US states by annual precipitation

Hawaii had the highest annual precipitation of 50 states in 2014, at 70.01 inches. Nevada had the lowest, at 9.92 inches. The median was 42.61 inches and the figure for the United States was 30.81 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Highest70.01Hawaii

Lowest9.92Nevada

Median42.6150 states

United States30.81History

Map of states, 2014

Under 20
20 to 36
36 to 43
43 to 47
47 to 50
50 and over
No data

inches, 2014. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2014

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

Full ranking

Rank	States	2014 inches	Change on 2013
1	Hawaii	70.01	+36.8%
2	Florida	59.13	+4%
3	Mississippi	58.22	-7.5%
4	Alabama	56.03	-13.4%
5	Louisiana	55.94	-8.9%
6	Tennessee	53.53	-15.4%
7	Georgia	51.41	-19%
8	Massachusetts	50.1	+8%
9	North Carolina	50.08	-11.3%
10	New Hampshire	49.64	+8.5%
11	Maine	49.45	+8.4%
12	New Jersey	48.95	+5.5%
13	Washington	48.8	+36.8%
14	Arkansas	47.91	-11.7%
15	Rhode Island	47.24	+9.4%
16	Kentucky	47.11	-15.5%
17	South Carolina	47.03	-16.6%
18	Vermont	46.08	-1%
19	Connecticut	45.01	+3.7%
20	Delaware	45	-11.3%
21	Maryland	44.76	-2.8%
22	Virginia	43.75	-14.8%
23	Indiana	43.57	-3.5%
24	New York	43.23	-1.7%
25	West Virginia	42.79	-10.1%
26	Pennsylvania	42.43	+1.5%
27	Illinois	41.29	-2.8%
28	Missouri	39.31	-14%
29	Iowa	38.69	+12.3%
30	Ohio	38.56	-7.5%
31	Wisconsin	37.08	+1.5%
32	Alaska	36.75	-9.9%
33	Michigan	36.66	-4.1%
34	Oregon	35.29	+55.3%
35	Minnesota	29.12	+0.4%
36	Oklahoma	28.87	-21.3%
37	Idaho	26.47	+50.1%
38	Kansas	25.43	-12.4%
39	Nebraska	24.98	+6.6%
40	Texas	24.01	-7.7%
41	Montana	21.6	+7.9%
42	South Dakota	20.19	-19%
43	California	19.9	+150.9%
44	Colorado	19.14	+1.9%
45	North Dakota	18.61	-20.1%
46	Wyoming	18.09	+10.9%
47	Utah	13.33	+0.9%
48	New Mexico	13.2	-3.4%
49	Arizona	11.07	-8.7%
50	Nevada	9.92	+33%

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 states 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, contiguous US and statewide. 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/statewide/time-series/51/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. 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, contiguous US and statewide (US states by annual precipitation, 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/51/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json

MLA 9

NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide, US states by annual precipitation, 2014. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 6 Oct. 2026, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/51/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2014. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. 2026. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide. US states by annual precipitation, 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/51/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2014.

Harvard

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2026) NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide, US states by annual precipitation, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/51/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{noaa_us_states_by_annual_2014,
  author = {{NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information}},
  title = {{NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide: US states by annual precipitation, 2014}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/statewide/time-series/51/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2014. Publisher attribution: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide. 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/statewide/time-series/51/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
TI  - NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide: US states by annual precipitation, 2014
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/statewide/time-series/51/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2014.
N1  - Publisher attribution: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance. NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, contiguous US and statewide. 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/statewide/time-series/51/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest annual precipitation?

Hawaii, with 70.01 inches in 2014, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which state has the lowest annual precipitation?

Nevada, with 9.92 inches in 2014.

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, contiguous US and statewide. Retrieved 2026-10-12.