Los Angeles Tops the Charts as the Country's #1 Cookout Capital

Blue Rhino, the leading brand of propane tank exchange, has announced this year's most ideal cities to grill in with the top 100 Cookout Capitals for 2009. The nation's top Cookout Capital for 2009 is Los Angeles.

The top 20 Cookout Capitals for 2009 are:

1. Los Angeles, CA

2. San Francisco-Bay area, CA

3. San Diego, CA

4. San Jose

5. Sacramento, CA

6. Eugene, OR

7. Spokane, WA

8. Fresno, CA

9. Reno, NV

10. Salt Lake City, UT

11. Seattle-Tacoma, WA

12. Las Vegas, NV

13. Portland, OR

14. Billings, MT

15. Detroit, MI

16. Colorado Springs, CO

17. Lansing, MI

18. Midland-Odessa, TX

19. Albuquerque, NM

20. Denver, CO

The list, in its third year, ranks markets with populations equal to or greater than 99,000 based on the number of ideal grilling days reported during the months of May through August, which are defined as days under 90 degrees and having no precipitation. Weather data was compiled from the National Weather Service.

We haven't found a bad place for a cookout yet, but we do like to recognize places where ideal weather conditions make for great grilling.

Here's the rest of the top 100:

21. Green Bay, WI

22. Philadelphia, PA

23. Milwaukee, WI

24. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN

25. Madison, WI

26. Providence, RI

27. Grand Rapids, MI

28. Sioux Falls, SD

29. Norfolk, VA

30. Toledo, OH

31. Greensboro/Winston Salem/High Point, NC

32. Chicago, IL

33. Portland, ME

34. Kansas City, MO

35. Bridgeport

36. El Paso, TX

37. Cincinnati, OH

38. Charlotte, NC

39. Tucson, AZ

40. Rochester, NY

41. Peoria, IL

42. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX

43. Austin, TX

44. Dayton, OH

45. Columbus, OH

46. Baltimore, MD

47. Knoxville, TN

48. Phoenix, AZ

49. Allentown, PA

50. Springfield, MO

51. Boston, MA

52. Indianapolis, IN

53. Lexington, KY

54. Fort Wayne, IN

55. Nashville, TN

56. Atlanta, GA

57. Lubbock, TX

58. Brownsville, TX

59. Evansville, IN

60. Cleveland, OH

61. Des Moines, IA

62. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA

63. Washington D.C.

64. Richmond, VA

65. Topeka, KS

66. New York, NY

67. Oklahoma City, OK

68. Corpus Christi, TX

69. Newark, NJ

70. Syracuse, NY

71. San Antonio, TX

72. Amarillo, TX

73. Columbia, SC

74. Abilene, TX

75. Chattanooga, TN

76. Louisville, KY

77. Pittsburgh, PA

78. Lincoln, NE

79. St. Louis, MO

80. Omaha, NE

81. Birmingham, AL

82. Buffalo, NY

83. Tulsa, OK

84. Little Rock, AR

85. Houston, TX

86. Wilmington, NC

87. Memphis, TN

88. Raleigh-Durham, NC

89. Hartford, CT

90. Jackson, MS

91. Montgomery, AL

92. Shreveport, LA

93. Wichita, KS

94. Tampa, FL

95. Charleston, SC

96. Savannah, GA

97. New Orleans, LA

98. Jacksonville, FL

99. Orlando, FL

100. Miami, FL