Florida's sunny reputation is a lot of hot air, weather officials say
By Ken Kaye
Staff Writer
Posted June 20 2004
Florida may brag about being the Sunshine State, but five other states actually catch more rays.
Arizona is No. 1, with Yuma seeing an average of 242 clear sunny days. Apalachicola, the sunniest spot in Florida, sees 128.
California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas also bask in more sun, according to the National Weather Service, which monitors about 265 weather stations nationwide.
"We ought to call ourselves the Partly Cloudy State instead of the Sunshine State," said Miami-based meteorologist Jim Lushine. "But it probably wouldn't get the Chamber of Commerce's vote."
Indeed, Florida has more days where between 20 to 70 percent of the sun is blocked by clouds than anywhere else in the continental U.S., weather officials say.
The reason: Warm water surrounding the state, high humidity and a long rainy season -- from May to October -- make for cloud-rich skies, weather experts say.
The Miami-Fort Lauderdale area averages 175 partly cloudy days per year and West Palm Beach, 159. Outside of Florida, the closest partly cloudy skies contender is Denver, with an average of 130.
Still, Floridians don't let rain or clouds stop them from keeping up appearances.
Tami Lesson, 38, a Boynton Beach barber who said "your clothes don't look right without a tan," supplements with a tanning bed.
So does Aliea Khayoum, 29, of Coral Springs, an insurance company disability manager.
"When it's cold out, raining, or not sunny, I go to a tanning salon," said Khayoum.
But don't misunderstand: Florida is splashed with sun.
Key West sees sun an average 76 percent of its available daylight hours -- the most in the state -- followed by Miami with 70 percent.
But they are in the shadows compared with Yuma, which sees 90 percent sun; Redding, Calif., 88 percent; and Reno, Nev., 85 percent -- which makes tourism officials in other states laugh.
"All the sudden being the Sunshine State isn't so appropriate, huh?" said Lauren Yacker, of the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau in Southern California.
Though it's not the sun king, South Florida is consistently warmer than anywhere else in the continental U.S., weather officials say.
That can be seen in the region's mean temperature, the average of highs and lows in a given period. Over the course of a year, Key West has a mean temperature of 78.1 degrees, Miami, 76.7 and West Palm Beach, 75.3.
Outside of Florida, the only places that come close are Yuma, with 75.3 degrees, and Brownsville, Texas, 73.3. Most of the nation hovers between the 50s and 60s.
Warmth was the deciding factor for Hannah Klingsberg, 64, of Boynton Beach, when she moved here from suburban Boston 12 years ago.
"One morning, I woke up, scraped the ice off my car and said, `That's it, I'm moving to Florida,'" Klingsberg said. "And within two months, I moved."
Florida's sunshine is also strong, because the state juts into the subtropics. Rays arrive at a steep angle, bringing a high degree of ultra-violet radiation.
"It may not be sunny all the time in Florida," Lushine said. "But what sun we do get is very intense."
That could be a factor in Florida's high rate of skin cancer. It ranks in the top five nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Intense sunlight can also make people look old before their time, said Dr. Heather Woolery-Lloyd, a dermatologist on the faculty of the University of Miami's School of Medicine.
"It's a general belief that about 80 percent of our aging process is due to sun exposure and 20 percent is due to genetic factors," she said. "I can tell where my patients grew up, Michigan or Miami, just by looking at their skin."
She recommends using sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15, and reapplying it regularly; wearing a wide-brim hat to protect the ears and neck; donning long-sleeve shirts and avoiding the sun from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"Even people who are brown or black, who don't have as much concern with skin cancer, should take precautions," she said.
Cancer concerns or no, the sun lures thousands to Florida's beaches each day.
Guy Labouyrie, of Dania Beach, says he and his wife, Suzanne, enjoy the beach "better when it's not so hot. I don't want to burn."
Mark and Lisa Hiryak, of Stuttgart, Ark., who were vacationing here, said the mixture of sun and clouds make South Florida's beaches more appealing.
"I've heard South Florida's sun is different because you can't get burned from it," said Lisa Hiryak, although her nose was turning red from a few minutes of afternoon sun.
Because of its sunshine, Florida is one of the biggest markets for bottled water, beer, sunscreen -- and greeting cards. Sunnier climes tend to lift moods and prompt people to send cards, said Rachel Bolton, spokesman for Hallmark Cards Inc. in Kansas City.
For instance, of its scores of U.S. markets, the Naples-Fort Myers area is No. 1 in boxed Christmas cards sales and ranks consistently high in sales of all other kinds of cards, she said.
"Sunshine is a metaphor for being positive, feeling good, things are right with the world," Bolton said.
As far as tourism officials are concerned, Florida's rays are to be enjoyed, partly cloudy skies or not.
"When you have the kind of coastline and beach amenities that we have, you're entitled to be called the Sunshine State," said Nicki Grossman, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"We get exactly the right amount of sun."
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