Does southern New England historically have more precipitation than Seattle?

Southern New England, which includes Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, generally gets more total yearly precipitation than Seattle, even though Seattle is famous for its rainy days.

According to the National Weather Service, the mean annual precipitation in Seattle since 1970 was 38.01 inches, as recorded at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. By comparison, the Hartford area’s mean annual precipitation was 47.12 inches, the Boston area’s was 43.03 inches and the Providence area had a mean of 47.93 inches.

While Seattle experiences frequent light rain or drizzle spread out over many days, Connecticut gets heavier rainstorms, summer thunderstorms and winter snow that add to its total. This means that although Seattle has more rainy days, southern New England usually ends up with more overall moisture each year.

While Seattle had roughly 31 inches of precipitation in 2024, the Hartford area alone had nearly 46 inches.