Counties in Alaska by annual precipitation

Petersburg Borough had the highest annual precipitation of 30 counties in 2020, at 211.97 inches. North Slope Borough had the lowest, at 11.21 inches. The median was 44.71 inches and the figure for Alaska was 37.94 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest211.97Petersburg Borough
Median44.7130 counties
Alaska37.94History

Map of counties, 2020

Aleutians East Borough: 40.61 inchesAleutians West Census Area: 42.11 inchesAnchorage Municipality: 60.82 inchesBethel Census Area: 23.18 inchesBristol Bay Borough: 23.1 inchesChugach Census Area: 123.21 inchesCopper River Census Area: 47.31 inchesDenali Borough: 27.01 inchesDillingham Census Area: 38.73 inchesFairbanks North Star Borough: 22.19 inchesHaines Borough: 103.78 inchesHoonah-Angoon Census Area: 162.82 inchesJuneau City and Borough: 194.68 inchesKenai Peninsula Borough: 55.99 inchesKetchikan Gateway Borough: 192.53 inchesKodiak Island Borough: 55.65 inchesKusilvak Census Area: 20.56 inchesLake and Peninsula Borough: 36.88 inchesMatanuska-Susitna Borough: 36.07 inchesNome Census Area: 14.95 inchesNorth Slope Borough: 11.21 inchesNorthwest Arctic Borough: 12.99 inchesPetersburg Borough: 211.97 inchesPrince of Wales-Hyder Census Area: 140.63 inchesSitka City and Borough: 177.55 inchesSkagway Municipality: 87.92 inchesSoutheast Fairbanks Census Area: 24.62 inchesWrangell City and Borough: 169.08 inchesYakutat City and Borough: 179.26 inchesYukon-Koyukuk Census Area: 16.18 inches
  • Under 22
  • 22 to 33
  • 33 to 45
  • 45 to 93
  • 93 to 170
  • 170 and over
inches, 2020. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All counties, 2020

Petersburg Borough: 211.97 inchesPetersburg Borough211.97Juneau City and Borough: 194.68 inchesJuneau City and Borough194.68Ketchikan Gateway Borough: 192.53 inchesKetchikan Gateway Borough192.53Yakutat City and Borough: 179.26 inchesYakutat City and Borough179.26Sitka City and Borough: 177.55 inchesSitka City and Borough177.55Wrangell City and Borough: 169.08 inchesWrangell City and Borough169.08Hoonah-Angoon Census Area: 162.82 inchesHoonah-Angoon Census Area162.82Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area: 140.63 inchesPrince of Wales-Hyder Census Area140.63Chugach Census Area: 123.21 inchesChugach Census Area123.21Haines Borough: 103.78 inchesHaines Borough103.78Skagway Municipality: 87.92 inchesSkagway Municipality87.92Anchorage Municipality: 60.82 inchesAnchorage Municipality60.82Kenai Peninsula Borough: 55.99 inchesKenai Peninsula Borough55.99Kodiak Island Borough: 55.65 inchesKodiak Island Borough55.65Copper River Census Area: 47.31 inchesCopper River Census Area47.31Aleutians West Census Area: 42.11 inchesAleutians West Census Area42.11Aleutians East Borough: 40.61 inchesAleutians East Borough40.61Dillingham Census Area: 38.73 inchesDillingham Census Area38.73Lake and Peninsula Borough: 36.88 inchesLake and Peninsula Borough36.88Matanuska-Susitna Borough: 36.07 inchesMatanuska-Susitna Borough36.07Denali Borough: 27.01 inchesDenali Borough27.01Southeast Fairbanks Census Area: 24.62 inchesSoutheast Fairbanks Census Area24.62Bethel Census Area: 23.18 inchesBethel Census Area23.18Bristol Bay Borough: 23.1 inchesBristol Bay Borough23.1Fairbanks North Star Borough: 22.19 inchesFairbanks North Star Borough22.19Kusilvak Census Area: 20.56 inchesKusilvak Census Area20.56Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area: 16.18 inchesYukon-Koyukuk Census Area16.18Nome Census Area: 14.95 inchesNome Census Area14.95Northwest Arctic Borough: 12.99 inchesNorthwest Arctic Borough12.99North Slope Borough: 11.21 inchesNorth Slope Borough11.21Petersburg Borough: 211.97 inchesPetersburg Borough211.97Juneau City and Borough: 194.68 inchesJuneau City and Borough194.68Ketchikan Gateway Borough: 192.53 inchesKetchikan Gateway Borough192.53Yakutat City and Borough: 179.26 inchesYakutat City and Borough179.26Sitka City and Borough: 177.55 inchesSitka City and Borough177.55Wrangell City and Borough: 169.08 inchesWrangell City and Borough169.08Hoonah-Angoon Census Area: 162.82 inchesHoonah-Angoon Census Area162.82Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area: 140.63 inchesPrince of Wales-Hyder Census Area140.63Chugach Census Area: 123.21 inchesChugach Census Area123.21Haines Borough: 103.78 inchesHaines Borough103.78Skagway Municipality: 87.92 inchesSkagway Municipality87.92Anchorage Municipality: 60.82 inchesAnchorage Municipality60.82Kenai Peninsula Borough: 55.99 inchesKenai Peninsula Borough55.99Kodiak Island Borough: 55.65 inchesKodiak Island Borough55.65Copper River Census Area: 47.31 inchesCopper River Census Area47.31Aleutians West Census Area: 42.11 inchesAleutians West Census Area42.11Aleutians East Borough: 40.61 inchesAleutians East Borough40.61Dillingham Census Area: 38.73 inchesDillingham Census Area38.73Lake and Peninsula Borough: 36.88 inchesLake and Peninsula Borough36.88Matanuska-Susitna Borough: 36.07 inchesMatanuska-Susitna Borough36.07Denali Borough: 27.01 inchesDenali Borough27.01Southeast Fairbanks Census Area: 24.62 inchesSoutheast Fairbanks Census Area24.62Bethel Census Area: 23.18 inchesBethel Census Area23.18Bristol Bay Borough: 23.1 inchesBristol Bay Borough23.1Fairbanks North Star Borough: 22.19 inchesFairbanks North Star Borough22.19Kusilvak Census Area: 20.56 inchesKusilvak Census Area20.56Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area: 16.18 inchesYukon-Koyukuk Census Area16.18Nome Census Area: 14.95 inchesNome Census Area14.95Northwest Arctic Borough: 12.99 inchesNorthwest Arctic Borough12.99North Slope Borough: 11.21 inchesNorth Slope Borough11.21
inches. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Other periods

About this ranking

Total precipitation from January to December, in inches: rain plus the water content of snow and other frozen precipitation. NOAA computes it from its climate divisional dataset (nClimDiv): station readings interpolated onto a 5 km grid and averaged over the area.

Values are area averages, not the reading at one weather station. NOAA revises the last two years every month.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. From the NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database (nClimDiv), doi:10.7289/V5M32STR. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. (2026). NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties (Counties in Alaska by annual precipitation, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping

MLA 9

NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties, Counties in Alaska by annual precipitation, 2020. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 6 Oct. 2026, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/alaska-counties?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. 2026. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Counties in Alaska by annual precipitation, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/alaska-counties?period=2020.

Harvard

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2026) NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties, Counties in Alaska by annual precipitation, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/alaska-counties?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{noaa_counties_in_alaska_by_2020,
  author = {{NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information}},
  title = {{NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties: Counties in Alaska by annual precipitation, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/alaska-counties?period=2020. Publisher attribution: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. From the NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database (nClimDiv), doi:10.7289/V5M32STR. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
TI  - NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties: Counties in Alaska by annual precipitation, 2020
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/06
PB  - NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/alaska-counties?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/alaska-counties?period=2020.
N1  - Publisher attribution: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. From the NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Divisional Database (nClimDiv), doi:10.7289/V5M32STR. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in Alaska by annual precipitation using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"precipitation_annual","level":"province","within":"Alaska","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=precipitation_annual&level=province&within=Alaska&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest annual precipitation?

Petersburg Borough, with 211.97 inches in 2020, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which county has the lowest annual precipitation?

North Slope Borough, with 11.21 inches in 2020.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Annual precipitation: other rankings

Counties in Alaska: more rankings