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Seattle gets less rain per year than Miami, Houston, Atlanta, New York, Boston or D.C.

Bar chart of average annual precipitation, 1991–2020: Miami 67.4 inches, Houston 51.8, Atlanta 50.4, New York 49.5, Boston 43.6, Washington D.C. 41.8, Seattle 39.3, Chicago 37.9, Portland 36.9.

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Seattle averages 39.3 inches of precipitation a year, less than Miami (67.4), Houston (51.8), Atlanta (50.4), New York (49.5), Boston (43.6) and Washington, D.C. (41.8), and a little more than Chicago (37.9) and Portland, Ore. (36.9). NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals.

Average annual precipitation in inches, 1991–2020, at the main weather station of Seattle and eight other large U.S. cities.

Credit: FactHub Research Team; data from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020

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What this chart asks

Does Seattle get more rain per year than other big U.S. cities?

Why it is shown this way

  • Bars compare one amount across cities; the y axis starts at zero so bar lengths are proportional.
  • Seattle gets its own color so readers can find it; every bar is also labeled by city on the x axis.
  • Inches of rain and rain days are shown in two separate charts rather than on one dual-axis chart.

Data and accessibility

Download chart data · Open accessible table · Download PNG · Download SVG

Dataset us-city-rain-normals, analysis seattle-vs-wet-cities

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

Rainfall and rainy days in 16 U.S. cities, 1991–2020 normals

  1. NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, annual/seasonal normals (Access Data Service) Primary source for every value

    Retrieved November 5, 2026. U.S. Government work (public domain). Allowed without restriction

    Reliability: Government. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information computes the official U.S. climate normals every decade from quality-controlled daily observations at National Weather Service stations. It is federally funded and has no stake in which city is rainier.

  2. NOAA NCEI: U.S. Climate Normals overview and documentation Definitions and methodology of the normals

    Retrieved November 5, 2026. U.S. Government work (public domain). Allowed without restriction

    Reliability: Government. NOAA's documentation page for the 1991–2020 normals, describing how they are computed. Federally funded.

Limitations

  • Precipitation includes melted snow.
  • One station per city (usually the main airport; Central Park for New York). Rainfall varies across each metro area.
  • 30-year averages; single years vary widely.

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