10 Wettest Cities in America

How We Made the List

Could you imagine living in a place that endures more than 200 days of measurable precipitation (rain/snow combined) each year? How about a city that once saw more than 200 inches of rainfall in one year? That's what a few of the locations on our list of America's 10 wettest cities have seen in their recorded weather histories.

(MORE: 6 Incredible Rainfall Extremes)

For this list, we used the average annual precipitation totals based on 1981-2010 averages for major observing stations in all 50 states with a nearby population of greater than 1,000. To keep this list from being dominated by one or two states, we simply picked the wettest locations in each of the states, then took the top 10 wettest of that list.

This information was obtained from National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), a branch of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Let's get started with the countdown, which has southern flavor to start and then migrates west.

#10: Meridian, Miss.

Frontal systems in the fall, winter and spring combined with drenching pop-up summer afternoon thunderstorms account for a large chunk of rainfall each year. Tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes moving inland can also dump heavy rain on occasion.

The months of November through July all average more than 4 inches of precipitation. September and October are the driest months with 3.43 inches and 3.76 inches, respectively. The wettest month on record was in June of 1900 when 20.06 inches of rain was measured.

The wettest day on record was on Christmas in 1973 when Meridian saw 7.99 inches of rain.

Next #9 Wettest City

#9: Cape Hatteras, N.C.

Above: Mike Seidel battles rain and wind in Hurricane Irene around 40 miles north of Cape Hatteras in Nags Head during August 2011.

This weather observing site is on the southern end of Hatteras Island near the communities of Hatteras, Frisco and Buxton, which have a combined population of nearly 2,000 according to the 2010 census.

On average, this area sees 58.04 inches of precipitation annually. August and September are the two wettest months of the year with average rainfall totals of more than 6 inches. These are also two of the prime months that tropical storms and hurricanes can dump heavy rain on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

The greatest one-day rainfall total is an amazing 14.34 inches on June 30, 1949.

To the south of Hatteras Island, the city of Wilmington, N.C. sees a similar amount of precipitation each year with 57.61 inches.

Next #8 Wettest City

#8: Port Arthur, Texas

Port Arthur is just up the Texas coast from Houston right along the Texas/Louisiana border.

An average of 60.47 inches of precipitation falls in this city each year.

Frontal systems, pop-up summertime air-mass thunderstorms, sea-breeze triggered thunderstorms and occasional tropical cyclones (tropical storms/hurricanes) contribute to Port Arthur's wet climate.

June is typically the wettest month of the year with an average of 7.09 inches of rainfall.

The city has recorded single-day rainfall totals of more than a foot on a couple of occasions since 1901.

Next #7 Wettest City

#7: West Palm Beach, Fla.

Florida is the lightning capital of the United States, so it's no surprise that a city from the Sunshine State would land in the top 10 wettest cities list.

(MORE: Top 5 Lightning-Prone States)

Of all the cities in Florida, West Palm Beach is the wettest based on the 1981-2010 averages. An average of 62.33 inches of rain pours down on this southeastern Florida city each year.

Thanks to frequent summer thunderstorms, June, July, August and September are the wettest months. June and September both average more than 8 inches of rainfall.

The wettest day in history was April 17, 1942 when 15.22 inches of rain soaked West Palm Beach.

Miami and Pensacola are a couple of other Florida cities that see a similar amount of rainfall. However, as we mentioned in the introduction, we are limiting our top 10 list to one city per state.

Next #6 Wettest City

#6: New Orleans, La.

Above: Video from Hurricane Isaac in 2012.

Just outside the top 5 is the Big Easy, which averages 62.45 inches of precipitation each year.

New Orleans saw its wettest year in 1991 when more than 8 feet of rain, or 102.37 inches, drenched the city. A distant second is 1897, which had 85.73 inches of rainfall.

This past August was the second wettest on record in New Orleans with 18.61 inches or rain. A large chunk of this was from Hurricane Isaac.

Measurable rain falls in New Orleans on roughly one-third of the days in a single calendar year. The biggest one-day rainfall total in history is 12.24 inches on May 8, 1995.

Baton Rouge is another very wet city in Louisiana, but averages a little less than New Orleans with 60.65 inches per year.

Next #5 Wettest City

#5: Mobile, Ala.

From New Orleans we slide east along I-10 to Mobile, Ala., our fifth wettest city. Average annual rainfall is 65.28 inches in this coastal Alabama city of 195,000.

The wettest months of the year are July (7.26 inches) and August (6.96 inches). Just like New Orleans, measurable rain is observed on roughly one-third of the days in a calendar year.

Two separate days in history have had rainfall totals of more than a foot. This highest single-day rainfall total is 13.36 inches on April 13, 1955.

Next #4 Wettest City

#4: Astoria, Ore.

This coastal Oregon town of 9,477 residents sees an average of 67.26 inches of precipitation each year.

A large majority of this falls between the months of October and April, which all average more than 5 inches of precipitation. The wettest months are November (11.15 inches), December (9.88 inches) and January (10.20 inches).

In contrast to those soaking fall and winter months, July and August are very dry. Each of these two summer months average just a little more than an inch of rain.

Measurable precipitation is observed on an average 191 days annually, or a little more than half the year.

Next #3 Wettest City

#3: Quillayute, Wash. (Forks, Wash.)

First off, we must clarify that Quillayute is not an actual city in northwest Washington, but rather a weather observation station at an airport around a dozen miles west of Forks, Wash. The town of Forks has a population of just over 3,500 and is close enough in proximity to the weather station to make this our second wettest city in the United States.

Storm systems streaming in from the nearby Pacific Ocean unleash an average of 99.54 inches of precipitation each year.

Each month from October to March averages more than 10 inches of precipitation, peaking at 15.52 inches in November. July (1.97 inches) and August (2.44 inches) are the driest months of the year.

Measurable precipitation is recorded on around 206 days per year.

Next #2 Wettest City

#2: Annette Island, Alaska (Metlakatla, Alaska)

Above: Locator map showing location of Metlakatla, Alaska.

The Annette Island weather observing station is located in far southeastern Alaska near the town of Metlakatla (population 1,405).

Potent low-pressure systems from the Pacific Ocean dump both heavy amounts rain and around 33.5 inches of snow on the town each year.

All 12 months average more than 4 inches of precipitation. Four of those months, October through January, average more than 10 inches of precipitation. The two driest months of the year are June (4.88 inches) and July (4.64 inches).

Measurable precipitation is recorded on an average of 231 days annually, or around 63 percent of the year.

The driest year on record in 1982 still had 77.69 inches of precipitation, which is greater than the annual average precipitation totals in 7 of the top 10 wettest cities in this countdown.

One other major reporting station in Alaska, Yakutat, averages more precipitation than Metlakatla each year, but is below the population threshold of 1,000 used in this top 10 list.

Next #1 Wettest City

#1: Hilo, Hawaii

When you picture Hawaii, you may think of nothing but brillant sunshine and palm trees, however our nation's fiftieth state is home to the wettest city in America.

Thanks to moist and persistent northeasterly trade winds off the Pacific Ocean, Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii averages 126.69 inches of rainfall each year.

Every month of the year averages more than 7 inches of rainfall, peaking at 15.50 inches in November. Annual rainfall has exceeded 200 inches once in recorded history (211.22 inches in 1990).

Single-day rainfall totals of more than 15 inches have been recorded on four different days since 1949. 

Rainfall amounts increase greatly to as much as 300 inches per year around 6 miles to the west of Hilo as the moist air ascends into the nearby higher elevations.