Interesting Weather Statistics by City

Top 10 cities with least weather variety
Based on temperature variation, precipitation, wind, severe weather

1. San Francisco, California

2. San Diego, California

3. Los Angeles, California

4. Santa Barbara, California

5. Eureka, California

6. Long Beach, California

7. Honolulu, Hawaii

8. Santa Maria, California

9. San Luis Obispo, California

10. Kahului, Hawaii

Top 10 hail prone cities
Based on frequency and severity of hail

1. Tulsa, Oklahoma

2. Amarillo, Texas

3. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

4. Wichita, Kansas

5. Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas

6. Arlington, Texas

7. Denver, Colorado

8. Colorado Springs, Colorado

9. Shreveport, Louisiana

10. Kansas City, Missouri / Kansas

Top 10 Tropical storm / Hurricane prone cities
Average # of years with no storm. Totals based on data from 1871- 2007, hitting within 60 miles of the city

1. Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

2.49

2. Delray Beach, Florida

2.54

3. Hollywood, Florida

2.58

4. Deerfield Beach, Florida

2.58

5. Boca Raton, Florida

2.58

6. Florida City, Florida

2.63

7. Grand Isle, Louisiana

2.63

8. Ft. Pierce, Florida

2.69

9. Miami, Florida

2.69

10. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

2.69

Top 10 Tornado states
Avg number of tornadoes per 10,000 square
miles, occurring from 1953-2004

1. Florida

9.4

2. Oklahoma

8.2

3. Kansas

6.7

4. Iowa

6.6

5. Illinois

6.2

6. Indiana

6.1

7. Mississippi

5.7

8. Maryland

5.7

9. Louisiana

5.6

10. Texas

5.2

Top 10 Thunderstorm cities
Avg annual number of thunderstorms

1. Fort Myers, Florida

2. Tampa, Florida

3. Tallahassee, Florida

4. Gainesville, Florida

5. Orlando, Florida

6. Mobile, Alabama

7. W. Palm Beach, Florida

8. Lake Charles, Louisiana

9. Daytona Beach, Florida

10. Vero Beach, Florida

Top 10 Tornado prone cities
Ranked by tornadoes per 1,000 miles

1. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2. Tulsa, Oklahoma

3. Dallas – Ft. Worth, Texas

4. Wichita, Kansas

5. Springfield, Missouri

6. Kansas City, Kansas / Missouri

7. Ft. Smith, Arkansas

8. Little Rock, Arkansas

9. Jackson, Mississippi

10. Birmingham, Alabama

Top 10 Earthquake prone states
# of earthquakes in the last 30 years
centered in the state

1. Alaska

2. California

3. Hawaii

4. Nevada

5. Washington

6. Idaho

7. Wyoming

8. Montana

9. Utah

10. Oregon

10 all-time hottest temperatures
Obtained from state temperature
records, NCDC

1. Death Valley, California

134

2. Lake Havasu, Arizona

128

3. Laughlin, Nevada

125

4. Lakewood, New Mexico

122

5. Alton, Kansas

121

6. Steele, North Dakota

121

7. Ozark, Arkansas

120

8. Tipton, Oklahoma

120

9. Seymour, Texas

120

10. Usta, South Dakota

120

10 all-time coldest temperatures
Obtained from state temperature
records, NCDC

1. Prospect Creek, Alaska

-80

2. Rogers Pass, Montana

-70

3. Peters Sink, Utah

-69

4. Riverside, Wyoming

-66

5. Maybell, Colorado

-61

6. Tower, Minnesota

-60

7. Parshall, North Dakota

-60

8. Island Park Dam, Idaho

-60

9. McIntosh, South Dakota

-58

10. Couderay, Wisconsin

-55

10 hottest cities
Average annual temperature, F

1. Key West, Florida

77.7

2. Miami, Florida

75.6

3. W Palm Beach, Florida

74.6

4. Ft. Myers, Florida

73.9

5. Yuma, Florida

73.9

6. Brownsville, Texas

73.6

7. Orlando, Florida

72.4

8. Vero Beach, Florida

72.4

9. Corpus Christi, Texas

72.1

10. Tampa, Florida

72.0

10 coldest cities
Average annual temperature, F

1. International Falls, Minnesota

36.4

2. Duluth, Minnesota

38.2

3. Caribou, Maine

38.9

4. Marquette, Michigan

39.2

5. Sault Ste Marie, Michigan

39.7

6. Fargo, North Dakota

40.5

7. Williston, North Dakota

40.8

8. Alamosa, Colorado

41.2

9. Bismarck, North Dakota

41.3

10. St. Cloud, Minnesota

41.4

10 driest cities
Avg annual precipitation in inches

1. Yuma, Arizona

2.65

2. Las Vegas, Nevada

4.19

3. Bishop, California

5.61

4. Bakersfield, California

5.72

5. Phoenix, Arizona

7.11

6. Alamosa, Colorado

7.13

7. Reno, California

7.49

8. Winslow, Arizona

7.64

9. El Paso, Texas

7.82

10. Winnemucca, Nevada

7.82

10 wettest cities
Avg annual precipitation in inches

1. Hilo, Hawaii

128.00

2. Quillayute, Washington

104.50

3. Astoria, Oregon

69.60

4. Blue Canyon, California

67.87

5. Mobile, Alabama

64.64

6. Tallahassee, Florida

64.59

7. Pensacola, Florida

61.16

8. New Orleans, Louisiana

59.74

9. W Palm Beach, Florida

59.72

10. Miami, Florida

59.55

10 snowiest cities
Avg annual precipitation in inches

1. Blue Canyon, California

240.8

2. Marquette, Michigan

128.6

3. Sault Ste Marie, Michigan

116.7

4. Syracuse, New York

111.6

5. Caribou, Maine

110.4

6. Mount Shasta, California

104.9

7. Lander, Wyoming

102.5

8. Flagstaff, Arizona

99.9

9. Sexton Summit, Oregon

97.8

10. Muskegon, Michigan

97.0

10 windiest cities
Avg annual wind speed in mph

1. Blue Hill Observatory, Massachusetts

15.4

2. Dodge City, Kansas

14.0

3. Amarillo, Texas

13.5

4. Rochester, Minnesota

13.1

5. Casper, Wyoming

12.9

6. Cheyenne, Wyoming

12.9

7. Great Falls, Montana

12.7

8. Goodland, Kansas

12.6

9. Boston, Massachusetts

12.5

10. Lubbock, Texas

12.4

10 sunniest cities
Annual percent of possible sunshine

1. Yuma, Arizona

90%

2. Las Vegas, Nevada

85%

3. Phoenix, Arizona

85%

4. Tucson, Arizona

85%

5. El Paso, Texas

83%

6. Flagstaff, Arizona

79%

7. Fresno, California

79%

8. Reno, Nevada

79%

9. Sacramento, California

78%

10. Albuquerque, N.M.

76%

10 cloudiest cities
Avg number of cloudy days per year

1. Astoria, Oregon

240

2. Quillayute, Washington

240

3. Olympia, Washington

229

4. Seattle, Washington

227

5. Portland, Oregon

223

6. Kalispell, Montana

213

7. Binghamton, New York

212

8. Beckley, West Virginia

211

9. Elkins, West Virginia

211

10. Eugene, Oregon

209

10 most humid cities
Avg relative humidity in %

1. Quillayute, Washington

83.0

2. Olympia, Washington

78.0

3. Port Arthur, Texas

77.5

4. Lake Charles, Louisiana

77.0

5. Apalachicola, Florida

76.5

6. Gainesville, Florida

76.5

7. Corpus Christi, Texas

76.0

8. Eugene, Oregon

75.5

9. New Orleans, Louisiana

75.5

10. Houston, Texas

75.0

10 least humid cities
Avg relative humidity in %

1. Las Vegas, Nevada

30.5

2. Phoenix, Arizona

37.0

3. Yuma, Arizona

38.0

4. Tucson, Arizona

39.0

5. El Paso, Texas

42.5

6. Albuquerque, New Mexico

44.5

7. Winslow, Arizona

46.0

8. Grand Junction, Colorado

48.0

9. Winnemucca, Nevada

48.5

10. Reno, Nevada

50.5

10 rainiest cities
Number of days per year with rain

1. Hilo, Hawaii

277

2. Quillayute, Washington

210

3. Astoria, Oregon

191

4. Elkins, West Virginia

171

5. Syracuse, New York

171

6. Buffalo, New York

169

7. Marquette, Michigan

168

8. Sault Ste Marie, Michigan

166

9. Erie, Pennsylvania

165

10. Binghamton, New York

162

10 least rainiest cities
Number of days per year with rain

1. Yuma, Arizona

2. Las Vegas, Nevada

3. Bishop, California

4. Santa Barbara, California

5. Long Beach, California

6. Los Angeles, California

7. Great Falls, Montana

8. Phoenix, Arizona

9. Bakersfield, California

10. San Diego, California

Largest annual temperature variation
Change in average temperature between
summer and winter

1. Fairbanks, Alaska

90.8

2. Bettles, Alaska

90.0

3. International Falls, MN

88.8

4. Fargo, North Dakota

5.Williston, North Dakota

86.6

6. Aberdeen, South Dakota

86.5

7. McGrath, Alaska

86.2

8. Bismarck, North Dakota

86.1

9. Alamosa, Colorado

85.9

10. St. Cloud, Minnesota

10 most uncomfortable cities
Average combination of summer heat and humidity

1. Phoenix, Arizona

2. Corpus Christi, Texas

3. San Antonio, Texas

4. Dallas, Texas

5. West Palm Beach, Florida

6. Miami, Florida

7. Waco, Texas

8. Houston, Texas

9. Montgomery, Alabama

10. New Orleans, Louisiana

Top 10 clean air cities
Based on long-term particle pollution

1.Cheyenne, Wyoming

2. Santa Fe, New Mexico

3. Honolulu, Hawaii

4. Great Falls, Montana

5. Tucson, Arizona

6. Anchorage, Alaska

7. Farmington, New Mexico

8. Bismarck, North Dakota

9. Albuquerque, New Mexico

10. Rapid City, South Dakota

Top 10 dirty air cities
Based on long-term particle pollution

1. Los Angeles, California

2. Bakersfield, California

3. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

4. Visalia, California

5. Fresno, California

6. Detroit, Michigan

7. Hanford, California

8. Cleveland, Ohio

9. Atlanta, Georgia

10. Chicago, Illinois

Best cities for allergies
Based on pollen counts from 1999-2002

1. Grand Rapids, Michigan

2. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

3. Seattle, Washington

4. San Francisco, California

5. Minneapolis, Minnesota

6. Chicago, Illinois

7. Syracuse, New York

8. Salt Lake City, Utah

9. Los Angeles, California

10. Denver, Colorado

Worst cities for allergies
Based on pollen counts from 1999-20002

1. Kansas City, Mo/Ks

2. Louisville, Kentucky

3. Tampa/St. Pete, Florida

4. Tulsa, Oklahoma

5. Atlanta, Georgia

6. Austin, Texas

7. St. Louis, Missouri

8. Sacramento, California

9. Orlando, Florida

10. Indianapolis, Indiana

Chart data sources: The National Climatic Data Center, Riskmeter Online, Hurricane City, Weatherpages.com,
National Lung Association, Sperling’s Best Places

Interesting U.S. weather facts

Through August 2007, the U.S. experienced its hottest year ever. During the month of August, more than 8,000 new heat maximum and minimum records were set or tied across the country.

In Hawaii, where surface temperatures are always above 50F, there is snow. Between 1 and 2 feet of snow falls each year in the mountains above 5,000 feet.

The coldest football game ever played was the NFL Championship Game on December 31, 1967 in Green Bay, Wisconsin between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys when the temperature fell to -13. The 2007 NFC Championship game in Green Bay between the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers was the third coldest game in history with a temperature of -1 and wind chill of -23.

The longest rain-free period in the United States was 767 days (2 years, 37 days), from October 3, 1912 to November 8, 1914 at Bagdad, California.

A world record rainfall occurred at Holt, Missouri on June 22, 1947 when it rained 12 inches in just 42 minutes. This averages to over 1/4 of an inch of rainfall per minute. On July 4th, 1956 In Unionville, Maryland 1.23 inches of rain fell in 1 minute.

The average yearly temperature of New York, St. Louis and San Francisco differs by only 1.8F degrees.

Which is the least rainy city – Seattle, New York City or Miami? Although on average Seattle is cloudy 227 days a year, it only receives 39 inches of rain per year, compared to New York City (42 inches) and Miami (60 inches)

Is Chicago really “The Windy City?” Of the 262 major weather reporting stations in the United States, 27% or 72 stations average higher annual wind speeds than Chicago, which averages 10.3 mph. For example, New York City’s annual wind speed is 12.2 mph.

Due to Florida’s proximity to the equator, the state receives more than a hundred times the UV exposure that Maine does.

Cheyenne, Wyoming averages the most hail storms in the United States per year with 10 and Tulsa, Oklahoma experiences the most severe hail storms annually.

The United States leads the world with an average of over 1,000 reported tornadoes each year. A distant second is Canada with an average of approximately 100 reported tornadoes.

Kansas has received the most F5 tornadoes since 1880. Oklahoma encounters the highest number of significant and violent tornadoes per square mile.

Of the total reported tornadoes in the United States each year, 20 can be expected to be F5 tornadoes with winds over 200 mph and nearly complete destruction.

Heidi