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We did the driest desert areas of the USA…now what is the wettest city/town in the USA?
It is well known that middle and high latitude Temperate Oceanic climates (Do) are often wet and cloudy places. Most Do climates are located in the belt of the stormy westerlies, and the frequent low pressure areas /middle latitude storms bring frequent rain, especially in winter. Temperate Oceanic climates are among the cloudiest land climates on earth – as such RH is almost always high. So in the USA…the Do climate of the Pacific Northwest is our wettest region. But where are the absolute wettest areas of the PNW?
The best I can come up with is the windward slopes of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and the Coast Ranges in Oregon. The town of Aberdeen, Washington receives about 85 inches of rain annually…and this appears to be the wettest incorporated town in the USA. However, rain gauges placed in several rural areas like Quinault Lake and Valsetz measure close to 130 inches of rain per year. Northern California’s Coast Ranges also receive very heavy winter rains…more than 100 inches fall in the Northern California Coast Ranges annually.
Wettest town/city in the USA: Aberdeen, Washington. 85 inches of rain annually:
The west side of the Olympic Peninsula is wetter than Aberdeen due to the lifting effects of the mountains. The whole area is a temperate rainforest. Forks, WA is a city with a population of the 3000 people and an annual rainfall of 107 inches. There may be smaller towns near by that are even wetter.
If you include Alaska, Ketchikan has an annual rainfall of 168 inches.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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It's Mount Waialeale, Hawaii, with 11,684 mm (460.0 inches). That's being technical, because you said wettest town in the USA, not wettest town in the lower 48 states.
Oh wait, that's not a town lol. Not sure if surrounding towns in Kauai are as wet.
Hilo, Hawaii, on the big island, and almost any town in the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau and Ketchikan come to mind.
Aberdeen does get a lot of annual rainfall, as does the entire Washington coast. Immediately west of the Olympic range and the surrounding foothills get the majority of it, as has been mentioned already. There is a rain forest over there. The Hoh Rain forest. Beautiful area! I should make an effort to make it back out that way again sometime soon! Go to Ocean City and Ocean Shores a lot in the summer, but rarely go anywhere else along the coast.
Viewing a thread - The Latitude Rainfall Challenge (http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=38270&start=21 - broken link)
Rainfall average extremes in latitudinal bands. My home country makes a good challenge in the "high" list - considering there may well be spots upwind of the Alps with 16,000mm/year.
Why is the PNW so much wetter than NW Europe? I thought the climates would be similar.
Higher mountains so stronger orographic effect, I'd guess. Also the Pacific is bigger than the Atlantic, might that make a difference?
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