US states by annual precipitation

Hawaii had the highest annual precipitation of 50 states in 2018, at 97.98 inches. Nevada had the lowest, at 9.27 inches. The median was 46.76 inches and the figure for the United States was 34.62 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Highest97.98Hawaii

Lowest9.27Nevada

Median46.7650 states

United States34.62History

Map of states, 2018

Under 20
20 to 37
37 to 47
47 to 61
61 to 64
64 and over
No data

inches, 2018. 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, 2018

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	2018 inches	Change on 2017
1	Hawaii	97.98	+67.8%
2	North Carolina	68.35	+42.5%
3	Tennessee	67.14	+19.4%
4	Mississippi	66.81	+13.4%
5	Louisiana	66.39	+3.6%
6	West Virginia	65.1	+38.5%
7	New Jersey	64.76	+44.2%
8	Maryland	64.62	+56.8%
9	Alabama	64.4	+0.3%
10	Arkansas	64.32	+28%
11	Pennsylvania	64.04	+37.4%
12	Kentucky	63.74	+26.8%
13	Virginia	63.53	+52.9%
14	Rhode Island	63.18	+28.6%
15	Connecticut	62.16	+41%
16	Massachusetts	61.03	+30.4%
17	Georgia	60.8	+22.1%
18	Florida	60.52	+3.2%
19	Delaware	60.02	+34.8%
20	South Carolina	57.3	+23%
21	New Hampshire	51.8	+5.3%
22	Ohio	50.93	+11.9%
23	Indiana	50.03	+9.7%
24	New York	48.59	+2.6%
25	Vermont	47.07	+1.7%
26	Maine	46.45	+2.5%
27	Illinois	45.79	+21.1%
28	Iowa	45.08	+39.4%
29	Missouri	43	+3.7%
30	Washington	41.32	-15.2%
31	Oklahoma	41.01	+6.2%
32	Wisconsin	39.74	+5.8%
33	Alaska	37.9	-0.4%
34	Michigan	36.17	-7.9%
35	Texas	33.72	+11.4%
36	Kansas	31.85	+9.7%
37	Minnesota	30.08	+6.3%
38	Nebraska	29.22	+15.3%
39	Oregon	25.41	-29.8%
40	South Dakota	23.25	+31.9%
41	Idaho	21.88	-24.1%
42	Montana	19.98	+14.6%
43	California	18.09	-35.8%
44	North Dakota	17.77	+36.8%
45	Wyoming	16.12	-13.6%
46	Colorado	14.96	-20.9%
47	New Mexico	12.72	-14.1%
48	Arizona	11.67	+23.2%
49	Utah	11.58	-9.7%
50	Nevada	9.27	-17%

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, 2018) [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, 2018. 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=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

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, 2018 [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=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{noaa_us_states_by_annual_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/us-states?period=2018.
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 97.98 inches in 2018, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which state has the lowest annual precipitation?

Nevada, with 9.27 inches in 2018.

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.