For many years The EYE has been intrigued (and baffled) by the persistent claim that Bend has “300 days of sunshine a year.” Where did it come from? How was that number arrived at?
We still haven’t been able to answer those questions. But while poking around on the Web the other day we came across some interesting data that appear to call the claim (or maybe we should call it a myth?) into serious question.
The City Data website has exhaustive information about hundreds of American cities, including Bend. Among the information is data about climate factors – precipitation, humidity, snowfall, temperatures and, yes, sunshine.
Judging from City Data’s “sunshine” chart for Bend, it hardly looks like we have 300 days a year that legitimately qualify as “sunny.” In fact, if you go by the chart, Bend has substantially less sunshine on a percentage basis than the U.S. average for about 10 months out of the year – every month except July, August and part of September.
Klamath Falls – whose Chamber of Commerce also claims 300 days of sunshine a year – seems to have more legitimate bragging rights: The chart shows its sunshine percentage is equal to or above the U.S. average every month of the year, and far above it from April through September.
But what the hell, we’re sunnier than Portland – although not all that much.
This article appears in May 8-14, 2008.
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CORA – Central Oregon Recreation Association – back in the early 80’s had a brochure that touted the 300 day number. I only remember this because the brochure had the neat photo of the fellow in the canoe on Devil’s lake – looks like he’s floating in mid-air. Anyhow, I kept track that year to see if it was correct, and the sun did make an appearance about 300 days, but I wondered if that counted.
Incidentally, do you remember that CORA was intially heavily funded by Mr. Healy’s Mt. Bachelor and given free office space there? Yes, it served as a promotional tool for the mountain, but their goal was to promote tourism year round. I guess that’s one more example of “the good old days” as compared to Powder Corpse. I believe it wasn’t until a few years after it came into existence that it began to receive the room tax allotments it now loves to eat as a bloated bureacracy.
I think CORA is now COVA? Is that correct?
Old Guy: The “300 days of sunshine” claim is made by a number of cities. I suspect it’s just a piece of advertising/PR boilerplate that Bend picked up.
I guess if you count every day on which the sun peeks out from behind the clouds for five minutes as a “day of sunshine” the claim might be true — but that’s not what most people mean by the term.
Re CORA/COVA — you’re right. Used to be Central Oregon Recreation Association; now it’s Central Oregon Visitors Association. (It’s not PC to call them “tourists” anymore — they’re “visitors.”)
You hit the nail on the head, HBM: every day in which the sun appears at all is considered a “day of sunshine” for Bend promotion purposes. That’s why they say “day of sunshine” and not “sunny day.”
You would think that this is a pretty shaky claim: why would people get excited about 15 minutes of sunshine? Well, because back when they started making the claim “300 days of sunshine a year,” they were promoting Bend mostly to people in Portland and the Willamette Valley, places where there are indeed long stretches in which the sun does not appear at all. So it was a meaningful comparison.
But now we’re promoting to California. Californians have a different idea of what a meaningful amount of sunshine is. So Californians, don’t be fooled: unless you’re from Humboldt County, Bend almost certainly has less sunshine than where you’re coming from.
Peek: I’ve noticed that most of the people who rave about Bend’s “wonderful climate” have come here from Portland, Seattle, or some similarly soggy locale. Everything’s relative, I guess.
I have lived here for 37 years, I didn’t come from the valley or anywhere else that would be really warm. I am pretty sure that we see the sun or its UV rays at least once a day. Our seasons are Winter(Oct.-April), Spring (May-June), Summer(July-September). If people would just understand our seasons it would make it so much easier.
“I am pretty sure that we see the sun or its UV rays at least once a day.”
LOL! Yes, it’s true that the sun rises here every day. On that basis I guess we could claim “365 days of sunshine” — and 366 in leap years.
“Our seasons are Winter (Oct.-April), Spring (May-June), Summer (July-September)”
So you’re saying our winters are seven months long? Yeah, that sounds about right. Only some years they’re eight months long (mid-October through mid-June).
Actually the lack of sunshine wouldn’t be so bad if it also wasn’t so damn cold all the time.
If I could chime in still, I love the weather here. Born & raised in SoCal (if I dare admit to that, lived in Colorado, and most recently Eugene for 10 years before moving here, finally. It’s totally ideal in Central Oregon. We get seasons, even if only three, a very moderate winter with snow, although not quite enough in town in recent years for my liking, and yes, plenty of sunshine! Those that complain about dreary, wet winters, try living in the valley – it gives you a completely different perspective. Now, if it would only stop raining…
“It’s totally ideal in Central Oregon.”
I guess after living in Eugene for 10 years anything looks good.
My wife and I have lived in Bend for more than 22 years and we are totally fed up with the never-ending winters. We’re getting the hell out of here at the earliest practical opportunity.
WOW HBM. Are you old? Does the cold shake your bones at night? Seriously throw a jacket on for 4 months out of the year and enjoy the rest cause Bend is the ideal temperature and weather of any ive seen in all the states ive seen in the military.
“WOW HBM. Are you old?”
I’m 62.
“Seriously throw a jacket on for 4 months out of the year”
Four? You mean eight, don’t you? Hell, even in the middle of summer you need a sweater if you stay out after dark. Our growing season is 40 days long and we can get frost any night of the year. There’s a reason the Oregon Trail pioneers came through here, took a look around and moved on.
“Bend is the ideal temperature and weather of any ive seen in all the states ive seen in the military.”
Maybe so; different people have different ideas of what “ideal” is. I know one guy who moved here from Alaska who used to complain about the heat whenever it got above 70.