As summer winds down and shopping circulars and online ads ballyhoo back-to-school specials, it may be a comfort to those who dread the dark of fall and winter, that New Jersey has plenty of sunny days ahead, albeit shorter ones. All told, the Garden State averages 205 sunny days a year (as measured in Atlantic City and Newark). The folks at Current Results base their tabulations on “years of weather watching” and are fairly stringent in how they define their terms. On sunny days, the sky is mostly clear, although clouds can cover up to 30% of the sky during daylight hours. New Jersey averages 94 sunny days annually. Partly sunny days can have clouds covering from 40% to 70% of the sky during the daytime. New Jersey averages 111 partly sunny days each year. When the sky is obscured by at least 80% cloud cover, the day is recorded as overcast.

That brings us back to total sunny days. Those of you who’ve skipped ahead in the lesson have probably worked out that adding the number of sunny days and partly sunny days yields total sunny days, or 205.

The stats also indicate something else: the number of sunny days per month doesn’t vary by much. January (16) and February (15) are the gloomiest months, but summer and fall rack up 18 and 19 sunny days, with the highest total in October (20).

What’s the takeaway? There are plenty of sunny days out there if you know where to look.