STORM2K

Do you think Seattle is the rainiest city in the United States? Well, think again.

Mobile, Alabama, actually topped a new list of soggiest cities, with more than 5 feet of rainfall annually, according to a study conducted by San Francisco-based WeatherBill, Inc.

The Southeast dominated the most rainy list, while the Pacific Northwest never enters the list until Olympia, Washington pops up at number 24.

The 10 rainiest cities in the U.S. by amount of annual rainfall include:
Mobile, Alabama--67 inches average annual rainfall; 59 average annual rainy days Pensacola, Florida--65 inches average annual rainfall; 56 average annual rainy days New Orleans, Louisiana--64 inches average annual rainfall; 59 average annual rainy days West Palm Beach, Florida--63 inches average annual rainfall; 58 average annual rainy days Lafayette, Louisiana--62 inches average annual rainfall; 55 average annual rainy days Baton Rouge, Louisiana--62 inches average annual rainfall; 56 average annual rainy days Miami, Florida--62 inches average annual rainfall; 57 average annual rainy days Port Arthur, Texas--61 inches average annual rainfall; 51 average annual rainy days Tallahassee, Florida--61 inches average annual rainfall; 56 average annual rainy days Lake Charles, Louisiana--58 inches average annual rainfall; 50 average annual rainy days

The study ranked 195 cities by the amount of rainfall they received annually over a 30-year period, although Olympia actually had the most rainy days on average across the three decades (63) of all the cities in the study. Mobile came in second on the latter scale, with 59 average annual rainy days.

Southeastern cities are so prevalent on the list because the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico fuel storms that frequently soak the region, particularly between June and November.

The study also found that in the past 30 years, the East and Southeast seemed to be getting wetter, while the West got drier. Florida, Louisiana and Alabama were the wettest states, while California, Montana, Nevada and Arizona were the driest (Las Vegas took the top spot for driest city).

Average rainfall was highest in the United States between July and September and lowest between January and March.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/200 ... stuscities

Hmmmm, two states missing from the list-AK and HI. There are a couple of places in SE AK that could really give Mobile a run for its money as could Hilo in HI.

Steve

Aslkahuna wrote:Hmmmm, two states missing from the list-AK and HI. There are a couple of places in SE AK that could really give Mobile a run for its money as could Hilo in HI.

Steve

Yeah...really...Juneau, Alaska can get well over 100 inches of rain per year, and Mount Waialeale in Hawaii averages 460 inches of rain per year.

I saw that article on msn.com. with 65 inches a year. West Palm is at 62" not far from me.

Well the mountain in HI is not a city but Juneau is Alaska's Capital and Hilo is the second largest city in HI.

The thing about the Florida rains as opposed to Seattle...is that when it rains, it rains HARD, tropical-style. It's amazing that we get that total of rain, yet the sun is constantly out. Very few days of all-day rain...

I was just up in Alaska last summer. I think Ketchican (sp) gets like 100 inches a year....MGC

That whole west coast section of North America from the Alaskan Panhandle through British Columbia into the Olympic Peninsula of WA gets upwards of 100 inches of rain per year-a combination of being right on the storm track and the mountains immediately inland. As one goes down the Coast the rainfall drops off from around 80 inches in WA to about 40 inches around Pt. Reyes north of San Francisco. But there are no big cities along the coast otherwise all of the top 10 wettest would be in WA/OR/NoCA.

Steve

MGC wrote:I was just up in Alaska last summer. I think Ketchican (sp) gets like 100 inches a year....MGC

Yup...they call it "liquid sunshine" up there...

The Yahoo article neglected to mention that the Weatherbill, Inc. study was for the contiguous 48 states. Nothing new here..

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18827213/

One of my favorite trivia questions.

MGC wrote:I was just up in Alaska last summer. I think Ketchican (sp) gets like 100 inches a year....MGC

Ketchikan has had six days so far this month that it did not rain. Ketchikan is located on what is called the "inside passage" of south-eastern Alaska. When it's not raining the views are spectacular.

I was in Ketchican in August, it didn't rain. Juneau it poured all day. One day of rain the whole week. Alaska is sooooooo beautiful.....MGC

That report also left out small towns like those in the Smoky Mountains.

Some sites get 70+ inches a year.