Counties in Iowa by annual precipitation

Appanoose County had the highest annual precipitation of 99 counties in 2019, at 51.31 inches. Monona County had the lowest, at 33.78 inches. The median was 41.22 inches and the figure for Iowa was 41.63 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest51.31Appanoose County
Lowest33.78Monona County
Median41.2299 counties
Iowa41.63History

Map of counties, 2019

Adair County: 40.22 inchesAdams County: 41.67 inchesAllamakee County: 51.08 inchesAppanoose County: 51.31 inchesAudubon County: 39.26 inchesBenton County: 39.83 inchesBlack Hawk County: 40.44 inchesBoone County: 39.55 inchesBremer County: 41.52 inchesBuchanan County: 43.49 inchesBuena Vista County: 36.07 inchesButler County: 38.41 inchesCalhoun County: 36.44 inchesCarroll County: 37.02 inchesCass County: 41.22 inchesCedar County: 44.73 inchesCerro Gordo County: 39.42 inchesCherokee County: 38.46 inchesChickasaw County: 41.95 inchesClarke County: 41.34 inchesClay County: 39.33 inchesClayton County: 49.45 inchesClinton County: 48.97 inchesCrawford County: 36.06 inchesDallas County: 36.04 inchesDavis County: 47.9 inchesDecatur County: 45.6 inchesDelaware County: 48.39 inchesDes Moines County: 48.23 inchesDickinson County: 41.92 inchesDubuque County: 50.19 inchesEmmet County: 41.24 inchesFayette County: 41.82 inchesFloyd County: 40.83 inchesFranklin County: 39.98 inchesFremont County: 40.87 inchesGreene County: 38.3 inchesGrundy County: 39.37 inchesGuthrie County: 35.85 inchesHamilton County: 41.82 inchesHancock County: 37.58 inchesHardin County: 41.75 inchesHarrison County: 37.86 inchesHenry County: 47.11 inchesHoward County: 46.05 inchesHumboldt County: 35.52 inchesIda County: 34.27 inchesIowa County: 40.99 inchesJackson County: 48.31 inchesJasper County: 40.89 inchesJefferson County: 42.9 inchesJohnson County: 44.05 inchesJones County: 45.43 inchesKeokuk County: 40.51 inchesKossuth County: 40 inchesLee County: 50.09 inchesLinn County: 42.71 inchesLouisa County: 45.68 inchesLucas County: 43 inchesLyon County: 42.61 inchesMadison County: 37.36 inchesMahaska County: 42.79 inchesMarion County: 42.09 inchesMarshall County: 40.08 inchesMills County: 40.14 inchesMitchell County: 45.38 inchesMonona County: 33.78 inchesMonroe County: 45.44 inchesMontgomery County: 40.17 inchesMuscatine County: 45.15 inchesO'Brien County: 39.83 inchesOsceola County: 42.64 inchesPage County: 40.68 inchesPalo Alto County: 38.68 inchesPlymouth County: 38.46 inchesPocahontas County: 35.67 inchesPolk County: 40.48 inchesPottawattamie County: 39.11 inchesPoweshiek County: 43.38 inchesRinggold County: 44.68 inchesSac County: 35.51 inchesScott County: 47.82 inchesShelby County: 38.87 inchesSioux County: 40.47 inchesStory County: 38.49 inchesTama County: 39.96 inchesTaylor County: 43.11 inchesUnion County: 42.37 inchesVan Buren County: 47.51 inchesWapello County: 42.91 inchesWarren County: 42.45 inchesWashington County: 41.05 inchesWayne County: 47.64 inchesWebster County: 38.68 inchesWinnebago County: 41.85 inchesWinneshiek County: 47.64 inchesWoodbury County: 34.27 inchesWorth County: 43.37 inchesWright County: 39.01 inches
  • Under 38
  • 38 to 40
  • 40 to 41
  • 41 to 43
  • 43 to 46
  • 46 and over
inches, 2019. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2019

Appanoose County: 51.31 inchesAppanoose County51.31Allamakee County: 51.08 inchesAllamakee County51.08Dubuque County: 50.19 inchesDubuque County50.19Lee County: 50.09 inchesLee County50.09Clayton County: 49.45 inchesClayton County49.45Clinton County: 48.97 inchesClinton County48.97Delaware County: 48.39 inchesDelaware County48.39Jackson County: 48.31 inchesJackson County48.31Des Moines County: 48.23 inchesDes Moines County48.23Davis County: 47.9 inchesDavis County47.9Scott County: 47.82 inchesScott County47.82Wayne County: 47.64 inchesWayne County47.64Winneshiek County: 47.64 inchesWinneshiek County47.64Van Buren County: 47.51 inchesVan Buren County47.51Henry County: 47.11 inchesHenry County47.11Howard County: 46.05 inchesHoward County46.05Louisa County: 45.68 inchesLouisa County45.68Decatur County: 45.6 inchesDecatur County45.6Monroe County: 45.44 inchesMonroe County45.44Jones County: 45.43 inchesJones County45.43Mitchell County: 45.38 inchesMitchell County45.38Muscatine County: 45.15 inchesMuscatine County45.15Cedar County: 44.73 inchesCedar County44.73Ringgold County: 44.68 inchesRinggold County44.68Johnson County: 44.05 inchesJohnson County44.05Buchanan County: 43.49 inchesBuchanan County43.49Poweshiek County: 43.38 inchesPoweshiek County43.38Worth County: 43.37 inchesWorth County43.37Taylor County: 43.11 inchesTaylor County43.11Lucas County: 43 inchesLucas County43Wapello County: 42.91 inchesWapello County42.91Jefferson County: 42.9 inchesJefferson County42.9Mahaska County: 42.79 inchesMahaska County42.79Linn County: 42.71 inchesLinn County42.71Osceola County: 42.64 inchesOsceola County42.64Lyon County: 42.61 inchesLyon County42.61Warren County: 42.45 inchesWarren County42.45Union County: 42.37 inchesUnion County42.37Marion County: 42.09 inchesMarion County42.09Chickasaw County: 41.95 inchesChickasaw County41.95Appanoose County: 51.31 inchesAppanoose County51.31Allamakee County: 51.08 inchesAllamakee County51.08Dubuque County: 50.19 inchesDubuque County50.19Lee County: 50.09 inchesLee County50.09Clayton County: 49.45 inchesClayton County49.45Clinton County: 48.97 inchesClinton County48.97Delaware County: 48.39 inchesDelaware County48.39Jackson County: 48.31 inchesJackson County48.31Des Moines County: 48.23 inchesDes Moines County48.23Davis County: 47.9 inchesDavis County47.9Scott County: 47.82 inchesScott County47.82Wayne County: 47.64 inchesWayne County47.64Winneshiek County: 47.64 inchesWinneshiek County47.64Van Buren County: 47.51 inchesVan Buren County47.51Henry County: 47.11 inchesHenry County47.11Howard County: 46.05 inchesHoward County46.05Louisa County: 45.68 inchesLouisa County45.68Decatur County: 45.6 inchesDecatur County45.6Monroe County: 45.44 inchesMonroe County45.44Jones County: 45.43 inchesJones County45.43Mitchell County: 45.38 inchesMitchell County45.38Muscatine County: 45.15 inchesMuscatine County45.15Cedar County: 44.73 inchesCedar County44.73Ringgold County: 44.68 inchesRinggold County44.68Johnson County: 44.05 inchesJohnson County44.05Buchanan County: 43.49 inchesBuchanan County43.49Poweshiek County: 43.38 inchesPoweshiek County43.38Worth County: 43.37 inchesWorth County43.37Taylor County: 43.11 inchesTaylor County43.11Lucas County: 43 inchesLucas County43Wapello County: 42.91 inchesWapello County42.91Jefferson County: 42.9 inchesJefferson County42.9Mahaska County: 42.79 inchesMahaska County42.79Linn County: 42.71 inchesLinn County42.71Osceola County: 42.64 inchesOsceola County42.64Lyon County: 42.61 inchesLyon County42.61Warren County: 42.45 inchesWarren County42.45Union County: 42.37 inchesUnion County42.37Marion County: 42.09 inchesMarion County42.09Chickasaw County: 41.95 inchesChickasaw County41.95
inches. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2019
inches
Change on 2018
1Appanoose County51.31+43.1%
2Allamakee County51.08-7.4%
3Dubuque County50.19-1.7%
4Lee County50.09+22.9%
5Clayton County49.45-6.8%
6Clinton County48.97+3.1%
7Delaware County48.39-7.3%
8Jackson County48.31-2.5%
9Des Moines County48.23+23.9%
10Davis County47.9+39.2%
11Scott County47.82+5.1%
12Wayne County47.64+21.9%
12Winneshiek County47.64-15.3%
14Van Buren County47.51+28.5%
15Henry County47.11+19.6%
16Howard County46.05-17.8%
17Louisa County45.68+6.9%
18Decatur County45.6+7.2%
19Monroe County45.44+27.8%
20Jones County45.43-7.1%
21Mitchell County45.38-10.3%
22Muscatine County45.15-1.2%
23Cedar County44.73-4.9%
24Ringgold County44.68+4.8%
25Johnson County44.05-8.2%
26Buchanan County43.49-16.9%
27Poweshiek County43.38-11.2%
28Worth County43.37-12.3%
29Taylor County43.11+3.9%
30Lucas County43+5.8%
31Wapello County42.91+19.8%
32Jefferson County42.9+9.4%
33Mahaska County42.79+7.9%
34Linn County42.71-6.5%
35Osceola County42.64-13.5%
36Lyon County42.61-8.4%
37Warren County42.45+1.8%
38Union County42.37+3%
39Marion County42.09+3.2%
40Chickasaw County41.95-30.3%
41Dickinson County41.92-11.1%
42Winnebago County41.85-10.6%
43Fayette County41.82-25.2%
43Hamilton County41.82-15.8%
45Hardin County41.75-13.5%
46Adams County41.67+1.2%
47Bremer County41.52-31.5%
48Clarke County41.34-2.7%
49Emmet County41.24-12.2%
50Cass County41.22-2.5%
51Washington County41.05-9.5%
52Iowa County40.99-11.6%
53Jasper County40.89-11.8%
54Fremont County40.87+6.8%
55Floyd County40.83-27.2%
56Page County40.68+6%
57Keokuk County40.51+1.2%
58Polk County40.48-8.6%
59Sioux County40.47-12.4%
60Black Hawk County40.44-26.8%
61Adair County40.22-0.4%
62Montgomery County40.17-4.1%
63Mills County40.14-2.3%
64Marshall County40.08-14.8%
65Kossuth County40-14.1%
66Franklin County39.98-22.5%
67Tama County39.96-14.2%
68Benton County39.83-12.5%
68O'Brien County39.83-16%
70Boone County39.55-16%
71Cerro Gordo County39.42-23.8%
72Grundy County39.37-20.4%
73Clay County39.33-8.7%
74Audubon County39.26-7.4%
75Pottawattamie County39.11-7.8%
76Wright County39.01-18.6%
77Shelby County38.87-9.1%
78Palo Alto County38.68-18.9%
78Webster County38.68-17.6%
80Story County38.49-25.9%
81Cherokee County38.46+2.7%
81Plymouth County38.46-2.9%
83Butler County38.41-28.2%
84Greene County38.3-11.9%
85Harrison County37.86-8.4%
86Hancock County37.58-23.5%
87Madison County37.36+0.3%
88Carroll County37.02-14.6%
89Calhoun County36.44-16.5%
90Buena Vista County36.07+2%
91Crawford County36.06-11.4%
92Dallas County36.04-8.1%
93Guthrie County35.85-11.9%
94Pocahontas County35.67-21.8%
95Humboldt County35.52-19.6%
96Sac County35.51-6.3%
97Ida County34.27-2.3%
97Woodbury County34.27-8.1%
99Monona County33.78-10.9%

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 Iowa by annual precipitation, 2019) [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 Iowa by annual precipitation, 2019. 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/iowa-counties?period=2019. 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 Iowa by annual precipitation, 2019. 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/iowa-counties?period=2019.

Harvard

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2026) NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties, Counties in Iowa by annual precipitation, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/iowa-counties?period=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{noaa_counties_in_iowa_by_2019,
  author = {{NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information}},
  title = {{NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties: Counties in Iowa by annual precipitation, 2019}},
  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/iowa-counties?period=2019. 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 Iowa by annual precipitation, 2019
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/iowa-counties?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/iowa-counties?period=2019.
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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Rank Counties in Iowa by annual precipitation using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which county has the highest annual precipitation?

Appanoose County, with 51.31 inches in 2019, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which county has the lowest annual precipitation?

Monona County, with 33.78 inches in 2019.

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 Iowa: more rankings