Counties in Washington by annual precipitation

Jefferson County had the highest annual precipitation of 39 counties in 2016, at 131.12 inches. Benton County had the lowest, at 9.25 inches. The median was 35.59 inches and the figure for Washington was 49.14 inches. Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest131.12Jefferson County
Lowest9.25Benton County
Median35.5939 counties
Washington49.14History

Map of counties, 2016

Adams County: 15 inchesAsotin County: 17.58 inchesBenton County: 9.25 inchesChelan County: 42.04 inchesClallam County: 106.8 inchesClark County: 74.9 inchesColumbia County: 27.58 inchesCowlitz County: 89.66 inchesDouglas County: 14.93 inchesFerry County: 25.9 inchesFranklin County: 11.61 inchesGarfield County: 20.32 inchesGrant County: 10.24 inchesGrays Harbor County: 113.55 inchesIsland County: 30.41 inchesJefferson County: 131.12 inchesKing County: 79.88 inchesKitsap County: 56.41 inchesKittitas County: 35.59 inchesKlickitat County: 23.45 inchesLewis County: 79.81 inchesLincoln County: 17.4 inchesMason County: 112.58 inchesOkanogan County: 27.43 inchesPacific County: 102.38 inchesPend Oreille County: 41.12 inchesPierce County: 70.95 inchesSan Juan County: 29.78 inchesSkagit County: 88.3 inchesSkamania County: 103.67 inchesSnohomish County: 96.34 inchesSpokane County: 23.85 inchesStevens County: 28.32 inchesThurston County: 54.67 inchesWahkiakum County: 95.21 inchesWalla Walla County: 15.82 inchesWhatcom County: 78.23 inchesWhitman County: 20.26 inchesYakima County: 29.46 inches
  • Under 17
  • 17 to 27
  • 27 to 36
  • 36 to 76
  • 76 to 96
  • 96 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.

All counties, 2016

Jefferson County: 131.12 inchesJefferson County131.12Grays Harbor County: 113.55 inchesGrays Harbor County113.55Mason County: 112.58 inchesMason County112.58Clallam County: 106.8 inchesClallam County106.8Skamania County: 103.67 inchesSkamania County103.67Pacific County: 102.38 inchesPacific County102.38Snohomish County: 96.34 inchesSnohomish County96.34Wahkiakum County: 95.21 inchesWahkiakum County95.21Cowlitz County: 89.66 inchesCowlitz County89.66Skagit County: 88.3 inchesSkagit County88.3King County: 79.88 inchesKing County79.88Lewis County: 79.81 inchesLewis County79.81Whatcom County: 78.23 inchesWhatcom County78.23Clark County: 74.9 inchesClark County74.9Pierce County: 70.95 inchesPierce County70.95Kitsap County: 56.41 inchesKitsap County56.41Thurston County: 54.67 inchesThurston County54.67Chelan County: 42.04 inchesChelan County42.04Pend Oreille County: 41.12 inchesPend Oreille County41.12Kittitas County: 35.59 inchesKittitas County35.59Island County: 30.41 inchesIsland County30.41San Juan County: 29.78 inchesSan Juan County29.78Yakima County: 29.46 inchesYakima County29.46Stevens County: 28.32 inchesStevens County28.32Columbia County: 27.58 inchesColumbia County27.58Okanogan County: 27.43 inchesOkanogan County27.43Ferry County: 25.9 inchesFerry County25.9Spokane County: 23.85 inchesSpokane County23.85Klickitat County: 23.45 inchesKlickitat County23.45Garfield County: 20.32 inchesGarfield County20.32Whitman County: 20.26 inchesWhitman County20.26Asotin County: 17.58 inchesAsotin County17.58Lincoln County: 17.4 inchesLincoln County17.4Walla Walla County: 15.82 inchesWalla Walla County15.82Adams County: 15 inchesAdams County15Douglas County: 14.93 inchesDouglas County14.93Franklin County: 11.61 inchesFranklin County11.61Grant County: 10.24 inchesGrant County10.24Benton County: 9.25 inchesBenton County9.25Jefferson County: 131.12 inchesJefferson County131.12Grays Harbor County: 113.55 inchesGrays Harbor County113.55Mason County: 112.58 inchesMason County112.58Clallam County: 106.8 inchesClallam County106.8Skamania County: 103.67 inchesSkamania County103.67Pacific County: 102.38 inchesPacific County102.38Snohomish County: 96.34 inchesSnohomish County96.34Wahkiakum County: 95.21 inchesWahkiakum County95.21Cowlitz County: 89.66 inchesCowlitz County89.66Skagit County: 88.3 inchesSkagit County88.3King County: 79.88 inchesKing County79.88Lewis County: 79.81 inchesLewis County79.81Whatcom County: 78.23 inchesWhatcom County78.23Clark County: 74.9 inchesClark County74.9Pierce County: 70.95 inchesPierce County70.95Kitsap County: 56.41 inchesKitsap County56.41Thurston County: 54.67 inchesThurston County54.67Chelan County: 42.04 inchesChelan County42.04Pend Oreille County: 41.12 inchesPend Oreille County41.12Kittitas County: 35.59 inchesKittitas County35.59Island County: 30.41 inchesIsland County30.41San Juan County: 29.78 inchesSan Juan County29.78Yakima County: 29.46 inchesYakima County29.46Stevens County: 28.32 inchesStevens County28.32Columbia County: 27.58 inchesColumbia County27.58Okanogan County: 27.43 inchesOkanogan County27.43Ferry County: 25.9 inchesFerry County25.9Spokane County: 23.85 inchesSpokane County23.85Klickitat County: 23.45 inchesKlickitat County23.45Garfield County: 20.32 inchesGarfield County20.32Whitman County: 20.26 inchesWhitman County20.26Asotin County: 17.58 inchesAsotin County17.58Lincoln County: 17.4 inchesLincoln County17.4Walla Walla County: 15.82 inchesWalla Walla County15.82Adams County: 15 inchesAdams County15Douglas County: 14.93 inchesDouglas County14.93Franklin County: 11.61 inchesFranklin County11.61Grant County: 10.24 inchesGrant County10.24Benton County: 9.25 inchesBenton County9.25
inches. Source: NOAA NCEI, NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2016
inches
Change on 2015
1Jefferson County131.12+17.4%
2Grays Harbor County113.55+18.5%
3Mason County112.58+17.1%
4Clallam County106.8+17.2%
5Skamania County103.67+13%
6Pacific County102.38+19%
7Snohomish County96.34+9.7%
8Wahkiakum County95.21+20.5%
9Cowlitz County89.66+15.8%
10Skagit County88.3+4.7%
11King County79.88+2.7%
12Lewis County79.81+5.2%
13Whatcom County78.23+3.8%
14Clark County74.9+13%
15Pierce County70.95+2.3%
16Kitsap County56.41+19.6%
17Thurston County54.67+0.8%
18Chelan County42.04+5.6%
19Pend Oreille County41.12+32.8%
20Kittitas County35.59+3.7%
21Island County30.41-0.8%
22San Juan County29.78-0.9%
23Yakima County29.46+8.1%
24Stevens County28.32+31.8%
25Columbia County27.58+28.9%
26Okanogan County27.43+29.8%
27Ferry County25.9+38.9%
28Spokane County23.85+31%
29Klickitat County23.45+4.7%
30Garfield County20.32+26.1%
31Whitman County20.26+21.1%
32Asotin County17.58+26.3%
33Lincoln County17.4+41%
34Walla Walla County15.82+27.7%
35Adams County15+41.2%
36Douglas County14.93+30.4%
37Franklin County11.61+37.4%
38Grant County10.24+30.4%
39Benton County9.25+21.4%

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 Washington 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 Washington 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/washington-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 Washington 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/washington-counties?period=2016.

Harvard

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2026) NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties, Counties in Washington 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/washington-counties?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{noaa_counties_in_washington_by_2016,
  author = {{NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information}},
  title = {{NOAA Climate at a Glance, January to December precipitation, counties: Counties in Washington 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/washington-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 Washington 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/washington-counties?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/annual-precipitation/washington-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  - 
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in Washington by annual precipitation using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"precipitation_annual","level":"province","within":"Washington","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=precipitation_annual&level=province&within=Washington&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest annual precipitation?

Jefferson County, with 131.12 inches in 2016, according to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Which county has the lowest annual precipitation?

Benton County, with 9.25 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.

Annual precipitation: other rankings

Counties in Washington: more rankings