Discover the Rainiest Place in Alabama

Most of the time, Mobile carries the label of “the rainest place in Alabama.” However, it bounces back and forth with places like Mount Vernon, Washington, or Anacortes, Washington. The rainiest place in Alabama (2022), determined by USA.com, in Summerdale, Alabama. Like most cities with high annual rainfall, Summerdale is near Mobile.

In 2019, Mobile hit 61.2″ on the average annual precipitation chart. In 2021, it hit 66.3″. Mobile finds itself on the rainiest cities in Alabama list yearly, in the top position more often than not. The most interesting thing is that even when Mobile isn’t sitting in the number one spot, adjacent cities/towns, such as Summerdale, are.

For instance, Summerdale, Daphne, Loxley, Fairhope, Theodore, Satsuma, Saraland, Gulf Shores, Tanner-Williams, Spanish Fort, Bay Minette, Foley, Chickasaw, Prichard, Tillman’s Corner, and Semmes are all essentially suburbs of Mobile city proper. And they’re all categorized on the list for the rainiest place in Alabama with Mobile.

The Rainiest Place in Alabama: Summerdale

Founded in 1904, Summerdale is a small, rural town in south Alabama, close to the Gulf Coast. Originally, the town was nothing more than a tobacco farm, growing into a small community over time, alongside Robertsdale, Alabama, which is often confused for Summerdale.

The town is named after a tobacco farmer by the name of Eli Summer. His tobacco farm is no longer around, but the name certainly is. Today, the population of Summerdale is a shade under 1,500 people, with a median household income of $53,275.

Anyone who lives in Summerdale, or the surrounding area, will tell you that rain moves through the area at least 6 or 7 days each month. It might not be much, but it’s fairly consistent throughout the area. Between the beginning of June and the end of September, 6 or 7 days per month jumps to 9 or 10 days per month.

Most people believe that places like Summerdale, by its location close to the Gulf of Mexico, are tropical. The truth is rain is the great equalizer in these areas. This is especially true in the summer months, as temperatures average well into the 90s with very high humidity. Consistent rain throughout the month keeps the area from turning into a sweltering zone of perpetually unending heat.

Pensacola, Florida, rather than Mobile, Alabama, does much of the weather data gathering for Summerdale since Summerdale is so small and lacks a weather station or the technology necessary for gathering and recording weather data on the fly.

According to Pensacola, the average monthly rainfall in Summerdale always crests in July, reaching about 6″ for the month. This also coincides with the “humidity misery” index, which peaks in mid-July to mid-August. As we mentioned above, the rain is heaviest throughout this period, driving down that “misery” index, especially in the late afternoons.

Due to Summerdale’s small stature, geographically and demographically, there are no records of historical rainfall. Those apply to the larger surrounding cities, such as Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida.

Mobile, Alabama, Is Frequently the Rainiest Place in Alabama

While Summerdale takes the most recent cake for the rainiest place in Alabama, that’s usually Mobile’s thing. Mobile experiences plenty of sunlight over a year, but some consider it to be a cloudy city.

From early June to late August, Mobile averages its highest cloud rate. If you’ve ever lived in the South, you would recognize this as merciful. The cloud cover throughout the hottest part of the year is a blessing in disguise.

What Mobile is known for is the level of rain it receives on an annual basis. There’s a 60% chance of rain every year for almost the entire month of July. The average monthly rainfall is 4.6″, which makes the average annual rainfall over 55″.

According to Weather Spark, the “wet season” in Mobile, Alabama, lasts for nearly three months — June 7 to August 31. Everything else is part of the “drier season,” which is a bit of a misnomer for those who don’t live in Mobile. Mobile’s drier season is wetter than most people’s wet season.

Mobile has an advantage over Summerdale because its recorded history is far longer. Founded in 1704, Mobile has over three centuries of rain data to pull from, versus a single century for Summerdale. Mobile also happens to be Alabama’s lone saltwater port since it sits on the Gulf Coast.

The current population of Mobile is over 400,000 people, and they endure one of the rainiest cities in the United States by simply becoming used to it. A WeatherBill Inc study from 2007 determined that Mobile experienced rain 120 days out of 365 each year.

The city’s location makes it vulnerable to strong storms that roll in from the Gulf of Mexico, including tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina left Mobile in a terrible state after its passage in 2005, though most of the destructive force of the Hurricane occurred in New Orleans.

Despite the WeatherBill Study, Daphne surpasses Mobile from time to time, with a 67.7″ rainfall in 2022, just a shade below Summerdale. The climate and location of the various cities in South Alabama create an environment where any one of them is capable of becoming the rainfall leader in any given year.

Final Thoughts

Although Summerdale is the rain leader of the year, it may fall behind another Alabama city along or close to the Gulf of Mexico. The rainiest place in Alabama is forever up in the air, like rolling a multi-sided die. Even cities as far north as Monroeville make the top five list from time to time.

Mobile and Summerdale always face competition. However, if you live along the Gulf Coast, it’s not what you think from reading through the rainfall record books. A single space of an hour’s worth of rain is recorded as a day, even though the remaining 23 hours are nice and sunny.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock.com