Dear Tom,
What are the driest cities in the United States? Not tiny towns, but major cities.
Paul Sarewich, Chicago
Dear Paul,
Portions of southeast California, southern Arizona and extreme south Nevada lie within the Sonoran Desert, and cities there experience the nation’s most arid conditions. Intense summer heat compounds the moisture deprivation.
Las Vegas (annual precipitation 4.19″), Phoenix (7.11″) and Tucson (11.14″) lie at the periph-ery of the Sonoran Desert.
Yuma, Ariz., located in the core of that desert, claims the dubious title of the nation’s dri-est city. Its annual precipitation, all of which falls as rain, totals a paltry 2.65″. For purposes of comparison, Chicago (36.27″) receives almost 14 times as much in an average year.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
