These Are The 10 Sunniest Cities In Iowa

It’s the dead of winter, and the time of year when the ground is frozen, the air is bone chilling, and there are piles of dirty, nasty ice encrusted snow all over the place. Sure, a Saturday morning right after a foot of fluffy snow is the best thing ever.
But for the most part, this is about the time of year when we’re just about ready for Spring.
So, put on your parkas, snow boots and your gloves and let’s go outside to see which Iowa cities actually get the most sunshine each year. Because, sunshine on your shoulders makes you happy, right?
After analyzing all cities with a decent amount of people in them, we came up with this list as The 10 Sunniest Cities In Iowa:

1. Shenandoah
2. Denison
3. Clarinda
4. Atlantic
5. Glenwood
6. Harlan
7. Red Oak
8. Council Bluffs
9. Cherokee
10. Sioux City

Read on below to see where your town ranked, you sun worshippers. You know you can’t wait until it’s warm again.

What snow measuring criteria did we use?

In order to rank the sunniest cities in Iowa, we only had to scrape the database of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to see which cities in the Hawkeye State get the most sunny days each year.
Before we get too far, here are the sunny days for the larger cities: Des Moines 204, Davenport 203, Cedar Rapids only 193. There’s a complete chart at the bottom.

1. Shenandoah

Population: 5,114
Sunny days a year: 218

2. Denison

Population: 8,562
Sunny days a year: 217

3. Clarinda

Population: 5,766
Sunny days a year: 215

4. Atlantic

Population: 7,702
Sunny days a year: 214

5. Glenwood

Population: 5,088
Sunny days a year: 214

6. Harlan

Population: 5,885
Sunny days a year: 213

7. Red Oak

Population: 5,149
Sunny days a year: 212

8. Council Bluffs

Population: 61,864
Sunny days a year: 212

9. Cherokee

Population: 5,585
Sunny days a year: 211

10. Sioux City

Population: 82,261
Sunny days a year: 211
Checking out where the data where the sun shines the most
If you’re measuring the locations in Iowa with the most sunshine every year, this is an accurate list.
If you’re curious, here are the cloudiest cities in Iowa:

1. Charles City – 187 days a year
2. Marion – 188 days a year
3. Anamosa – 188 days a year
4. Mason City – 188 days a year
5. Manchester – 189 days a year


Below is a complete chart with the sunshine data for each Iowa city:

City	Sunny Days	Rank
Shenandoah	218	1
Denison	217	2
Clarinda	215	3
Atlantic	214	4
Glenwood	214	5
Harlan	213	6
Red Oak	212	7
Council Bluffs	212	8
Cherokee	211	9
Sioux City	211	10
Orange City	210	11
Storm Lake	209	12
Carroll	209	13
Spencer	206	14
Sheldon	206	15
Indianola	206	16
Grimes	206	17
Sioux Center	205	18
Urbandale	205	19
Des Moines	204	20
Fort Madison	204	21
Knoxville	204	22
Winterset	204	23
Le Mars	204	24
Ankeny	204	25
Fort Dodge	203	26
Perry	203	27
Mount Pleasant	203	28
Davenport	203	29
Pleasant Hill	203	30
Pella	203	31
Bettendorf	203	32
Keokuk	202	33
Creston	202	34
Ames	202	35
Nevada	202	36
Eldridge	202	37
Altoona	201	38
Ottumwa	200	39
Burlington	200	40
Webster City	200	41
Centerville	200	42
Newton	200	43
West Des Moines	200	44
Clive	200	45
Washington	199	46
Estherville	199	47
Fairfield	199	48
Iowa City	199	49
Johnston	199	50
De Witt	199	51
Waukee	199	52
Muscatine	198	53
Boone	198	54
Coralville	198	55
Norwalk	198	56
Clinton	197	57
Algona	197	58
Marshalltown	196	59
Grinnell	196	60
Iowa Falls	196	61
Maquoketa	195	62
Waterloo	194	63
Oskaloosa	194	64
Dubuque	194	65
Cedar Rapids	193	66
North Liberty	193	67
Oelwein	192	68
Hiawatha	192	69
Cedar Falls	192	70
Decorah	192	71
Clear Lake	190	72
Vinton	190	73
Independence	190	74
Waverly	190	75
Manchester	189	76
Mason City	188	77
Anamosa	188	78
Marion	188	79
Charles City	187	80