The Year in Rain & Snow
1879
94%
ran at 94% of normal — drier than usual — across 67 cities, the 45th driest of 157 years on record.
Extremes
Biggest Rain Day of 1879
8.97in
Atlantic City Marina, NJ · Aug 18
Snowiest Station of 1879
126.5in
Concord, NH · calendar-year snowfall
Records Set in 1879
Daily Rainfall Records Set
177
calendar-day rainfall records set in 1879 that still stand today
National Precipitation
94%
of the 1996–2025 average across 67 cities
Where the Year Ran Wet & Dry
Each city's 1879 precipitation as a percent of its 1996–2025 normal — brown where the year ran dry, green-to-blue where it ran wet.
Month by Month
Precipitation by month as a percent of normal — blue above the line is a wet month, amber below is dry.
103%J
86%F
73%M
96%A
71%M
97%J
96%J
118%A
66%S
70%O
123%N
129%D
Driest Stations & States
Driest Stations of 1879
| 1 | Yuma AZ | 35% |
| 2 | Cheyenne WY | 51% |
| 3 | Galveston TX | 60% |
| 4 | St Louis MO | 66% |
| 5 | Mount Ida AR | 68% |
| 6 | Dodge City KS | 69% |
| 7 | Milwaukee WI | 72% |
| 8 | Columbus OH | 74% |
| 9 | Buffalo NY | 75% |
| 10 | Denver CO | 77% |
Wettest Stations of 1879
| 1 | San Diego CA | 162% |
| 2 | Duluth MN | 150% |
| 3 | Key West FL | 146% |
| 4 | Boise ID | 128% |
| 5 | Brownsville TX | 126% |
| 6 | Sacramento CA | 125% |
| 7 | Los Angeles Downtown CA | 123% |
| 8 | Bismarck ND | 119% |
| 9 | Nashville TN | 113% |
| 10 | Cincinnati OH | 112% |
By State
Wettest states of 1879
California137%Idaho128%Minnesota127%North Dakota119%Florida118%Nevada110%
Driest states of 1879
Arizona35%Wyoming51%Missouri66%Kansas69%Colorado77%Virginia77%
DriestSince · browse by state · precipitation & snowfall records · NOAA/RCC-ACIS ThreadEx gauge record · part of Weather Trader · supported by Substack Subscribers
© 2026 Weather Trader · All rights reserved
© 2026 Weather Trader · All rights reserved