(PHOTO AND STORY: KHQ.COM)
Financial website smartasset.com recently compiled a list of 10 cities with the most depressing winters. Northwest cities rank highly, including Spokane, which broke the top 5.
The site, and its author Nick Wallace, explained what numbers they crunched in order to come up with the list of depressing, and least depressing cities.
First, they looked at percent of possible sunshine, "What percentage of the time is it sunny in the months of November, December, January and February? This is the average percent of daylight hours in which the location receives sunlight."
Secondly, they looked at solar radiation, "How much energy does a solar panel in this city generate during a winter day? This is the average energy production in kilowatt hours per square meter (kWh/m2) for a panel in an array managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory."
Perhaps not surprisingly, Anchorage, Alaska ranked No. 1, while Seattle came in 2nd place and Portland took the bronze medal. The Lilac City comes in at number 4, while Missoula, Montana, rounds out the top 5.
Here's what the site had to say about Spokane:
"The fourth city in a northwest quadrumvirate of gloominess, Spokane is actually slightly further north than Seattle—its shortest day is a full 23 seconds shorter than Seattle’s. The good news for Spokanites is that their weather isn’t quite as gloomy as either Seattle’s or Portland’s. On average during the months of November, December, January and February, Spokane is cloudy 70% of the time."
Looking for a little more sunshine in your life? SmartAsset recommends Arizona, Florida or Hawaii.
You can read the full lists, and full methodology behind the list here.