Top 50 universities ranked by sunny days per year

lockn · 12-02-2009, 05:46 PM

Forget average SAT scores and spending per student. Where do you REALLY want to spend the next four years?

1 . Caltech , Pasadena, CA - 286
2 . UCLA , Los Angeles, CA - 284
2 . USC , Los Angeles, CA - 284
4 . UCSB , Santa Barbara, CA - 283
5 . UC Irvine , Irvine, CA - 281
6 . UC Davis , Davis, CA - 267
7 . UCSD , La Jolla, CA - 266
8 . Stanford , Stanford, CA - 262
9 . Berkeley , Berkeley, CA - 256
10 . UT Austin , Austin, TX - 228
11 . Columbia , New York, NY - 224
11 . NYU , New York, NY - 224
11 . Florida , Gainesville, FL - 224
14 . Duke , Durham, NC - 220
15 . UVa , Charlottesville, VA - 219
16 . Emory , Atlanta, GA - 217
16 . Georgia Tech , Atlanta, GA - 217
17 . UNC , Chapel Hill, NC - 216
17 . Wake Forest , Winston-Salem, NC - 216
17 . Tulane , New Orleans, LA - 216
21 . Hopkins , Baltimore, MD - 213
22 . William & Mary , Williamsburg, VA - 209
23 . Penn , Philadelphia, PA - 207
24 . Vanderbilt , Nashville, TN - 205
25 . Princeton , Princeton, NJ - 204
25 . Yale , New Haven, CT - 204
25 . Rice , Houston, TX - 204
25 . Boston College , Chestnut Hill, MA - 204
29 . Georgetown , Washington, DC - 203
30 . WUStL , St. Louis, MO - 202
30 . Lehigh , Bethlehem, PA - 202
32 . Harvard , Cambridge, MA - 201
32 . MIT , Cambridge, MA - 201
32 . Tufts , Medford, MA - 201
35 . Brown , Providence, RI - 200
36 . Dartmouth , Hanover, NH - 198
37 . Brandeis , Walthan, MA - 197
38 . Illinois , Champaign, IL - 194
39 . Northwestern , Evanston, IL - 193
40 . Chicago , Chicago, IL - 189
41 . Wisconsin , Madison, WI - 187
42 . RPI , Troy, NY - 183
43 . Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI - 178
43 . Penn State , State College, PA - 178
45 . Notre Dame , South Bend, IN - 172
46 . Case Western , Cleveland, OH - 166
46 . Rochester , Rochester, NY - 165
48 . Carnegie , Pittsburgh, PA - 160
49 . Cornell , Ithaca, NY - 155
50 . Washington , Seattle, WA - 152

rodney · 12-02-2009, 05:48 PM

what happened to University of Denver? isn't it sunny 300 days out of the year? or is this just based on top schools?

lockn · 12-02-2009, 05:49 PM

These are the US News top 50 national universities.

tenisghs · 12-02-2009, 06:10 PM

What is your source for this information?

I find it hard to believe Columbia and NYU are that sunny. I've been to New York City.

themoonisdown · 12-02-2009, 06:30 PM

If there was a "like" button on college confidential, I would like this.

LogicWarrior · 12-02-2009, 06:51 PM

The top 50 tend to be cloudy because otherwise students would go outside instead of studying. I bet ASU tops the list for all universities.

Quote:

I find it hard to believe Columbia and NYU are that sunny. I've been to New York City.

It's behind UCSD, which is trapped under fog for about half the year, and Stanford, which judging by its proximity to San Francisco has similar amounts of fog. New York is only relatively sunny compared to most of the top 50, yet not sunny in general.

BaghDAD · 12-02-2009, 07:04 PM

"These are the US News top 50 national universities."

Err, where is the University of Miami? Top 50 and you can actually doing something with the sunshine...Like go to the beach...As in South Beach!

Cuse0507 · 12-02-2009, 07:26 PM

Interesting-Duke has 4 more sunny days per year than UNC, despite only being located 8 miles away from Chapel Hill.

lockn · 12-02-2009, 09:30 PM

I don't know where the universities are located precisely. The data is from the city listed. For a few colleges I had to change the location becuase I couldn't find data. For example, Penn State is supposed to be University Park.

Sorry about Miami, I didn't see it on the next page in the rankings. Coral Gables is just after Berkeley with 248 days.

swish14 · 12-02-2009, 10:15 PM

cross reference mean temperature from Sept-April and you would have an even more accurate insight to how nice the weather is. Sunny and 20 degrees in NYC is a lot different than overcast and 60 in Atlanta.

hawkette · 12-02-2009, 10:48 PM

Lockn,
Good stuff. Thanks for making the effort to pull this info together.

I, too, am a little skeptical of the numbers for NYC and the Duke-U North Carolina numbers are nutty, but one thing is clear....California is a GREAT place. Now if they could just do something about those taxes and that state legislature.

blaw · 12-02-2009, 11:00 PM

Like. I applied to 7 of the top 10 and will likely get into at least 5. So my decision is not going to be based on this!

rc251 · 12-02-2009, 11:28 PM

Another variable is the average winter/summer temp. Even between the top 10, the numbers can vary significantly:

(January/August average temps)

1 . Caltech , Pasadena, CA - 68/91
2 . UCLA , Los Angeles, CA - 68/85
2 . USC , Los Angeles, CA - 68/85
4 . UCSB , Goleta, CA - 65/79
5 . UC Irvine , Irvine, CA - 68/85
6 . UC Davis , Davis, CA - 53/92
7 . UCSD , La Jolla, CA - 66/77
8 . Stanford , Stanford, CA - 58/78
9 . Berkeley , Berkeley, CA - 56/72
10 . UT Austin , Austin, TX - 60/96

Coastal areas like La Jolla and Goleta have very little temperature variation throughout, always being comfortable. Inland California areas like Davis have mild winters and hot summers.

sandrasccr · 12-03-2009, 12:21 AM

i cant believe UW is on that list, it definitely is not sunny that sunny in washington

ZZZZaaacck · 12-03-2009, 12:35 AM

^^^ Are you an idiot?