Nice, but umm, where's the rest of us?
this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2025
196 points (98.0% liked)
Map Enthusiasts
4691 readers
296 users here now
For the map enthused!
Rules:
-
post relevant content: interesting, informative, and/or pretty maps
-
be nice
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
The scale is throwing me. Differences of:
400
200
200
500
500
500
500
I always thought england was pacific north west levels of dreary, didn't know it was that bad. How are the English not more depressed?
I don't know for British people but Bretons (from Brittany, westernmost part of France) have about the same sun exposure but are quite festive
We do drink a lot though
Britain: hold my drink
They are. The ones you see are the ones with enough happiness and energy for you to know them.
You didn't think the place notorious for its lack of sun was this dreary?
“Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way.”
Can someone ELI5 why it varies vertically across Scandinavia?
The Scandes, a mountain range, runs north from southern Norway along the border between Norway and Sweden. Cloud formation is much more likely on the west side of the mountains, because of all the humid air blowing in from the North sea. The sun doesn't shine through an overcast sky.
Please don't post images like this, I'll end up with fellow Americans telling people in Chicago to flee north to Italy before you know it.
Well, then again maybe they won't know what Italy looks like
Did you know that Venice sits at the same latitude as Minneapolis?
Didn't know that off the top of my head. I was making a joke about Italy and Chicago being at the same longitude do to the picture.
Although the area just west of Venice, now part of Tuscany I believe was given to Spain in exchange for the Louisiana Purchase (part of a larger deal) , which I believe may have included Minneapolis. Don't remember where the lines fall.
At first I didn't realize you were complaining about the picture layout and thought you were making a clever comment about how part of Italy really is at a more northerly latitude than Chicago.
Ah no, just referencing the number of times Ive heard people either jokingly or being serious say that Alaska is next to Hawaii. Stemming from pictures like this
Also something I have had someone in person use as a reference as to why they knew Texas was larger than Alaska while playing trivia at a bar
Those migrant vessels they sink are full of thousands of desperate Hoosiers in search of a better life
Of course I'd rather take a quick 2 hour flight to Greece instead of going to California. Way closer
The blob across the border between England and Scotland explains so much as to why I get twin peaks vibes from Dumfries and Galloway.
@The_Picard_Maneuver I live near Denver and can confirm that we get a lot of sun. We got solar panels last year and are now in the perverse position of using the power of the sun to counteract the power of the sun on hot summer days.
The interesting one in the US would be Alaska, since the amount of sunshine in that state alone varies wildly.
Scandanavia covers very similar latitudes as Alaska does. The mountains, storms have huge impacts on yearly sun
Bullshit, there is no way England gets that much sun ..
England sits at a yearly mean "sunshine hours" of 1538. If it wasn't for the western and northern parts it would be be one rank higher.
English people just love to complain about the weather, despite it raining ~50% more in Wales and Scotland.
I lived there for 8 years, it is a pit of moist gloom caked in soot and misery
What is your source of data, honored dude? Also, I can see why so many of my brothers by another mother in the EU rent an RV and cruise through my town all summer. Don't forget to stop and shop! (RV= caravan, I think )
I can't seem to find the original source, but based on search results, I'm seeing that this map has been circulating in similar circles to this and solar power communities since at least 2016.
The American one seems to match this, which has "National Climatic Data Center's U.S. Stations 1961-1990 Monthly Normals for the Atypical Climate Elements" as its source.
The European one seems to be from this Wikimedia Commons user, but they never specified their source beyond "according to national data"
This is the sauce every map needs. Thank you.
Thr US one is what you get when you spill a bottle of ketchup on the corner of a white duvet you just washed.
is that dark spot in Northern California Redding? I we account for smoke cover that part of the valley should have a ~ 2 weeks less sunshine than the mountains around it.
Looks like Redding, yeah.
Is the unmarked white space north of the U.S. , and between it and Europe, Mexico, or Canada? I get those two confused
i'm confused, why does the swedish highlands magically have less sunlight hours? surely they'd have more
and there's a splotch of higher sun hours too, which looks to be lake Vänern, but if big lakes get more sunlight then why not Vättern or Mälaren too?
sola i karlsta vettu
Wearher and local geography play hugs roles in amount of annual sunshine.