Counties in Tennessee by annual precipitation

Shelby County had the highest annual precipitation of 95 counties in 2016, at 60.18 inches. Cocke County had the lowest, at 37.15 inches. The median was 46.81 inches and the figure for Tennessee was 47.04 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Highest60.18Shelby County

Lowest37.15Cocke County

Median46.8195 counties

Tennessee47.04History

Map of counties, 2016

Under 42
42 to 45
45 to 47
47 to 49
49 to 51
51 and over

inches, 2016. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2016

inches. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	2016 inches	Change on 2015
1	Shelby County	60.18	+8.9%
2	Tipton County	56.39	+0.5%
3	Haywood County	56.35	-0.7%
4	Fayette County	55.33	-3.4%
5	Lincoln County	54.4	-16.5%
6	Crockett County	53.64	-4.9%
7	Macon County	53.62	-4.7%
8	Moore County	52.87	-18.9%
9	Madison County	52.77	-5.2%
10	Lauderdale County	52.7	-4%
11	Sumner County	52.22	+1.7%
12	Robertson County	51.85	-0.5%
13	Carroll County	51.03	-9.4%
14	Trousdale County	51.02	-4.7%
15	Jackson County	50.95	-9.6%
16	Henderson County	50.88	-12.6%
17	Putnam County	50.81	-21.8%
18	Warren County	50.56	-18.5%
18	White County	50.56	-24.3%
20	Stewart County	50.23	-15.2%
21	Clay County	50.19	-8.4%
22	Hardeman County	50.18	-17.5%
23	Smith County	50.1	-9.5%
24	Dyer County	49.76	-11.1%
25	Campbell County	49.66	-15.8%
26	Grundy County	49.54	-32.1%
27	Gibson County	49.5	-13.4%
28	Anderson County	49.32	-17.1%
29	Montgomery County	49.13	-13.6%
30	Henry County	49.09	-11.5%
31	Franklin County	49.02	-27.4%
31	Van Buren County	49.02	-24.2%
33	Overton County	48.97	-18.9%
34	Coffee County	48.89	-24%
35	DeKalb County	48.86	-22.3%
36	Cumberland County	48.73	-28.3%
37	Chester County	48.56	-14.8%
38	Scott County	48.47	-25.6%
39	Benton County	48.26	-12.2%
40	Wilson County	48.22	-12.7%
41	Lake County	47.9	-15%
42	Fentress County	47.89	-23.4%
43	Obion County	47.87	-17.1%
44	Lewis County	47.7	-19.6%
45	Morgan County	47.51	-27.4%
46	Pickett County	47.36	-18%
47	Decatur County	47.32	-20.4%
48	Sequatchie County	46.81	-34.4%
49	Wayne County	46.79	-24.4%
50	Claiborne County	46.68	-15.2%
51	Lawrence County	46.58	-22.8%
52	Cannon County	46.49	-25%
53	Bedford County	46.48	-22.8%
54	Weakley County	46.3	-19.7%
55	Bledsoe County	46.27	-32.4%
56	Union County	46.23	-12.1%
57	Rutherford County	45.72	-23.8%
58	Perry County	45.68	-22.2%
59	Rhea County	45.65	-34.2%
60	Roane County	45.53	-31.2%
61	Houston County	45.45	-18.7%
62	Blount County	45.41	-24%
62	Davidson County	45.41	-12.8%
64	Knox County	45.31	-21.1%
65	Giles County	45.27	-23.5%
66	Humphreys County	44.95	-18%
67	Loudon County	44.86	-30.5%
68	Johnson County	44.72	-23.3%
69	Marion County	44.69	-37.7%
70	McNairy County	44.35	-23.8%
71	Meigs County	44.12	-35.7%
72	Hickman County	43.81	-21.7%
73	Hancock County	43.26	-23.4%
74	McMinn County	43.06	-36.4%
75	Williamson County	42.86	-22%
76	Sevier County	42.58	-29.9%
77	Cheatham County	42.52	-18.6%
78	Hardin County	41.95	-28.3%
79	Maury County	41.63	-26.5%
80	Unicoi County	41.48	-21.2%
81	Carter County	41.4	-26.6%
82	Grainger County	41.16	-23.7%
83	Hamilton County	41.15	-38.2%
84	Monroe County	41.07	-37.8%
85	Dickson County	40.99	-23.2%
86	Bradley County	40.96	-38.6%
87	Marshall County	40.76	-29.1%
88	Polk County	40.64	-40.4%
89	Hawkins County	40.39	-26.6%
90	Sullivan County	38.66	-20.8%
91	Jefferson County	38.52	-27.4%
92	Greene County	38.29	-24.3%
93	Washington County	38.27	-19.7%
94	Hamblen County	37.2	-30.1%
95	Cocke County	37.15	-31.8%

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 Tennessee by annual precipitation, 2016) [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 Tennessee by annual precipitation, 2016. 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/tennessee-counties?period=2016. 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 Tennessee by annual precipitation, 2016. 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/tennessee-counties?period=2016.

Harvard

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2026) NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties, Counties in Tennessee by annual precipitation, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/county/mapping, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/tennessee-counties?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{noaa_counties_in_tennessee_by_2016,
  author = {{NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information}},
  title = {{NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties: Counties in Tennessee by annual precipitation, 2016}},
  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/tennessee-counties?period=2016. 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 Tennessee by annual precipitation, 2016
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/tennessee-counties?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/tennessee-counties?period=2016.
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?

Shelby County, with 60.18 inches in 2016, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which county has the lowest annual precipitation?

Cocke County, with 37.15 inches in 2016.

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.