GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Grand Rapids, Michigan consistently grabs the title for one of the cloudiest cities in America. It’s not due to our summers, but rather our consistently cloudy winters. Clouds can be so persistent in the winter months in West Michigan that they outweigh the sunny summer months.

Typically through the heart of our winter months, we only receive 24% of all possible sunshine.

Blame Lake Michigan

The reason West Michigan is so cloudy is because of our proximity to the Great Lakes, mainly Lake Michigan. Clouds only need three ingredients to form: moisture, relatively cold air and cloud condensation nuclei. Cloud condensation nuclei are always in existence in the atmosphere. They are specks of dust, sand, salt or dirt that are small enough to hover in the sky. These nuclei are essential as they create a surface area for cloud droplets to condense onto.

In the winter months, relatively cold air is prevalent in West Michigan, and we are so close to Lake Michigan that moisture is always readily available. Steering winds are typically out of the West over Michigan. This allows air to frequently travel over Lake Michigan before it enters into Michigan itself.

Michiganders are used to this process of wind passing over water and creating clouds and snow. This is typically titled “lake effect.” Often in the winter, cold air can create a blanket of clouds even on days when there isn’t quite enough moisture for snow.

Extra storm systems in addition to the lake effect in the winter keep Michigan gray for most of the cold-weather months! Still, the primary culprit for launching West Michigan so high in the cloudiest city list is Lake Michigan.

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