Bright Sunshine Canada March 2013

Once upon a time, there were over 250 weather stations collecting bright sunshine data in Canada each month.

Alas we are now down to 7 stations. In 3 provinces. And only 5 of the 7 are considered reliable enough or old enough to have “% of Normals” calculated.

March 2013 was pretty sunny in BC (really Vancouver Island / Vancouver) where sunshine was around 115% of normal  (the 1971-2000 average).

(I’m not sure why Vancouver has an NA for % of normal as it usually has a value )

I think most of the sunshine arrived the last week of March.

Goose A was pretty gloomy. 61% of normal.

Province	Station	Year	Month	Bright Sunshine Hours	Bright Sunshine % of Normal
BC	VICTORIA INTL A	2013	3	160	112
BC	COMOX A	2013	3	144	115
BC	VANCOUVER INTL A	2013	3	156	NA
ONT	WIARTON A	2013	3	130	88
ONT	TORONTO LESTER B. PEARSO	2013	3	146	NA
NFLD	CARTWRIGHT	2013	3	58	NA
NFLD	GOOSE A	2013	3	82	61

Once Upon A Time – 667 Hours of Bright Sunshine in A Month

Once upon a time Environment Canada used to collect bright sunshine data for well over 250 weather stations. Now they are down to 7.

One commenter told us about experiencing over 500 hours of sunshine in one month when he was up in Eureka Nunavut (it was NWT when he was there).

I thought I would post the top 50 sunniest months (total hours of bright sunshine) ever in Canada. Of course they are all in the far north of Canada.

The winner is Eureka. 667 hours of bright sunshine in May of 1987. Sadly Eureka no longer collects bright sunshine data (it stopped around May 2005)

The highest sunshine total for a weather station not in the north is VICTORIA GONZALES HTS. 425 hours of bright sunshine for July 1958. See table at bottom for non-northern stations.

Province	Station	Year	Month	Bright Sunshine Hours	Bright Sunshine % of Normal
NU	EUREKA	1987	5	667	134
NU	EUREKA	1989	5	632	127
NU	EUREKA	1973	5	621	125
NU	EUREKA	1991	5	593	120
NU	EUREKA	1997	6	586	NA
NU	ALERT	2003	7	576	196
NWT	INUVIK UA	2004	6	574	NA
NU	EUREKA	2005	5	574	116
NU	EUREKA	1976	5	573	115
NU	EUREKA	2002	5	567	114
NU	EUREKA	1981	6	565	141
NU	EUREKA	1998	5	564	114
NU	EUREKA	1988	7	563	156
NU	EUREKA	1975	5	554	112
NU	EUREKA	1981	5	548	111
NU	ALERT	1981	5	547	131
NU	EUREKA	1974	5	544	110
NU	EUREKA	1972	5	543	109
NU	ISACHSEN	1973	5	543	NA
NU	EUREKA	1979	5	543	109
NU	RESOLUTE CARS	1970	5	536	172
NU	EUREKA	1988	5	535	108
NU	EUREKA	1985	5	532	107
NU	EUREKA	1990	6	531	133
NWT	SACHS HARBOUR A	1958	6	529	146
NU	ALERT	1985	5	529	126
NWT	AKLAVIK A	1959	6	526	NA
NU	EUREKA	1980	5	521	105
NU	ALERT	1972	5	514	123
NU	EUREKA	2001	5	512	103
NWT	SACHS HARBOUR A	1984	6	510	141
NWT	INUVIK UA	2003	6	508	NA
NU	EUREKA	2003	7	506	139
NU	EUREKA	2004	4	506	144
NU	ALERT	1987	4	503	146
NU	ALERT	2000	5	503	120
NU	EUREKA	1978	7	498	138
NU	EUREKA	1971	6	495	124
NU	EUREKA	2000	6	495	124
NU	RESOLUTE CARS	1988	7	492	166
NU	EUREKA	1970	5	491	99
NU	ALERT	1971	5	491	117
NU	EUREKA	1996	5	490	99
NU	EUREKA	1977	6	489	122
NU	EUREKA	1995	5	488	98
NU	ALERT	1974	6	487	151
NU	EUREKA	1969	5	486	98
NU	EUREKA	1987	7	486	135
NU	EUREKA	1983	5	484	98
NU	ALERT	1979	5	483	115

Top 50 Non-Northern Bright Sunshine Stations

Province	Station	Year	Month	Bright Sunshine Hours	Bright Sunshine % of Normal
BC	VICTORIA GONZALES HTS	1958	7	425	130
BC	VICTORIA INTL A	1985	7	422	131
ALTA	MANYBERRIES CDA	1985	7	414	115
BC	CRANBROOK A	1985	7	413	130
ALTA	MEDICINE HAT A	1991	7	413	118
BC	VICTORIA GONZALES HTS	1960	7	411	125
MAN	RIVERS A	1960	7	410	NA
BC	SATURNA ISLAND CS	1985	7	410	NA
BC	SAANICHTON CDA	1958	7	406	139
SASK	SWIFT CURRENT CDA	1967	7	403	130
ALTA	MANYBERRIES CDA	1988	7	401	111
QUE	INUKJUAK UA	1996	7	401	177
BC	NANAIMO A	1958	7	400	137
SASK	MOOSE JAW A	1967	7	400	121
BC	VICTORIA GONZALES HTS	1984	7	400	122
BC	COWICHAN BAY CHERRY POIN	1958	7	398	NA
BC	PRINCETON A	1985	7	398	131
MAN	THE PAS A	1964	6	397	139
SASK	ESTEVAN A	1967	7	397	119
MAN	DAUPHIN A	1974	6	397	145
BC	NANAIMO A	1985	7	397	136
BC	ANAHIM LAKE 5 MILE RANCH	1985	7	397	NA
BC	VERNON	1985	7	397	127
BC	CASTLEGAR A	1985	7	397	134
ALTA	SUFFIELD A	1953	7	396	120
SASK	ESTEVAN A	1964	7	396	118
MAN	DELTA MARSH CS	1974	6	396	141
SASK	MOOSE JAW A	1985	7	396	119
ALTA	MEDICINE HAT A	1953	7	395	112
ALTA	VAUXHALL CDA	1960	7	395	NA
ALTA	BROOKS AHRC	1969	8	395	133
ALTA	LETHBRIDGE CDA	1973	7	395	118
SASK	BAD LAKE IHD 102	1984	7	395	NA
BC	WILLIAMS LAKE A	1985	7	395	133
ALTA	MEDICINE HAT A	1985	7	395	112
SASK	SWIFT CURRENT A	1994	7	395	116
ALTA	VAUXHALL CDA	1959	7	394	NA
SASK	SASKATOON U OF S	1959	7	394	NA
ALTA	LETHBRIDGE CDA	1967	7	394	118
SASK	WEYBURN	1967	7	394	112
BC	ABBOTSFORD A	1985	7	394	139
BC	TRAIL TADANAC	1985	7	394	NA
BC	KAMLOOPS A	1985	7	394	127
SASK	REGINA A	1967	7	393	119
SASK	SASKATOON U OF S	1960	7	392	NA
ALTA	LETHBRIDGE CDA	1969	8	392	134
BC	SAANICHTON CDA	1985	7	392	134
SASK	WEYBURN	1985	7	392	111
ALTA	SUFFIELD A	1963	7	391	119
ALTA	SUFFIELD A	1967	7	391	119

Bright Sunshine Canada February 2013

Once upon a time, there were over 250 weather stations collecting bright sunshine data in Canada each month.

Alas we are now down to 7 stations. In 3 provinces. And only 5 of the 7 are considered reliable enough or old enough to have “% of Normals” calculated.

February 2013 was pretty gloomy in BC where sunshine was around 60% of normal  (the 1971-2000 average).

Goose Airport in NFLD was 3% sunnier than normal. Wiarton Airport in Ontario was gloomiest at 54% of normal.

Province	Station	Year	Month	Bright Sunshine Hours	Bright Sunshine % of Normal
BC	VICTORIA INTL A	2013	2	55	61
BC	COMOX A	2013	2	53	62
BC	VANCOUVER INTL A	2013	2	50	59
ONT	WIARTON A	2013	2	50	54
ONT	TORONTO LESTER B. PEARSO	2013	2	82	NA
NFLD	CARTWRIGHT	2013	2	102	NA
NFLD	GOOSE A	2013	2	130	103

 

Update: Eureka Top 15 Sunshine Months From the Past (See comment)

Province	Station	Year	Month	Bright Sunshine Hours	Bright Sunshine % of Normal
NU	EUREKA	1987	5	667	134
NU	EUREKA	1989	5	632	127
NU	EUREKA	1973	5	621	125
NU	EUREKA	1991	5	593	120
NU	EUREKA	1997	6	586	NA
NU	EUREKA	2005	5	574	116
NU	EUREKA	1976	5	573	115
NU	EUREKA	2002	5	567	114
NU	EUREKA	1981	6	565	141
NU	EUREKA	1998	5	564	114
NU	EUREKA	1988	7	563	156
NU	EUREKA	1975	5	554	112
NU	EUREKA	1981	5	548	111
NU	EUREKA	1974	5	544	110
NU	EUREKA	1972	5	543	109
NU	EUREKA	1979	5	543	109

Cleaner Air = More Sunshine

I found this paper on Google Scholar. But I can’t find a direct link anywhere that works.

But it is important so I will put up this post anyway.

 

Cleaner Air: Brightening the Pollution Perspective?

Colin O’Dowd, Darius Ceburnis, Aditya Vaishya S. Gerard Jennings & Eoin Moran

School of Physics & Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies, National University of Ireland Galway

“This study has demonstrated for the first time, using in-situ PM measurements,
that reducing aerosol pollution is driving the Insolation Brightening phenomenon and
that the trends in aerosol pollution, particularly for sulphate aerosol, is directly linked
to anthropogenic emissions. Ultimately, the analysis demonstrates that clean air

policies in developed regions such as Europe are driving brightening of the
atmosphere and increasing the amount of global radiation reaching the Earth’s surface.
The actual impact of cleaner air and insolation brightening on temperature remains to
be elucidated”

As I’ve said before, cleaner air may have warming the earth after 1975. Dirtier air after 2000 may have stopped the warming.

 

UK Decembers Tmax Cooling -.45C/decade for 30 years and Sunshine is Up Too

Using UK Met data from here, I noticed that Tmax for Decembers are cooling at -.45C / decade for 30 years.  Thats a lot!

And then I wondered why? A theme I have returned to over and over is that hours of bright sunshine has increased because of cleaner air. Could more sunshine in December lead to cooler Decembers since clear skies can lead to colder temperatures in winter?

Guess what. Sunshine is up an average of 5.5 hours per year in December for the last 30 years. And compared to 1988 sunshine is up 80% in December. Instead of 28 hours of sunshine in December, the average is closer to 48.

Click on the graphs to enlarge.

 

 

Sunshine Way Up in USA From 1996 to 2011

“A paper published today in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres finds that due to a decrease in cloud cover, solar radiation has significantly increased over the US from 1996 to 2011. The authors note the change in longwave (infrared) surface radiation “dwarfs the [alleged contribution] from the increase of CO2 during the analysis period.” According to the paper, the natural variability due to changes in sunshine has had 4.4 times greater effect on surface radiation than increased greenhouse gases since 1996″

Read the rest at The Hockey Schtick.

 

As I’ve said numerous times, clean air legislation has cleaned the air, meaning less sunshine is reflected back into space, and more sunshine reaches the ground and causes warming.

 

UK Tmax versus Sunshine are well correlated. Cleaner Air. More Sunshine.

This graph is Tmax % of normal versus Sunshine% of normal. The curved lines are the Loess curves from [R]. Data retrieved from here.

Why would sunshine be higher? Cleaner air in the UK (until China and India started to burn a lot more coal) thanks to the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968.

The loess curves bottom out around 1968/1972.

 

 

Sunshine Up in Spain From 1985 to 2010 by 3.9W/m^2

The Hockey Schtick has found another paper showing sunshine is way up in Spain. And more sunshine means warming.

“The mean annual G series over Spain shows a tendency to increase during the 1985-2010 period, with a significant linear trend of + 3.9 Wm- 2 per decade. Similar significant increases are observed in the mean seasonal series, with the highest rate of change during summer (+ 6.5 Wm- 2 per decade) and secondly in autumn (+ 4.1 W m- 2 per decade) and spring (+ 3.2 Wm- 2 per decade). These results are in line with the widespread increase of G, also known as brightening period, reported at many worldwide observation sites.”

3.9W/m^2 is more than the effect of a doubling of CO2 (which has not happened yet)

The abstract is here.

 

I have other blog posts on the subject here.

 

 

Huge Increase in Sunshine Reaching Earth – 12.5 times the CO2 warming

The Hockey Schtick points to a new paper that finds a large increase in sunshine over the last 26 years.

“According to the authors, “the average increase of [surface solar radiation] from 1982 to 2008 is estimated to be 0.87 W m−2 per decade,” which equates to 2.26 W m-2 over the 26 year period. By way of comparison, this forcing was 12.5 times greater than the surface forcing alleged by the IPCC from increased CO2 over the same period.

The abstract is here. The paper is here.

“since the late 1980′s Rs has brightened over Europe due to decreases in aerosols but dimmed over China due to their increases. We found that variation of cloud cover determines Rs at a monthly scale but that aerosols determine the variability of Rs at a decadal time scale, in particular, over Europe and China.”

The warming since 1980 was caused by clean air legislation in the the US, UK and Europe.

Not by CO2.

I have posted several articles on this theme here , here and here.