No Surprise Here – El Paso Voted Sunniest US City

As sunny as the "Sun City" is, we didn't rank as the sunniest city in the United States of America. We're actually #5 but the whole top 5 field is a pretty tight race.

READ MORE: Early El Paso Heat Wave

Number 1, also no surprise here, is in Arizona and the difference between us and the other 4 ... especially between #2 and us at #5 ... is super close.

Yuma, Arizona is numero uno when it comes to the most hours of sunlight per year, averaging about 11 hours per day. 2nd and 4th place are also in Arizona and Las Vegas was 3rd.

A study by Visual Capitalist added up all the hours of sunlight cities in America get and named the top 20. El Paos, of course, had a super strong showing but we barely made the top 5.

The Top 10 Sunniest Cities In The United States

Here are the top 10 by annual hours of sunshine.

1. Yuma, Az - 4,015 Hrs.
2. Phoenix, Az - 3,872 Hrs.
3. Las Vegas, Nv - 3,825 Hrs.
4. Tucson, Az - 3,806 Hrs.
5. El Paso, Tx - 3,763 Hrs.
6. Sacramento, Ca - 3,608 Hrs.
7. Fresno, Ca - 3,564 Hrs.
8. Albuquerque, NM - 3,415 Hrs.
9. Los Angeles, Ca - 3,254 Hrs.
10. Miami, Fl - 3,154 Hrs.

What About Las Cruces?

The study doesn't say exactly how they put the list together. In must have, in part, been based on population. Otherwise, there's no reason why Cruces wouldn't have pretty much tied El Paso.

What The Sunniest Cities Have In Common

Overall dryness seems to be the common denominator across the southwest. Our climates aren't really cloud friendly. They're not exactly super moist either.

• Dry air: Desert regions lack the moisture needed to form clouds.
• High pressure systems: These systems promote sinking air, which inhibits cloud formation.
• Topography: Mountain ranges block moisture from the Pacific Ocean. - visualcapita;list.com