The sun briefly appears amid partial cloud cover over Sacramento on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025.
nlevine@sacbee.com
Does it feel as though the weather has been gloomy in Sacramento forever?
Tuesday’s brief bouts of sunshine certainly made it feel that way. It hasn’t been quite that long since we saw the sun, meteorologists say, but the recent overcast and foggy weather has set a modern record.
Can the Sacramento area expect more respite from the gloomy skies?
Here’s what to know:
Gloomy weather sets Sacramento record
Residents in the Sacramento area have endured cloudy and foggy weather since Nov. 23, a 22-day stretch as of Tuesday, Dec. 16, the National Weather Service said on X.
That sets a modern record since the weather service began compiling data on gloomy weather from Sacramento Executive Airport in 1990, the agency said.
The weather service counts days where 50% or more of daylight hours had cloud ceilings of 3,000 feet or below without precipitation. It counts “streaks” as consecutive days of gloomy weather with one-day breaks.
According to weather service data, the longest streak of gloomy weather prior to 2025 was in January 2005, when Sacramento endured 16 days with little or no sun.
The most recent streak took place in November 2021, when the city had 11 days of gloomy weather. Other modern streaks took place in 2002 and 2010.
Loading…
But some people say they’re enjoying the respite from the sun.
“Now gloomy is a very subjective word, I find this weather quite pleasing and relaxing,” Steve Walton wrote on Facebook.
“I actually love this ‘gloomy’ weather. Much better than triple digit summers imo,” Amanda Finn said.
Others said they recalled long stretches of dense fog in the 1970s and 1980s, before the weather service began compiling records on gloomy weather.
When will the sun come out again?
The “stagnant” weather pattern with a high pressure ridge causing fog and overcast conditions will finally lift this week, the weather service said in an email to The Sacramento Bee.
Atmospheric river storm systems passing through Northern California will break up the weather, bringing rain with some low clouds and fog at times but less consistently than in recent weeks.
“Unfortunately this does mean ‘gloomy weather’ will continue for a while, it’ll just be wetter than what it has been,” the weather service said.
This story was originally published December 16, 2025 at 11:25 AM.
Related Stories from Sacramento Bee
Don Sweeney
The Sacramento Bee
Don Sweeney has been a newspaper reporter and editor in California for more than 25 years. He has been a real-time reporter based at The Sacramento Bee since 2016.
