Arizona is well known to be a very sunny state which experiences at least 300 sunny days in a year. But did you know that the sunniest city in the world is also located in Arizona?
Yuma, Arizona, is the sunniest city on the planet. They have over 4,000 hours of sunlight per year, which means that at least 90% of their days are sunny.
Where Can You Find the Sunshine Capital of the World?
Yuma County, located at the confluence of the Colorado and Gila rivers, has fertile soil and a temperate climate typical of the southwestern United States. Every season is a growing season in this country. From November to February, the area’s agricultural industry supplies 90 percent of the lettuce consumed nationwide, accounting for more than a third of the state’s annual agricultural earnings.
Yuma is well-known for its weather extremes. Yuma is the driest, sunniest, and least humid city in the contiguous United States, with the lowest frequency of precipitation and the most days per year-175-with a daily maximum temperature of 90 °F or 32 °C or higher.
Yuma has a hot desert climate, with scorching summers and mild winters. Except during gulf surges, when a maritime tropical air mass from the Gulf of California is drawn northward, usually in conjunction with the summer monsoon or the passage of a tropical storm to the south, atmospheric humidity is typically very low.
Yuma, located near the borders of California to the west and Mexico to the south, is a popular place to live. Just ask the 100,000 Yuma residents or the additional 100,000 who spend their winters in the southern paradise.
Odds are you’ll enjoy good weather, We hold the record for the sunniest place on earth.
Dustin Moore Mylius, Yuma Visitors Bureau
(Source: The Smithsonian Magazine)
When Did Sunniest Day in Yuma Occur?
Yuma’s all-time high temperature was 124 °F or 51 °C in 1995. In January 2007, the lowest temperature recorded was 6 °C or 21 °F in the Yuma-Mesa area. The temperature dropped to 6 °C or 21 °F for about two hours, causing damage to many crops grown in and around Yuma. The citrus crop on the Yuma mesa suffered the most damage, particularly the lemon crop.
According to a February 2007 Arizona Department of Agriculture report, it lost 75% to 95% of its crop and trees. On average, the temperature drops below freezing in less than a quarter of a year. There are 118 days per year when the temperature reaches or exceeds 100 °F or 38 °C, usually from April to October. Only a few days in July and August do temperatures fall below 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
After Hurricane Nora made landfall at the mouth of the Colorado River and quickly moved north along it, the desert city experienced an entire tropical storm in 1997. This unusual event knocked out power to 12,000 Yuma residents and dumped 3.59 inches (91 mm) of rain at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. The last time a hurricane hit close to Yuma was in mid-August 1977 when similar rains fell. (Source: The Smithsonian Magazine)
Image from My Alexander Toyota