US states by annual precipitation

Hawaii had the highest annual precipitation of 50 states in 2015, at 79.08 inches. Nevada had the lowest, at 11.34 inches. The median was 42.76 inches and the figure for the United States was 34.58 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Highest79.08Hawaii

Lowest11.34Nevada

Median42.7650 states

United States34.58History

Map of states, 2015

Under 22
22 to 36
36 to 43
43 to 47
47 to 58
58 and over
No data

inches, 2015. 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, 2015

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	2015 inches	Change on 2014
1	Hawaii	79.08	+13%
2	Arkansas	67.31	+40.5%
2	Louisiana	67.31	+20.3%
4	Alabama	61.36	+9.5%
5	South Carolina	60.66	+29%
6	Mississippi	60.57	+4%
7	Tennessee	59.16	+10.5%
8	North Carolina	58.32	+16.5%
9	Kentucky	58.3	+23.8%
10	Georgia	55.74	+8.4%
11	Missouri	55.52	+41.2%
12	Oklahoma	53.72	+86.1%
13	Florida	52.86	-10.6%
14	Virginia	49.76	+13.7%
15	Illinois	48.8	+18.2%
16	West Virginia	48.62	+13.6%
17	Indiana	47.51	+9%
18	Maryland	46.86	+4.7%
19	Delaware	46.27	+2.8%
20	New Hampshire	44.01	-11.3%
21	New Jersey	43.86	-10.4%
22	Washington	43.25	-11.4%
23	Maine	43.16	-12.7%
24	Pennsylvania	43.09	+1.6%
25	Ohio	43.01	+11.5%
26	Iowa	42.51	+9.9%
27	Vermont	42.44	-7.9%
28	Massachusetts	41.39	-17.4%
29	Texas	41.23	+71.7%
30	Rhode Island	40.88	-13.5%
31	New York	40.64	-6%
32	Alaska	40.1	+9.1%
33	Connecticut	37.08	-17.6%
34	Wisconsin	35.88	-3.2%
35	Kansas	32.77	+28.9%
36	Michigan	31.74	-13.4%
37	Oregon	30.17	-14.5%
38	Minnesota	29.46	+1.2%
39	Nebraska	28.06	+12.3%
40	South Dakota	22.78	+12.8%
41	Idaho	22.52	-14.9%
42	Colorado	21.73	+13.5%
43	New Mexico	19.33	+46.4%
44	North Dakota	17.72	-4.8%
45	Montana	16.88	-21.9%
46	Wyoming	16.71	-7.6%
47	Utah	15.41	+15.6%
48	California	15.04	-24.4%
49	Arizona	14.39	+30%
50	Nevada	11.34	+14.3%

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, 2015) [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, 2015. 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=2015. 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, 2015. 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=2015.

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, 2015 [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=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{noaa_us_states_by_annual_2015,
  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, 2015}},
  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=2015. 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, 2015
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=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2015.
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 79.08 inches in 2015, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which state has the lowest annual precipitation?

Nevada, with 11.34 inches in 2015.

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.