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<h2class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_LWe7"id=examining-other-cities>Examining other cities<ahref=#examining-other-citiesclass=hash-linkaria-label="Direct link to Examining other cities"title="Direct link to Examining other cities"></a></h2>
<p>After taking some time to explore how the weather in North Carolina stacked up over the past years, I was interested in doing the same analysis for other cities. Growing up with family from Binghamton, NY I was always told it was very cloudy there. And Seattle has a nasty reputation for being very depressing and cloudy. All said, the cities I want to examine are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Binghamton, NY</li>
<li>Cary, NC</li>
<li>Seattle, WA</li>
<li>New York City, NY</li>
</ul>
<p>I'd be interested to try this analysis worldwide at some point - comparing London and Seattle might be an interesting analysis. For now though, we'll stick with trying out the US data.</p>
<p>There will be plenty of charts. I want to know: <strong>How has average cloud cover and precipitation chance changed over the years for each city mentioned?</strong> This will hopefully tell us whether Seattle has actually earned its reputation for being a depressing city.</p>
<p><imgdecoding=asyncloading=lazyalt="July average cloud cover chart"src=/assets/images/1-2d6670430a11b01011e4c231ea594db1.pngwidth=600height=600class=img_ev3q>
<imgdecoding=asyncloading=lazyalt="August average cloud cover chart"src=/assets/images/2-46bb7cc9cf739d97050c199eedced1a7.pngwidth=600height=600class=img_ev3q>
<imgdecoding=asyncloading=lazyalt="September average cloud cover chart"src=/assets/images/3-2f5c483659f81d741809de6d095bd577.pngwidth=600height=600class=img_ev3q>
<imgdecoding=asyncloading=lazyalt="October average cloud cover chart"src=/assets/images/4-63dc81954b1604cfa91f4c789da144a5.pngwidth=600height=600class=img_ev3q>
<imgdecoding=asyncloading=lazyalt="November average cloud cover chart"src=/assets/images/5-ae210d26729cea1700924579adf2c44c.pngwidth=600height=600class=img_ev3q></p>
<p>Well, as it so happens it looks like there are some data issues. July's data is a bit sporadic, and 2013 seems to be missing from most months as well. I think really only two things can really be confirmed here:</p>
<ul>
<li>Seattle, specifically for the months of October and November, is in fact significantly more cloudy on average than are other cities</li>
<li>All cities surveyed have seen average cloud cover decline over the months studied. There are data issues, but the trend seems clear.</li>
</ul>
<p>Let's now move from cloud cover data to looking at average rainfall chance.</p>
<p><imgdecoding=asyncloading=lazyalt="July average precipitation chance chart"src=/assets/images/6-f07e72ff0b4639453034c75b2e62faba.pngwidth=600height=600class=img_ev3q>
<imgdecoding=asyncloading=lazyalt="August average precipitation chance chart"src=/assets/images/7-e0793eed6c42845d8ce4e3e79c1d44d8.pngwidth=600height=600class=img_ev3q>
<imgdecoding=asyncloading=lazyalt="September average precipitation chance chart"src=/assets/images/8-3eb2ad63e4c40b6717ee4516223d73ed.pngwidth=600height=600class=img_ev3q>
<imgdecoding=asyncloading=lazyalt="October average precipitation chance chart"src=/assets/images/9-630bd32c43e654f068e3c3bea79810e5.pngwidth=600height=600class=img_ev3q>
<imgdecoding=asyncloading=lazyalt="November average precipitation chance chart"src=/assets/images/10-b7987a0ff93705d5045057cbdaa2ede9.pngwidth=600height=600class=img_ev3q></p>
<p>The same data issue caveats apply here: 2013 seems to be missing some data, and July has some issues as well. However, this seems to confirm the trends we saw with cloud cover:</p>
<ul>
<li>Seattle, specifically for the months of August, October, and November has had a consistently higher chance of rain than other cities surveyed.</li>
<li>Average precipitation chance, just like average cloud cover, has been trending down over time.</li>
</ul>
<h2class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_LWe7"id=conclusion>Conclusion<ahref=#conclusionclass=hash-linkaria-label="Direct link to Conclusion"title="Direct link to Conclusion"></a></h2>
<p>I have to admit I was a bit surprised after doing this analysis. Seattle showed a higher average cloud cover and average precipitation chance than did the other cities surveyed. Maybe Seattle is actually an objectively more depressing city to live in.</p>
