Sunday, January 2, 2011

Out With the Old Suck, In With the New Suck

The last month of 2010 turned out to be considerably less sucky than I had anticipated. There actually were a few rather pleasant sunny (though bitterly cold) days scattered through it, including a whole four-day stretch from the 14th through the 17th. And the month ended with two brilliantly sunny, crisp days.

All that, however, could not prevent December from recording more suckiness than sunniness, with a total of 12 days of sun vs. 19 days of suck, for a suck-to-sun ratio of 60:40. Overall, the year had 205 days of sun and 160 days of suck, yielding a sun-to-suck ratio of roughly 56:44.

Which at first glance doesn't look too bad. Like other averages, however, this one can be misleading. The bulk of the sunny days --118 of them -- occurred in the five-month period from June through October. During the whole period of January through May, only 81 sunny days were logged.

June through October were the only months in which sunny days predominated over sucky ones. And the first three-quarters of June and the latter half of October were mainly sucktacular, so the predominantly sunny period was really only about four months long.

What have we learned from this year-long experiment? I believe the data point clearly to two conclusions:

1. The "300 days of sunshine a year" claim is (as originally hypothesized) pure bullshit. It's inflated by almost 50%.

2. If you want to enjoy sunshine, be in Bend between mid-June and mid-October and get the hell out of here for the eight other months of the year.

December Totals:

Days of Sun: 12
Days of Suck: 19

2010 Totals:

Days of Sun: 205
Days of Suck: 160

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nothing more than a gut feeling here but I'll weigh in by saying.., Summer 2011 will be even later.., shorter.., and suckier than 2010. ( If that's possible? )

I haven't even seen the 2011 Farmer's Almanac or have one shred of hard data to back that up. Of course I'd love to be completely WRONG about all of this but I'm somehow doubting it.

Here in the Wil. Valley we'll be excruciatingly lucky to see two weeks of 80+ weather. Total. Please keep in mind, as always, we'll get an altogether too brief reprieve from The Drear, perhaps a week of 90+ degree days and everyone will point to that and say "they're 'glad' we have a moderate climate" or no longer live in L.A or are "looking forward to Fall" etc.

My prediction is that we'll have 3 to 5 weeks of actual summer weather. Just enough time to clean the gutters, stain the deck and by the time you get caught up on your "Mid-July 'Spring' cleaning" ( you'll get in (2) weekends of bbq'ing before you put the cover BACK on the grill )

Start making 'other' plans ASAP.

Anonymous said...

Oh well, I'll be down in K' Falls this weekend ( and beyond actually ) so I've packed my sunscreen, flip-flops and Bermuda shorts ( kidding! )

I think even our 'precious' PT has been called on account of weather. At least -someone- has some sense!

The ODOT Trip Check Cams look.., look, they look, SCARY! Then again it's January. Have a great weekend ( whatever that means to 'you'? )

H. Bruce Miller said...

Sorry, I don't know what you mean by "precious PT."

Anonymous said...

PT=Physical Training.

The Base C.O won't authorize anyone be req. to run when it's cold enough to freeze your lungs.

Not a good use of TAXPAYER $'s in his estimation! We did have (1) really nice day down there on Thursday where it got into the low 50's. The ride home thru Hwy 58 was actually ok w/ mostly rain.


Even Hwy 97 coming into Bend was driveable. In Silverton we've had a few days ( rain and all ) where it felt tauntingly like "Spring could be just around the corner!"

Can't speak for others but our utility bills have been thru the roof. Like I say, everyone has been sicker than usual so we've kept our condo right 'toasty' but this has been ridiculous! Hope everyone had a nice MLK Day!

Anonymous said...

Just in terms of Sanity Preservation; I've decided -not- to follow my typical ( and unhealthy ) MO of daily weather checks from multiple sources this Spring.

You know, perusing WeatherUnderground, Weather.com, KATU, Farmer's Almanac etc. All in the 'hopes' of finding a GEM of a weekend somehow amidst the Endless Drear.

It's as depressing as checking your Lottery numbers on Monday morning after that $200 mil. jackpot. Especially when you've already heard the winning ticket was sold in West Virginia..?

Like, why do we DO that to ourselves? If not agonizing over this is as simple as not having bought a damned ticket ( w/ roughly commensurate odds? ) in the FIRST place, will letting the chips fall where they may on the forecast actually make Waiting For The Sun any more tolerable? Who knows, I figure I have nothing to lose by completely ignoring it AND Puxatawney Phil!

Cracked the cover on Keef's book have we?

H. Bruce Miller said...

Wow, you're even more weather-obsessed than I am!

Maybe the best approach is to just take it as it comes. If you never expect good weather you won't be disappointed when you don't get it.

Anonymous said...

blackdog,

I probably am. Without leaning too precariously on the PDO.., there was a time when Springtime Updates were actually pertinent.

Until the mid/late 90's, there were plenty of "golf windows" that would crop up in Mar. and sometimes even Feb! So I hope you can understand how that could become a habit.

Lately what's the point? You're absolutely right, lowered expectations, career AND weather-wise are the keys to keeping your sanity in OR.

Anonymous said...

JFTR, the much vaunted "to die for!" weather you may have seen for the Wil. Valley has utterly failed to materialize.

While your local channel may be showing us chiming in at "Mostly Sunny and a High around 54!" let me assure you that's not what's going down here?

Right now we're socked-in fog, very chilly and ( as we've noted in the past ) if it hits that "High" it will be for 15 mins. [tops] between 3:15 and 3:30PM.

Just looking at the weather forecast you'd think there'd be ample time for us to get out and get some really good running in but that is simply NOT the case. The "good weather" is so FLEETING it doesn't even rise to the level of "a tease". Just thought you'd wanna' know.