How much rain do we get around here?
Our long term records, going back to 1871, show Portland averages right about 37” of rain each year. But since storms loaded with rain hit the coast first, places there are much wetter. In fact, Astoria gets about 67” of rain each year. And the Coast Range, the mountains between the beach and Portland, tops 100” of rain in some parts.

Where does rain come from?
This is linked to the Water Cycle. Sun shines on the Pacific Ocean, evaporating Ocean Water into the sky above. When it’s cool enough high up in the atmosphere, that moisture condenses into clouds. Clouds are made up of tiny “super cooled” water droplets and ice. Either Ice or snowflakes fall from the clouds above and then melt in warmer air, so we see them as rain. Then our rain runs into rivers and streams and goes back where? You guessed, back into the Ocean to be recycled and eventually rain on us again. That’s called the water cycle.

How many days do we see rain in the Northwest?
This varies a lot by location. But in the Willamette Valley, we see average 151 days a year with at least enough rain to measure. That’s .01” or more. And that means we get at least some rain on 41% of the days each year. Astoria, along the coast, gets 190 days of rain each year on average.

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