Breakdown: Why Seattle is not actually the rainiest city

(WMC) - Seattle, Washington, is known by many as the rainiest city in the United States, but it actually does not even come close to the top of the list.

While the Olympic Mountains to the west of Seattle act as a rain shadow, the city of Seattle picks up less precipitation each year compared to New York or even Miami.

The 10 rainiest cities in the U.S. by amount of annual rainfall include:

1. Mobile, Ala.: 67 inches average annual rainfall; 59 average annual rainy days

2. Pensacola, Fla.: 65 inches average annual rainfall; 56 average annual rainy days

3. New Orleans, La.: 64 inches average annual rainfall; 59 average annual rainy days

4. West Palm Beach, Fla.: 63 inches average annual rainfall; 58 average annual rainy days

5. Lafayette, La.: 62 inches average annual rainfall; 55 average annual rainy days

6. Baton Rouge, La.: 62 inches average annual rainfall; 56 average annual rainy days

7. Miami, Fla.: 62 inches average annual rainfall; 57 average annual rainy days

8. Port Arthur, Texas: 61 inches average annual rainfall; 51 average annual rainy days

9. Tallahassee, Fla.: 61 inches average annual rainfall; 56 average annual rainy days

10. Lake Charles, La.: 58 inches average annual rainfall; 50 average annual rainy days

Seattle gets its reputation as being the rainiest city due to the number of days with precipitation. It has more days with rain than both New York City and Miami. This means that Seattle has more frequent rain, but the light rain results in low totals.

The one list that Seattle tops is for most cloud cover. Seattle is one of the cloudiest U.S. cities, averaging only 43 percent of possible sunshine and 226 cloudy days during the year.

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