As the old song goes: “Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head / But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turnin’ red. Crying’s not for me …” These lyrics may have been onto something, according to two additional lists. First, using sunshine, sky conditions, precipitation, humidity, and wind as its criteria, the Farmers’ Almanac identified the ten U.S. cities with the worst weather as:

   1. Quillayute, Washington: This actually isn’t a city; it’s a site where weather data is accumulated. But the poor climatic conditions scientists have recorded there—240 cloudy days per year, 83 percent relative humidity, and 104.5 inches of annual rainfall—catapult it to the top of this list.

   2.  Astoria, Oregon: Tied with Quillayute for number of cloudy days, Astoria is also the third-wettest U.S. city.

3. & 4. Marquette, Michigan, and Sault St. Marie, Michigan (tied): These two locales are, respectively, the fourth- and fifth-coldest and second- and third-snowiest cities in the country. Brr …

5. & 6. Syracuse, New York, and Binghamton, New York (tied): It rains 171 days per year in Syracuse and 162 days in Binghamton; the former sees 212 cloudy days, and the latter gets 111.6 inches of snow annually.

   7. Elkins, West Virginia: Elkins ties Syracuse as the fourth-rainiest city in the nation.
   8. New Orleans, Louisiana: The Big Easy is swampland, and as such is one of the most humid cities in the country, averaging 75.5 percent. It also gets sixty inches of rain each year.
   9. Eugene, Oregon: Eugene is neck and neck with New Orleans in the humidity department, and it’s cloudy there 209 days out of the year.
  10. Hilo, Hawaii: A city in Hawaii might seem like the last place that would end up on the bad-weather list, but in Hilo’s case, it’s earned its position—it’s the rainiest place in the entire United States, getting 128 inches of precipitation, 277 days a year.

All that rain and snow doesn’t translate into miserable residents, though, according to Men’s Health’s list of the top ten unhappiest U.S. cities:

1.      Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2.      Detroit, Michigan

3.      St. Petersburg, Florida

4.      St. Louis, Missouri

5.      Tampa, Florida

6.      Indianapolis, Indiana

7., 8. & 9. Mesa, Arizona; Phoenix, Arizona; Scottsdale, Arizona (tied)

10. Cleveland, Ohio

Only New Orleans makes an appearance on both lists—and that overlap may be little more than a coincidence. This list suggests that while states like Arizona and Florida may connote sunshine, fresh air, and happy-go-lucky locals, the equation isn’t quite that simple.

Weathering the Storm
Certainly, for people of sound mind and body, a warm, sunny day can be an instant mood-booster, encouraging us to get outside and enjoy life to the fullest. By the same token, limited daylight hours and harsh elements can be debilitating for the victims of seasonal affective disorder. However, in neither scenario does the annual weather in an individual’s specific geographical location appear to make a lasting difference in his or her general psychological well-being. When other factors—financial concerns, destructive relationships, or severe conditions such as bipolar disorder and manic-depressive illness, for example—come to bear, sometimes we don’t even notice the snow swirling around us or the blue sky above. Whether we’re wearing sunglasses or foul-weather gear, true happiness comes from within.