Five-Years’ Weather Data Remove Any Clouds of Doubt about a Wet Spring 2023

Stacker, the Albany, N.Y., data-driven news organization, recently analyzed U.S. precipitation statistics for the past five years. Its experts used those statistics to rank the wettest counties in each state, including Pennsylvania.

Although the U.S. has areas that are traditionally wet (the Pacific Northwest) and dry (the Midwest and Southern California), its overall annual rainfall is about 30 inches.

Stacker analysts used that yardstick to consider accumulations for the five-year period Feb. 2018–2023.

The wettest Pennsylvania county was Monroe, home to communities such as East Stroudsburg and Mount Pocono. Its five-year precipitation totaled 58.37 inches.

Closer to home, Chester County, led the area in a half-decade of sogginess; the 52.88 inches that fell there yielded a No. 8 rank statewide.

Other local results and their Pa. rankings:

• Delaware County, 41.54 inches, No. 26
• Philadelphia County, 50.64 inches, No. 22
• Bucks County, 51.80 inches, No. 12

Montgomery County’s 52.61 inches in the five-year timeframe led to its No. 9 spot.

In a yearly analysis, the county’s 44.87 inches of rain made 2022 the wettest 12 months since 1895.

Further details on the nation’s wettest counties are at Stacker.

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One driver of increased rainfall amounts is global warming, explained here.