US states by annual precipitation

Hawaii had the highest annual precipitation of 50 states in 2016, at 69.82 inches. Nevada had the lowest, at 11.15 inches. The median was 38.81 inches and the figure for the United States was 31.41 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Highest69.82Hawaii

Lowest11.15Nevada

Median38.8150 states

United States31.41History

Map of states, 2016

Under 22
22 to 35
35 to 39
39 to 41
41 to 47
47 and over
No data

inches, 2016. 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, 2016

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	2016 inches	Change on 2015
1	Hawaii	69.82	-11.7%
2	Louisiana	67.08	-0.3%
3	Florida	53.41	+1%
4	Mississippi	53.13	-12.3%
5	North Carolina	50.61	-13.2%
6	Arkansas	50.44	-25.1%
7	Kentucky	49.19	-15.6%
8	Washington	49.14	+13.6%
9	Tennessee	47.04	-20.5%
10	South Carolina	46.25	-23.8%
11	Delaware	45.67	-1.3%
12	Virginia	45.41	-8.7%
13	West Virginia	45.36	-6.7%
14	Alabama	45.01	-26.6%
15	Indiana	43.38	-8.7%
16	Maryland	41.66	-11.1%
17	Maine	41.36	-4.2%
18	Rhode Island	41.26	+0.9%
19	Georgia	40.9	-26.6%
20	Illinois	39.74	-18.6%
21	New Jersey	39.59	-9.7%
22	New Hampshire	39.57	-10.1%
23	Missouri	39.44	-29%
24	Wisconsin	39.39	+9.8%
25	Pennsylvania	38.99	-9.5%
26	Vermont	38.62	-9%
27	New York	38.17	-6.1%
28	Iowa	38.1	-10.4%
29	Ohio	37.39	-13.1%
30	Alaska	37.07	-7.6%
31	Massachusetts	36.83	-11%
32	Connecticut	36.73	-0.9%
33	Michigan	35.86	+13%
34	Oregon	34.68	+14.9%
35	Minnesota	33.54	+13.8%
36	Texas	32.1	-22.1%
37	Oklahoma	31.19	-41.9%
38	Kansas	30.68	-6.4%
39	California	25.73	+71.1%
40	Nebraska	25.31	-9.8%
41	Idaho	24.88	+10.5%
42	North Dakota	21.85	+23.3%
43	Montana	21.17	+25.4%
44	South Dakota	20.68	-9.2%
45	Wyoming	17.28	+3.4%
46	Colorado	17.08	-21.4%
47	Utah	14.04	-8.9%
48	New Mexico	12.94	-33.1%
49	Arizona	12.28	-14.7%
50	Nevada	11.15	-1.7%

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, 2016) [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, 2016. 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=2016. 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, 2016. 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=2016.

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, 2016 [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=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{noaa_us_states_by_annual_2016,
  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, 2016}},
  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=2016. 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, 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/statewide/time-series/51/pcp/12/12/1895-2025/data.json
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2016.
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 69.82 inches in 2016, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which state has the lowest annual precipitation?

Nevada, with 11.15 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, contiguous US and statewide. Retrieved 2026-10-12.