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Yes, the western Olympic Peninsula is genuine temperate rainforest. It rains over 150 inches a year there. But so beautiful, it's so green, it shimmers.
Alaska gets far more rainy days than Hawaii or the PNW, even places that don't get as much precipitation in Alaska get more rainy days.
That depends which parts of Alaska you're talking about and which parts of the PNW you're talking about.
The Aleutian Islands and Juneau are much wetter than most parts of the PNW, but this is certainly not the case for everywhere in Alaska. Fairbanks averages 108 precipitation days per year and Anchorage averages 115, a significant portion of which is snow for both cities. Seattle averages 152 precipitation days and Portland averages 154, the majority of which is rain.
My first thought is Ketchikan and other areas of the Alaska Panhandle.
I would say that it would not be on the panhandle. Try a place like Whittier, Alaska. We had this discussion in another thread once. There is no data that I can find for Whittier, but for stations with data the highest in the USA are:
1) Yakutat, AK = 232
2) Cold Bay, AK = 228
3) Annette, AK = 221
4) Juneau, AK = 219
5) Mt. Washington, NH = 204
6) Quillayute, WA = 202
I still haven't found any place that beats the Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands). Moresby Island Mitchell Inlet has 275 days per year, and Langara island has 269 days per year. The first place is a power station, and the second is a lighthouse. If we only look at cities, Prince Rupert has 244 days per year with precipitation, most of it rain.
I would say that it would not be on the panhandle. Try a place like Whittier, Alaska.
I still haven't found any place that beats the Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands). Moresby Island Mitchell Inlet has 275 days per year, and Langara island has 269 days per year. The first place is a power station, and the second is a lighthouse. If we only look at cities, Prince Rupert has 244 days per year with precipitation, most of it rain.
Moresby Island is crazy.
It's the combination of relentless heavy rain and the amount of rainy days which makes this region so rainy.
I would say that it would not be on the panhandle. Try a place like Whittier, Alaska. We had this discussion in another thread once. There is no data that I can find for Whittier, but for stations with data the highest in the USA are:
1) Yakutat, AK = 232
2) Cold Bay, AK = 228
3) Annette, AK = 221
4) Juneau, AK = 219
5) Mt. Washington, NH = 204
6) Quillayute, WA = 202
Little Port Walter not far from Sitka has 232 days so it's tied with Yukatat, and has more rain than Whittier.
It's the combination of relentless heavy rain and the amount of rainy days which makes this region so rainy.
It really depends on which side of Moresby Island you're on. Sandspit (the largest community on Moresby Island) is on the east side of the Island, and thus gets less than 1/4 the amount of precipitation of the Mitchell Inlet weather station, as well as 40 fewer days with precipitation.
It really depends on which side of Moresby Island you're on. Sandspit (the largest community on Moresby Island) is on the east side of the Island, and thus gets less than 1/4 the amount of precipitation of the Mitchell Inlet weather station, as well as 40 fewer days with precipitation.
Rainiest Cities - As far as U.S. cities go, the South and Northeast are the rainiest
New Orleans, Louisiana 62.7
Miami, Florida 61.9
Birmingham, Alabama 53.7
Memphis, Tennessee 53.7
Jacksonville, Florida 52.4
Orlando, Florida 50.7
New York, New York 50.0
Houston, Texas 49.8
Atlanta, Georgia 49.7
Nashville, Tennessee 47.3
Providence, Rhode Island 47.2
Virginia Beach, Virginia 46.5
Tampa, Florida 46.3
Raleigh, North Carolina 46.0
Hartford, Connecticut 45.9
Most Rainy Days - As far as days of rain, but not necessarily high totals, the Northeast, PNW, and eastern Midwest make the list.
Rochester, New York 167
Buffalo, New York 167
Portland, Oregon 164
Cleveland, Ohio 155
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 151
Seattle, Washington 149
Columbus, Ohio 139
Cincinnati, Ohio 137
Miami, Florida 135
Detroit, Michigan 135
If you are looking for the literally wettest places in the U.S. and don't mind living in remoter areas, the western flank of the Cascades/Olympic Peninsula, the Alaskan panhandle, the Gulf Coast, and presumably parts of Hawaii get the highest rainfall totals in the U.S.
I have a home just north of Hilo. So far this year we've had almost 190 inches of rain. Average is over 200 inches a year. We'll probably go over the average this year. The vast majority of rain falls at night, so sunny days are the norm.
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