Counties in California by annual precipitation, 2025

Humboldt County had the highest annual precipitation of 58 counties in 2025, at 67.99 inches. Imperial County had the lowest, at 3.9 inches. The median was 22.86 inches and the figure for California was 23.29 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Highest67.99Humboldt County
Median22.8658 counties
California23.29History

All counties, 2025

Humboldt County: 67.99 inchesHumboldt County67.99Del Norte County: 67.03 inchesDel Norte County67.03Trinity County: 60.48 inchesTrinity County60.48Nevada County: 53.49 inchesNevada County53.49Mendocino County: 51.37 inchesMendocino County51.37Placer County: 48.64 inchesPlacer County48.64Sierra County: 47.98 inchesSierra County47.98El Dorado County: 46.54 inchesEl Dorado County46.54Plumas County: 45.79 inchesPlumas County45.79Shasta County: 44.12 inchesShasta County44.12Butte County: 43.6 inchesButte County43.6Lake County: 40.89 inchesLake County40.89Tuolumne County: 39.11 inchesTuolumne County39.11Siskiyou County: 38.1 inchesSiskiyou County38.1Alpine County: 36.9 inchesAlpine County36.9Sonoma County: 36.58 inchesSonoma County36.58Yuba County: 36.57 inchesYuba County36.57Tehama County: 36.5 inchesTehama County36.5Amador County: 35.31 inchesAmador County35.31Mariposa County: 33.76 inchesMariposa County33.76Calaveras County: 32.17 inchesCalaveras County32.17Marin County: 29.43 inchesMarin County29.43Ventura County: 28.33 inchesVentura County28.33Santa Cruz County: 28.31 inchesSanta Cruz County28.31Napa County: 25.67 inchesNapa County25.67Madera County: 25.43 inchesMadera County25.43Santa Barbara County: 25.28 inchesSanta Barbara County25.28San Mateo County: 23.2 inchesSan Mateo County23.2Glenn County: 22.87 inchesGlenn County22.87Lassen County: 22.84 inchesLassen County22.84Tulare County: 22.69 inchesTulare County22.69Fresno County: 21.32 inchesFresno County21.32Santa Clara County: 21.2 inchesSanta Clara County21.2Modoc County: 20.83 inchesModoc County20.83San Francisco County: 20.78 inchesSan Francisco County20.78Los Angeles County: 20.66 inchesLos Angeles County20.66Monterey County: 20.27 inchesMonterey County20.27San Luis Obispo County: 18.76 inchesSan Luis Obispo County18.76Colusa County: 18.6 inchesColusa County18.6San Benito County: 17.83 inchesSan Benito County17.83Yolo County: 17.75 inchesYolo County17.75Mono County: 16.87 inchesMono County16.87Solano County: 16.61 inchesSolano County16.61Sutter County: 16.61 inchesSutter County16.61Sacramento County: 16.54 inchesSacramento County16.54Alameda County: 15.58 inchesAlameda County15.58Orange County: 14.95 inchesOrange County14.95Contra Costa County: 14.16 inchesContra Costa County14.16Stanislaus County: 13.45 inchesStanislaus County13.45San Joaquin County: 13.26 inchesSan Joaquin County13.26San Diego County: 11.8 inchesSan Diego County11.8Kern County: 11.73 inchesKern County11.73Merced County: 11.47 inchesMerced County11.47Kings County: 9.04 inchesKings County9.04Riverside County: 7.99 inchesRiverside County7.99San Bernardino County: 7.83 inchesSan Bernardino County7.83Inyo County: 7.76 inchesInyo County7.76Imperial County: 3.9 inchesImperial County3.9
inches. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2025
inches
Change on 2024
1Humboldt County67.99-24.9%
2Del Norte County67.03-33.9%
3Trinity County60.48-22.5%
4Nevada County53.49-2.6%
5Mendocino County51.37-27.4%
6Placer County48.64+0.5%
7Sierra County47.98-1.7%
8El Dorado County46.54+4.9%
9Plumas County45.79-6.1%
10Shasta County44.12-20.2%
11Butte County43.6-17.4%
12Lake County40.89-32.6%
13Tuolumne County39.11-3.9%
14Siskiyou County38.1-19.2%
15Alpine County36.9+4.5%
16Sonoma County36.58-35.5%
17Yuba County36.57-16.7%
18Tehama County36.5-21.5%
19Amador County35.31-5.2%
20Mariposa County33.76+0.3%
21Calaveras County32.17-10.2%
22Marin County29.43-36.3%
23Ventura County28.33+20.3%
24Santa Cruz County28.31-25.5%
25Napa County25.67-35.4%
26Madera County25.43+12.5%
27Santa Barbara County25.28+12.1%
28San Mateo County23.2-30.2%
29Glenn County22.87-38.2%
30Lassen County22.84+3.3%
31Tulare County22.69+6.6%
32Fresno County21.32+13.8%
33Santa Clara County21.2-27.8%
34Modoc County20.83+1.5%
35San Francisco County20.78-33.3%
36Los Angeles County20.66+18.3%
37Monterey County20.27-15.3%
38San Luis Obispo County18.76+1.1%
39Colusa County18.6-43.2%
40San Benito County17.83-12%
41Yolo County17.75-27.7%
42Mono County16.87+17.1%
43Solano County16.61-27.8%
43Sutter County16.61-33.5%
45Sacramento County16.54-22.1%
46Alameda County15.58-30%
47Orange County14.95-2.5%
48Contra Costa County14.16-29.4%
49Stanislaus County13.45-25.7%
50San Joaquin County13.26-20%
51San Diego County11.8-9.6%
52Kern County11.73+13.3%
53Merced County11.47-19.4%
54Kings County9.04+1.8%
55Riverside County7.99+22.7%
56San Bernardino County7.83+37.4%
57Inyo County7.76+26.2%
58Imperial County3.9+62.5%

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 California by annual precipitation, 2025) [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 California by annual precipitation, 2025. 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/california-counties. 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 California by annual precipitation, 2025. 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/california-counties.

Harvard

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2026) NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties, Counties in California by annual precipitation, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/california-counties (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{noaa_counties_in_california_by_2025,
  author = {{NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information}},
  title = {{NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties: Counties in California by annual precipitation, 2025}},
  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/california-counties. 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 California by annual precipitation, 2025
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/california-counties
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/california-counties.
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  - 
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Questions

Which county has the highest annual precipitation?

Humboldt County, with 67.99 inches in 2025, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which county has the lowest annual precipitation?

Imperial County, with 3.9 inches in 2025.

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 California: more rankings