I think sunlight can be highly variable as well. These standard CFLs with a very blue spectral dominance are most similar to the overhead noon-day sun while I find the incandescents to be more like the comfortable, comforting light of morning and evening, after the sunlight is filtered through more of the atmosphere. I think that’s why they seem harsh while the good old incandescents are warmer and softer.
I never get over the oddness of the fact that for an object to appear a certain color, it means that the object LACKS that color and is thus unable to absorb it.
The color temperatures of sunlight, incandescent electric light, and incandescent firelight can be highly variable, but they all share a spectral characteristic: the spectrum they emit is continuous except at a few discrete wavelengths. By contrast, with most types of LED or fluorescent lighting, the emitted spectrum will be concentrated around a number of discrete wavelengths. In some cases, the wavelengths generated by different phosphors or materials may be close enough together to provide at least some light at the wavelengths between them, but I haven't seen any standardized rating scheme to describe that.