The average annual rain total for each place on this list is a a mind numbing and spirit dampening 136.5 inches. That's better than 11 inches of rain per month, on average. The weather in many of these places can only be described as atrocious unless you love wet, damp and rainy weather.
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Where Rain Falls the Most in the United States by State
1) Mount Waialeale on Kauai, Hawaii - 460"
Waialeale means "overflowing water" in Hawaiian and with average annual rain totaling some 460 inches the Hawaiians named this place properly. Mount Waialeale is a shield volcano on the island of Kauai which itself is known as the Garden Island for the lush, plentiful and beautiful plants and flowers found all over Kauai.
Mount Waialeale is not just the rainiest place in the United States but also one of the rainiest places in the world. The average daily rainfall on top of Mount Waialeale is an unbelievable 1.26 inches.
Hawaii promotes Mount Waialeale as a tourist attraction due to its heavy annual rainfall totals. Many rare plants live on Waialeale as the heavy rains support their existence but getting to the top by hiking along the almost continually soaked local trails can be difficult.
The area receives so much rain because the walls of the Mount Waialeale volcano are very steep which forces storm systems to rise rapidly along the steep cliffs and then quickly dump their moisture or rain right on top of Mount Waialeale.
2) Little Port Walter, Alaska - 225.35"
Little Port Walter is located in southeastern Alaska on Baranof Island which is right off the coast of Alaska south of the capital city of Juneau.
At one time there was a town here supported by the Herring fishing industry but today the site is just a research station for scientists studying the yearly Salmon runs who also keep weather related data such as the average annual rainfall total of 225.35 inches for Little Port Walter. How would you like to be stationed here? Must be a dreary job with the lousy weather.
3) Quinault Ranger Station, Washington - 137.21"
The Quinault Ranger Station is located in a temperate rain forest right on the south shore of Lake Quinault in the southwestern section of Olympic National Park in northwestern Washington in the Pacific Northwest.
Olympic National Park is a beautiful place to hike and visit but being stationed at the Quinault Ranger Station year round with annual average rain totaling some 137.21 inches is not the job for most people.
Forks, Washington which is about 40 miles north of the Quinault Ranger Station is one of the cloudiest places in the United States and also home to the Vampires in the Twilight Saga books and movies.
4) Valsetz, Oregon - 127.71"
Valsetz is located in northwestern Oregon about 10 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. Actually it used to be here but the town no longer exists.
The town was located right in a great old growth timber area and run by the Boise Cascade Company until 1984, when the company shut down all timber operations and the town disappeared and all that is left today is a tree farm that receives 127.71 inches of rain per year on average. The trees probably grow pretty fast with that much rain.
5) Honeydew, California - 104.18"
Honeydew is a small town in Northern California located about 15 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean and lies between the ocean and Humboldt Redwoods State Park. This area of California is known as The Lost Coast because the steep mountainous terrain of the area has prevented developers from building here and even the Pacific Coast Highway moves inland and merges with Highway 101 just south of this area.
If you love quiet beautiful places away from many people than Honeydew might be a great place for you to live but you had better also not mind the 104.18 inches of annual rainfall.
6) Mount Washington, New Hampshire - 101.91"
Mount Washington in New Hampshire is the highest mountain in the Northeast United States and is renowned for its crazy, unpredictable and downright awful weather. The place is absolutely beautiful when the weather is nice, but that is the exception and not the rule on top of Mount Washington.
Three different storm tracks converge right on top of the mountain which has caused some to dub Mt. Washington as "the worst weather site in the world". It's not really the worst weather place in the world but it's not far from it either.
Often windy, cold and foggy, Mount Washington is also often rainy with 101.91 inches of annual rain and snowy averaging 315.4 inches of annual snow. Mount Washington has seen well over 100 people die while visiting, hiking, climbing and skiing here and is one the Most Deadly Mountain Peaks in the United States.
7) Lake Toxaway, North Carolina - 91.72"
Lake Toxaway is a man made lake located in southwestern North Carolina that is privately owned and mainly used by vacationers who own second homes on the lake. One would guess that Lake Toxaway is not that rainy in the summer or it is doubtful that many people would buy second homes here for summer vacation. If you really love rainy weather you could live here year round and get 91.72 inches of yearly rainfall.
8) Jocassee, South Carolina - 84.38"
Lake Jocassee is located in northwestern South Carolina close to the North Carolina border and not far from Lake Toxaway. It is a man made lake or reservoir that was dammed in 1973 for hydroelectric power by the state of South Carolina and the Duke Energy Company. Part of the movie Deliverance starring Angelina Jolie's father Jon Voight was filmed in 1972 on land that the dam flooded in 1973.
9) Mount Le Conte, Tennessee - 81.28"
Mount Le Conte is located in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park south of Gatlinburg and not too far from the North Carolina border and is the third highest mountain in the park. The climate on Mount Le Conte is generally cool with the highest temperature ever recorded on the mountain being just 80 degrees and damp with 81.28 inches of yearly rain and 71.82 inches of yearly snow in winter.
10) Mount Mansfield, Vermont - 78.80"
Mount Mansfield is the highest mountain in Vermont and in addition to getting 78.80 inches of yearly rain it also receives 222 inches of yearly snow which makes it one of the Best Weather Sites in the United States for Snow. Located in north-central Vermont Mount Mansfield is home to the Stowe Mountain Ski Resort and contains about 200 acres of Arctic Tundra on its summit.
11) Clayton, Georgia - 73.36"
Clayton is a small 2,000 population city located in northeastern Georgia about 10 miles from both the North Carolina border in the north and the South Carolina border in the east. This whole area of northeastern Georgia, southwestern North Carolina and northwestern South Carolina gets a ton of annual rain as Clayton, Georgia is within about 40 miles of Lake Toxaway in North Carolina and Lake Jocassee in South Carolina. Even Mount Le Conte in Tennessee is within 100 miles of Clayton as the crow flies.
12) Vancleave, Mississippi - 72.10"
Vancleave is a small 5,000 population city located in southeastern Mississippi about 30 miles northeast of Biloxi and the Gulf Coast. This area was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and gets more than its share of yearly rain at 72.10 inches.
Did any of these rainy places surprise you? Five of these states are on the Top 10 List of Wettest States in the United States while 6 of the states contain some of the Cloudiest Cities in the United States.
Sources: http://coolweather.net/
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