Is South Dakota Losing Its ‘Sunshine State’ Reputation?

Is it just me, or should South Dakota's new state nickname be the "overcast state?"

It seems like the sun rarely shines here anymore.

Now I realize we're just emerging from the grey, dark, and dreary days of winter, but could we please get a few consecutive days of sunshine once and a while? It's like South Dakota has become the new Washington state when it comes to the weather.

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South Dakota's old nickname used to be the "Sunshine State." I can see why we needed to revise it, to the "Mount Rushmore State", you actually need to have a rendevous with the sun on occasion to make it relevant, and that's something that rarely seems to happen anymore. Most weeks, the sun stops by for a quick cup of coffee, and then it's about as hard to find as Jimmy Hoffa's body.

If you live in South Dakota and crave a steady dose of sunshine, I'm told you need to move west young man. According to the website Currentresults.com, the western half of South Dakota, and in particular, Rapid City, is consistently the sunniest city in the state.

On average, Rapid sees 226 days of sunshine each year. Conversely, Sioux Falls gets 208. That number seems really generous to me.

South Dakota as a whole averages about 213 sunny days each year. Well above the national average. While the Black Hills region of the state typically averages 275 sunny days on an annual basis.

South Dakota is a relatively dry state as well. The state only has about 80 days of precipitation each year, and that's factoring in all the rain, snow, sleet, and hail we're known for getting in this state.

Oddly enough, when you put South Dakota's weather patterns under the microscope, we actually are in a decent state to be able to soak up some vitamin D on a consistent basis. Could've fooled me.

Source: CurrentResults.com