Tennessee Annual Rainfall and Climate Data, see below for individual cities

 

Tennessee city precipitation totals

City

Avg Annual Precip

Avg Annual Snow 

 Avg # days of Precip

Avg # thunderstorm days

 Avg # hail days Avg # severe thunderstorm watches per year Avg # tornado watches per year # of tornadoes reported in county, 1960-2010
Bristol - Kingsport 41.33 15.4 133 42 1 2 7 9
Chattanooga 54.52 4.3 120 55 1 5 10 9
Knoxville 48.22 11.5 126 47 1 3 9 8
Memphis 54.65 5.1 107 59 1 10 11 49
Nashville 48.11 10.0 119 54 2 7 10 26
Oak Ridge 55.05 9.9 128 48 1 3 8 2
  • Tennessee Annual Precipitation Average - 54.22", 6th wettest in the U.S.
  • Tennessee Tornado Average - 11.4 per year - 23rd most in the U.S.   

Tennessee Precipitation Records 

  • Driest location ranked by lowest annual average precipitation: Bristol, northeastern Tennessee, 41.33"
  • Wettest location ranked by highest annual average precipitation: Mount Leconte, eastern Tennessee 81.28" 
  • Snowiest location ranked by highest annual average snowfall: Tazewell, northeastern Tennessee, 16.7"
  • State precipitation record for 24 hours - McMinnville, central Tennessee, 3/28/1902, 11.00"
  • State precipitation record for 1 year - Haw Knob, southeastern Tennessee, 1957, 114.88"
  • State snowfall record for 24 hours - Morristown, northeastern Tennessee 3/9-1960, 22.0"
  • State snow record for 1 season - Mountain City, northeastern Tennessee, 1959-1960, 75.5"
  • While Tennessee is far enough from the Gulf Coast to avoid any direct impact from a hurricane, the location 
of the state makes it likely to be affected from the remnants of tropical cyclones which weaken over land and 
can cause significant rainfall
  • One of Tennessee's costliest tornadoes was the F3 twister which struck downtown Nashville during the
afternoon of April, 16 1998. Total damages for this tornado totaled $100+ million dollars
  • Tennessee temperature averages and extremes, Memphis climate extremes/averages, precipitation and
temperature data for all U.S. states and interesting Top 10 U.S. climate extremes

Data sources: National Climatic Data Center, severe thunderstorm / tornado watch data period is 1999 - 2008, NOAA Storm Prediction Center