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U.S. Cities with the Most Precipitation

Which American metro areas got the most average annual precipitation?
1991–2020 averages. Source: Extreme Weather Watch.
Metro areas with a population above 1,000,000 only
Quiz by kybreeze
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Last updated: August 14, 2021
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First submittedJuly 17, 2012
Times taken8,524
Average score60.0%
Rating4.16
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Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Inches
City
67.4
Miami
63.3
New Orleans
59.9
San Juan, Puerto Rico
56.6
Birmingham
55.6
Houston
54.9
Memphis
53.4
Jacksonville
51.5
Orlando
Inches
City
50.5
Nashville
50.4
Atlanta
49.5
Tampa
49.5
New York City
49.2
Virginia Beach
48.3
Louisville
47.4
Providence
47.0
Hartford
25 Comments
+11
Level 32
Jul 17, 2012
So much for the whole Seattle thing.
+8
Level 74
Nov 5, 2012
Yeah, it drizzles a lot there, but it doesn't often rain hard. Most of the precipitation falls in the Olympic Mountains to the west and the Cascades to the east.
+1
Level 72
Jul 24, 2019
Yeah, I was pretty surprised too. In fact, hailing from Seattle was one of the reasons I clicked on the quiz. I figured, 'ah, I got this one.' But, nope. I guess just being cloudy and misty all of the time doesn't really count.
+2
Level 51
Apr 6, 2021
i sat there for the entire duration having a massive drought in intelligence thinking of the big city in washington, turns out it wasnt there
+1
Level 71
Dec 28, 2021
I've also read that Pittsburgh is the cloudiest city in America. I live near there and I can confirm that it's very cloudy and often rainy, and so I was a bit surprised it wasn't on here.
+1
Level 74
Oct 21, 2014
Thought of Virginia Beach but didn't think it was large enough to make the cut.
+1
Level 85
Apr 24, 2019
It's the largest city in Virginia, by both population and total area. Tricky because it's basically a huge suburb.
+1
Level 71
Jul 24, 2019
It should probably be "Hampton Roads" rather than VB. VB's population is around 400k, but the whole Hampton Roads area (which includes Norfolk and 5 other cities) has a population around 1.7 m
+2
Level 89
Oct 5, 2015
Does this include total precipitation, i.e., rain equivalent of snow? It appears not. I would think that if that were included, cities like Cleveland and Buffalo would make the list.
+2
Level ∞
Apr 16, 2019
Yes, it does include the rain equivalent of snow.
+2
Level 71
Jul 24, 2019
1 inch of rain is equal to about 10 inches of snow fyi
+3
Level 77
Apr 16, 2019
I hate to be THAT guy, but should this include San Juan, PR? Or at least a stipulation of integral territory?
+2
Level ∞
Apr 16, 2019
"I hate to be that guy but I'm going to do it anyway...."

Added San Juan as a filled in answer :)

+2
Level 76
Apr 17, 2019
Grammar: Which American metro areas have the greatest average annual precipitation?
+1
Level 87
Apr 18, 2019
Don't you say that a city gets precipitation? This is for the period 1981-2010 so...
+2
Level 76
Apr 24, 2019
gets works as well, but got does not.
+1
Level 76
Mar 29, 2024
It's fine as is. It refers to a time period in the past (the specific period may have changed since your comment, but that is irrelevant), therefore a past tense verb is appropriate.
+1
Level 86
Apr 17, 2019
Interesting. I grew up within 100 miles of St. Louis (with, of course, no mountains between us), but my hometown has over 7 inches/year more precipitation than St. Louis does.
+1
Level 76
Mar 29, 2024
Yeah, there seem to be some localized weather patterns in play. NYC and Virginia Beach, but no Washington or Baltimore. Hartford and Providence, but no Boston (this one could be just off the list though).
+2
Level 85
Apr 27, 2019
I'd love the quiz saying:

"Oh! Were you expecting that certain Pacific Northwest city, weren't you? Psych!!!! It's not here!"

It could be as a caveat, or a modal pop-up after the timer runs out, or whenever you type said Pacific Northwest city.

+1
Level 43
Jul 24, 2019
Get over yourself Pac Northwest
+1
Level 71
Jul 24, 2019
Hartford has over a million people?!?
+1
Level 44
Jul 24, 2019
Around 1.2 million in Greater Hartford, which is basically just eastern Connecticut

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Hartford

+2
Level 87
Jul 24, 2019
Wasn't doing well at all until I got to Florida. And it's called the Sunshine State, why?
+1
Level 41
Mar 13, 2023
Because of genius marketing.