Climate

Is the US getting wetter or drier?

The contiguous US got 29.3 inches of rain and melted snow in 2025, a little below the 1901–2000 average of 29.9 inches. The dashed trend line, the straight line that best fits every year, rises about 0.17 inches a decade, some 2 inches (7%) since 1895, with little change since 1970. Single years swing far more, from 24.9 inches in 1910 to 34.9 in 1973.

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are in the table below.

The value axis starts at zero. The dashed line is the trend: the straight line that best fits every point (a least-squares fit). It shows the long-run direction; single years swing above and below it, and it isn't a forecast. Hover, tap or use the arrow keys to read exact values.

Source and date

Source
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance
License
Public domain (U.S. government work)
Data as of
Published

The data

Year Precipitation (rain and melted snow), inches (contiguous U.S.)
1895 27.53
1896 29.77
1897 29.68
1898 29.56
1899 28.69
1900 30.63
1901 27.63
1902 30.63
1903 29.36
1904 27.94
1905 32.59
1906 32.82
1907 30.92
1908 29.78
1909 31.16
1910 24.9
1911 29.52
1912 30.47
1913 29.83
1914 28.8
1915 32.75
1916 29.39
1917 25.34
1918 28.75
1919 31.73
1920 31.28
1921 28.76
1922 29.86
1923 31.67
1924 26.52
1925 26.96
1926 30.91
1927 32.03
1928 29.47
1929 30.14
1930 25.56
1931 27.52
1932 30.43
1933 27.49
1934 25.77
1935 29.47
1936 27.27
1937 30.5
1938 29.72
1939 26.27
1940 30.41
1941 32.78
1942 31.31
1943 26.8
1944 30.62
1945 33.02
1946 31.06
1947 29.35
1948 30.67
1949 30.29
1950 30.87
1951 31.23
1952 26.34
1953 28.28
1954 26.15
1955 27.73
1956 25.37
1957 33.83
1958 30.22
1959 30.58
1960 28.74
1961 31.25
1962 28.58
1963 25.65
1964 30.23
1965 29.79
1966 27.43
1967 29.58
1968 30.38
1969 30.6
1970 29.68
1971 30.32
1972 31.69
1973 34.94
1974 30.61
1975 33.01
1976 26.3
1977 30.42
1978 30.09
1979 32.74
1980 28.25
1981 29.94
1982 33.84
1983 34.72
1984 31.4
1985 29.95
1986 31.37
1987 29
1988 25.9
1989 29.04
1990 32.16
1991 32.44
1992 31.25
1993 32.6
1994 30.62
1995 32.67
1996 33.67
1997 31.82
1998 33.85
1999 28.46
2000 28.22
2001 29.02
2002 29.05
2003 30.49
2004 33.23
2005 30.08
2006 29.82
2007 29.16
2008 31.24
2009 32.29
2010 31.36
2011 30.09
2012 27.52
2013 31.04
2014 30.81
2015 34.58
2016 31.41
2017 32.29
2018 34.62
2019 34.82
2020 30.38
2021 30.41
2022 28.45
2023 29.53
2024 31.64
2025 29.25