How many hours a year are good for a walk? Our count from ten years of hourly weather in 8 cities, 2026-10-30

The answer first (all figures are our calculation [1] unless a source is named)

A "walkable hour" here is a daylight hour that feels between 5 and 26 C (apparent temperature), with no rain (under 0.1 mm) and wind under 30 km/h. Those limits are our assumption, labelled as such; the ranking below is the same with stricter (8-24 C) and looser (2-28 C) limits, except that Denver and Phoenix swap 4th and 5th place under the stricter 8-24 C limits (Phoenix 1,688 vs Denver 1,672 hours). Average walkable daylight hours a year, 2016-2025: | City | Walkable hours a year | Best month | Worst month | | Los Angeles | 3,122 | May (11.7 h/day) | Aug (4.5 h/day) | | Seattle | 2,694 | Jun (12.8 h/day) | Dec (1.5 h/day) | | London | 2,676 | Jun (12.7 h/day) | Jan (1.2 h/day) | | Denver | 2,172 | May (10.5 h/day) | Jan (0.8 h/day) | | Phoenix | 2,044 | Mar (10.1 h/day) | Aug (0.1 h/day) | | New York | 1,886 | May (10.3 h/day) | Jan (0.6 h/day) | | Chicago | 1,702 | May (9.5 h/day) | Jan (0.1 h/day) | | Miami | 953 | Jan (6.1 h/day) | Aug (0.0 h/day) |

• Miami, the sunniest-sounding of all, has the fewest: 953 a year, with June to September at 0.0 walkable daylight hours a day (every daylight hour feels hotter than 26 C).
• Rainy Seattle (2,694) and London (2,676) have more walkable hours than sunny Phoenix (2,044).
• Phoenix's worst month, August, averages 0.1 walkable daylight hours a day; its best, March, 10.1.
• Los Angeles has the most (3,122), but its worst month is August (4.5 h/day), not winter.
• London in January averages 1.2 walkable daylight hours a day; in June 12.7.

Hours per day, by month (5-26 C)

| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | | Los Angeles | 9.0 | 8.9 | 9.5 | 11.0 | 11.7 | 10.1 | 6.6 | 4.5 | 5.9 | 8.2 | 8.7 | 8.6 | | Seattle | 1.7 | 1.9 | 4.6 | 8.4 | 11.9 | 12.8 | 12.8 | 11.3 | 10.3 | 7.4 | 3.6 | 1.5 | | London | 1.2 | 2.6 | 4.8 | 8.3 | 11.7 | 12.7 | 11.7 | 10.7 | 9.5 | 7.6 | 4.4 | 2.4 | | Denver | 0.8 | 2.0 | 4.8 | 7.6 | 10.5 | 9.3 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 9.0 | 8.2 | 4.1 | 2.0 | | Phoenix | 7.8 | 9.3 | 10.1 | 8.4 | 5.7 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 5.5 | 9.0 | 8.4 | | New York | 0.6 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 7.5 | 10.3 | 8.3 | 3.1 | 4.6 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 4.5 | 1.2 | | Chicago | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 4.9 | 9.5 | 8.6 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 8.2 | 6.7 | 2.5 | 0.5 | | Miami | 6.1 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 4.8 |

The best hour to walk in July and in January (the daylight hour that is walkable most often, local time)

• Los Angeles: July 7:00, January 17:00
• Seattle: July 20:00, January 15:00
• London: July 5:00, January 15:00
• Denver: July 6:00, January 15:00
• Phoenix: July 6:00, January 16:00
• New York: July 6:00, January 16:00
• Chicago: July 6:00, January 16:00
• Miami: July 20:00, January 9:00 In July the best hour is early morning (before 8:00) in Los Angeles, London, Denver, Phoenix, New York, Chicago; in the evening (18:00 or later) in Seattle, Miami.

Sensitivity (second check): the same count with other limits, hours a year

| City | 8-24 C | 5-26 C | 2-28 C | | Los Angeles | 2,672 | 3,122 | 3,474 | | Seattle | 2,170 | 2,694 | 3,139 | | London | 2,165 | 2,676 | 3,087 | | Denver | 1,672 | 2,172 | 2,662 | | Phoenix | 1,688 | 2,044 | 2,350 | | New York | 1,414 | 1,886 | 2,348 | | Chicago | 1,291 | 1,702 | 2,122 | | Miami | 627 | 953 | 1,349 | The order is the same under all three limits except Denver and Phoenix, which swap 4th and 5th place under 8-24 C.

Data check against an official normal (third check)

Our data's mean daily high for Phoenix in July, 2016-2025: 41.2 C (106.2 F). The National Weather Service's 1991-2020 normal for Phoenix in July: 106.5 F [NWS Phoenix, July 2025 climate summary, https://www.weather.gov/media/psr/Climate/July2025Climate.pdf].

How we did it

Hourly ERA5 reanalysis from the Open-Meteo historical weather API (https://open-meteo.com/en/docs/historical-weather-api), 2016-01-01 to 2025-12-31, one point at each city centre, local time, fields apparent_temperature, temperature_2m, precipitation, wind_speed_10m, is_day. Counted per month: hours with is_day = 1 that pass all three limits, divided by the number of days in that month over the ten years.

What this cannot tell you

• One grid point per city: a park by the sea or a hill can differ; a city centre is warmer than its suburbs.
• Comfort is personal; layers, shade and walking speed shift the limits. Treat the limits as an example.
• ERA5 is a reanalysis (a model fitted to observations), not a single weather station.
• Darkness is excluded, but many people walk before sunrise or after sunset with lights; their walkable time is larger.

Voice notes for the writer

• Lead with the surprise: the rainiest-sounding cities have more good walking hours than the sunniest one.
• A guess fits: "Which has more good-walking hours a year: Seattle or Phoenix?" (answer: Seattle, 2,694 vs 2,044).
• The practical part: the best summer hour is early morning in most cities and evening in Seattle and Miami; in winter mid-afternoon.
• No health claims beyond walking time; no "first" or "record" claims.