Discover the Rainiest Place in North Carolina

Written by Megan Martin
Updated: August 20, 2023
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While North Carolina may not be the rainest state (that claim-to-fame goes to Hawaii!), it’s still home to some fairly rainy places. From the sunny coast to Piedmont and the mountains, discover just which city gets to say it’s the rainest place in North Carolina!

Rainiest Place in North Carolina

Did you know that the rainiest place in North Carolina gets over five feet of precipitation on average each year? If it were to all fall at once, it would be around the same height as a medium-sized Christmas tree! However, just what town in North Carolina gets to boast this impressive average?

If you want to learn about the rainiest place in North Carolina, look no further than Cedar Mountain!

Cedar Mountain, North Carolina, experiences about 185 rainy days per year. On average, this amounts to around 63.54 inches of rain each year. That’s almost an entire inch more than the runner-up for the rainiest place in North Carolina: Sapphire.

Cedar Mountain, NC

As the rainiest place in North Carolina and a place of high elevation, Cedar Mountain and the surrounding areas are home to many unique species.

©J.K. York/Shutterstock.com

About Cedar Mountain, North Carolina

Cedar Mountain is a relatively small town in North Carolina. It’s so small that it’s not even an official town. Instead, it’s what is known as an unincorporated community. In recent surveys, Cedar Mountain was recorded to have a population of around 452. In recent decades, the population has been shown to fluctuate greatly, scaling between 234 individuals in 1990 to 553 in 2010. 

This community is in Transylvania County, along the  Greenville Highway (US Route 276). It is home to two notable people, Patricia Lynn Young and Fritz Orr III, who are nationally recognized for their accomplishments. 

Wildlife

As the rainiest place in North Carolina and a place of high elevation, Cedar Mountain and the surrounding areas are home to many unique species. Here, you’ll be able to find many staple species of Western North Carolina. 

Some of the species you can expect to see in Cedar Mountain include:

turkey in the wild

Here, you’ll be able to find many staple species of Western North Carolina, like the Eastern wild turkey.

©Jim Cumming/Shutterstock.com

Why Is Cedar Mountain, North Carolina, So Rainy?

Cedar Mountain sits at a higher elevation than many of the towns, cities, and communities in the rest of North Carolina. As a result, like mountain peaks and elevated points, it is more prone to increased precipitation. This is because the air at higher elevations is thinner and cooler, which can lead to water vapor condensing and falling as rain or snow, depending on the temperature.

Mountains also act as barriers to rain clouds. Because of their elevation and climate, weather can often get caught in mountain ranges and linger. This is one reason why Mount Washington and the range it included are so dangerous.

Where Is Cedar Mountain Located on a Map?

Cedar Mountain is almost on the border of South Carolina and almost due west of Charlotte, North Carolina. Other nearby major cities are Knoxville, Tennessee (more importantly, Dollywood! in Pigeon Forge) and Atlanta, Georgia.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © J.K. York/Shutterstock.com


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About the Author

Megan is a writer at A-Z Animals where her primary focus is birds, felines, and sharks. She has been researching and writing about animals for four years, and she holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with minors in biology and professional and technical writing from Wingate University, which she earned in 2022. A resident of North Carolina, Megan is an avid birdwatcher that enjoys spending time with her cats and exploring local zoological parks with her husband.

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