is not the main reason that millions of people live in the city.

New York City Average Annual Sunshine Levels

According to the National Climatic Data Center which is run by the United States Commerce Department, New York City receives 58% of its annual possible sunshine.

So, on average, the sun is shining in New York City 58% of the time. Of course there are days in NYC when the sun does does not shine at all and other days when the sun shines all day. Taking all that into account the average annual sunshine level is 58%.

The sunshine data for NYC dates back to 1869 and is from Central Park.

Other Cities in the United States with 58% Sunshine Levels

Boston, Massachusetts

Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii

Majuro, Marshall Islands

Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota

Montgomery, Alabama

Port Authur, Texas

Providence, Rhode Island

Raleigh, North Carolina

Springfield, Illinois

New York City is the sunniest city in the State of New York, as all the large cities upstate are subject to weather patterns heavily influenced by the Great Lakes.

Large open bodies of water are cloud breeders and the upstate cities are right in the path of those clouds coming off the lakes.

Sunshine Levels of Other Cities in New York State

Albany - 53%

Rochester - 51%

Binghamton - 49%

Buffalo - 48%

Syracuse - 46%

Syracuse, Buffalo and Binghamton all make the list of Worst Weather Cities in the United States. New York City is not close to being on that list.

The Best Weather City in the United States receives 90% of all possible sunshine on a yearly basis. That city is also the sunniest city in the world.

Other cities of note include Houston, Texas which receives 59% sunshine levels per year which is just 1% above New York City.

Cities ranking just below NYC with 57% annual sunshine levels include New Orleans, Louisiana and St. Louis, Missouri.

Source:

National Climatic Data Center