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Random: Have you ever gotten a sunburn on a cloudy day?

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gregh1

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I've had this debate over the years and I keep reading that "clouds don't block UV". Deeper googling says clouds block some of the UVB ( and B is the stuff resulting in sunburn), and that clouds block less UVA than you'd expect ( A is the stuff resulting in skin damage/wrinkles).

From what I've seen, sunburn is the problem you want to avoid to limit chances of the types of skin cancers that area deadly. And every article or headline says "you can still get sunburned on a cloudy day". But in my 50 years i can't remember getting burned on a cloudy day. I think Family Docs, Skin Cancer foundations and of course the sunscreen industry want people to block as much sun as possible, (while sometimes admitting that sun exposure is necessary for healthy bones and immune systems).

It feels like research or science in this area is still a bit theoretical, hence my question for some anecdotal.
 
general rule of thumb. put sunscreen on every day. some of the worst sunburns happen on hazy days because the uv rays bounce around and back down
 
altmin said:
general rule of thumb. put sunscreen on every day. some of the worst sunburns happen on hazy days because the uv rays bounce around and back down
Click to expand...
Yeah I don’t leave the house anymore without sunscreen on my face and arms (though I wear light long sleeve SPF shirts instead of sunscreen for arms a lot). But I already had one bout with skin cancer, so probably too late.
 
gregh1 said:
I've had this debate over the years and I keep reading that "clouds don't block UV". Deeper googling says clouds block some of the UVB ( and B is the stuff resulting in sunburn), and that clouds block less UVA than you'd expect ( A is the stuff resulting in skin damage/wrinkles).

From what I've seen, sunburn is the problem you want to avoid to limit chances of the types of skin cancers that area deadly. And every article or headline says "you can still get sunburned on a cloudy day". But in my 50 years i can't remember getting burned on a cloudy day. I think Family Docs, Skin Cancer foundations and of course the sunscreen industry want people to block as much sun as possible, (while sometimes admitting that sun exposure is necessary for healthy bones and immune systems).

It feels like research or science in this area is still a bit theoretical, hence my question for some anecdotal.
Click to expand...
I've had it happen to me in Ireland
 
altmin said:
general rule of thumb. put sunscreen on every day. some of the worst sunburns happen on hazy days because the uv rays bounce around and back down
Click to expand...
In Canada, on a cloudy day have you personally gotten sunburn? (I know skin type [darker pigment = more melatonin = more protective skin] is a factor and I don't know your skin type), but i'm asking anyway.
 
I have worn sunscreen maybe a dozen times in 70 years, all when I was on the water. Reflected sun from the water gave me the only bad sunburn I ever had. That's more than I've worn tanning products or insect repellant. I was only outside 30-60 hours a week most of that time, though. I still had to take supplementary Vitamin D.
 
Spanish lady comes to me, she lays on me this rose
It rainbow spirals round and round it trembles and explodes
It left a smoking crater of my mind I like to blow away
But the heat come 'round and busted me for smiling on a cloudy day
 
altmin said:
general rule of thumb. put sunscreen on every day. some of the worst sunburns happen on hazy days because the uv rays bounce around and back down
Click to expand...
There’s lots of research now that continuous use of sunscreen is NOT good for you. What people need to do is to be in the sun for 20 or 30 minutes a day w out sunscreen to let the vitamin d in. If you have to be in the sun more than that you should use sunscreen but mainly the kinds that use zinc oxide.
 
gregh1 said:
I've had this debate over the years and I keep reading that "clouds don't block UV". Deeper googling says clouds block some of the UVB ( and B is the stuff resulting in sunburn), and that clouds block less UVA than you'd expect ( A is the stuff resulting in skin damage/wrinkles).

From what I've seen, sunburn is the problem you want to avoid to limit chances of the types of skin cancers that area deadly. And every article or headline says "you can still get sunburned on a cloudy day". But in my 50 years i can't remember getting burned on a cloudy day. I think Family Docs, Skin Cancer foundations and of course the sunscreen industry want people to block as much sun as possible, (while sometimes admitting that sun exposure is necessary for healthy bones and immune systems).

It feels like research or science in this area is still a bit theoretical, hence my question for some anecdotal.
Click to expand...
I got the worst sunburn I have ever had on a cool cloudy day in like March or April.

I had no idea I was burning because I never felt the heat until that evening.

Maybe not coincidentally I had squamous cell cancer removed from my head last year. (Actually I learned that that is less from burns than just cumulative damage.)

Edit: Now that I think about, the spot where I had cancer removed was right where my part would have been. (I have no hair now.). Maybe it was from that incident?
 
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If I am going to be out in the open for a while somewhere like the beach, pool, football game, baseball game, concert, amusement park, etc., then I will put on sunscreen and wear a hat. I also wear a UPF swim shirt at the beach and pool, but that's more because I'm overweight.
 
One time:

Climbing all day on Stone Mountain (no, not that redneck monument in Georgia). Near Roaring Gap; South of Sparta.

Doing route after route on a gorgeous late April day that ended up being overcast. So, it wasn’t hot - despite Stone Mountain facing south.

Back of neck, calves, and back of thighs - burnt to a crisp.

Another time:

On a glacier in the Alaska Range. I wasn’t wearing gloves/mittens and I’d missed putting and reapplying sunscreen to my face.

Burnt.
 
Yes. Ironically, when we took my sister's ashes to spread them, all of the folks at the ceremony except me got burned to an absolute crisp because they stayed out for hours after the ceremony on a cloudy, cool day. I had to leave to get back for one of my son's games during his senior year, thus I was spared.

My father passed from skin cancer. It was awful. Don't take a cool, cloudy day for granted and stay out too long without sunblock.
 
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