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The driest places in North America in October: ranked by rainfall

San Luis Río Colorado tops the list at 5.0 mm in October. Ranked from 1991–2020 climate normals across 50 destinations in North America.

Top three in October: San Luis Río Colorado (5.0 mm) , Mexicali (5.4 mm) , Lancaster (8.0 mm) . Between first and 50th place the rainfall differs by 21 mm.

# Destination Country Rainfall Avg high Avg low Rainfall Wet days Sunshine Sea temp
1 San Luis Río Colorado Mexico 5.0 mm 33 °C 18 °C 5 mm 1 335 h –
2 Mexicali Mexico 5.4 mm 33 °C 18 °C 5 mm 1 335 h –
3 Lancaster United States 8.0 mm 26 °C 13 °C 8 mm 1 332 h –
4 Henderson United States 8.3 mm 28 °C 15 °C 8 mm 2 329 h –
5 Spring Valley United States 8.4 mm 27 °C 14 °C 8 mm 1 330 h –
6 Las Vegas United States 8.4 mm 27 °C 15 °C 8 mm 2 329 h –
7 Bakersfield United States 10 mm 27 °C 13 °C 10 mm 2 331 h –
8 Ensenada Mexico 12 mm 24 °C 16 °C 12 mm 2 334 h 19 °C
9 Long Beach United States 13 mm 25 °C 15 °C 13 mm 2 328 h 19 °C
10 Windhoek Namibia 13 mm 30 °C 14 °C 13 mm 3 374 h –
11 Anaheim United States 14 mm 26 °C 15 °C 14 mm 2 326 h 19 °C
12 San Diego United States 15 mm 23 °C 15 °C 15 mm 2 326 h 19 °C
13 Huntington Beach United States 15 mm 24 °C 15 °C 15 mm 2 326 h 19 °C
14 Tijuana Mexico 15 mm 23 °C 15 °C 15 mm 2 328 h 19 °C
15 Santa Clarita United States 16 mm 27 °C 13 °C 16 mm 3 330 h –
16 Los Angeles United States 16 mm 28 °C 14 °C 16 mm 2 325 h 19 °C
17 Tucson United States 16 mm 30 °C 15 °C 16 mm 2 333 h –
18 Torreón Mexico 17 mm 29 °C 17 °C 17 mm 2 327 h –
19 La Paz Mexico 17 mm 32 °C 23 °C 17 mm 3 343 h 29 °C
20 Oxnard United States 18 mm 23 °C 15 °C 18 mm 2 331 h 19 °C
21 Salinas United States 18 mm 22 °C 11 °C 18 mm 2 316 h 14 °C
22 Oceanside United States 18 mm 23 °C 16 °C 18 mm 3 329 h 20 °C
23 Palmdale United States 18 mm 25 °C 13 °C 18 mm 3 333 h –
24 Glendale United States 18 mm 27 °C 14 °C 18 mm 2 329 h –
25 San Bernardino United States 18 mm 27 °C 13 °C 18 mm 3 329 h –
26 Moreno Valley United States 19 mm 26 °C 13 °C 19 mm 3 329 h –
27 Ontario United States 19 mm 27 °C 14 °C 19 mm 3 324 h –
28 Pomona United States 20 mm 27 °C 14 °C 20 mm 3 324 h –
29 Escondido United States 20 mm 25 °C 14 °C 20 mm 3 328 h 20 °C
30 Mesa United States 20 mm 31 °C 16 °C 20 mm 2 330 h –
31 Fresno United States 21 mm 27 °C 13 °C 21 mm 2 327 h –
32 Ciudad Juárez Mexico 21 mm 27 °C 13 °C 21 mm 3 329 h –
33 Hermosillo Mexico 21 mm 33 °C 19 °C 21 mm 2 336 h –
34 Chihuahua Mexico 21 mm 26 °C 13 °C 21 mm 3 328 h –
35 Phoenix United States 21 mm 32 °C 16 °C 21 mm 2 329 h –
36 Cuauhtémoc Mexico 21 mm 22 °C 9.3 °C 21 mm 4 329 h –
37 San Francisco United States 21 mm 21 °C 12 °C 21 mm 3 310 h 14 °C
38 Oakland United States 21 mm 24 °C 12 °C 21 mm 3 310 h –
39 Modesto United States 21 mm 26 °C 13 °C 21 mm 3 319 h –
40 Boise United States 22 mm 19 °C 6.5 °C 22 mm 4 297 h –
41 Riverside United States 22 mm 28 °C 13 °C 22 mm 3 327 h –
42 Fontana United States 22 mm 27 °C 13 °C 22 mm 3 328 h –
43 Nogales Mexico 23 mm 27 °C 12 °C 23 mm 3 334 h –
44 Fremont United States 23 mm 24 °C 14 °C 23 mm 3 314 h –
45 Edmonton Canada 23 mm 9.6 °C 0.7 °C 23 mm 5 232 h –
46 Reno United States 24 mm 20 °C 8.2 °C 24 mm 3 319 h –
47 Cabo San Lucas Mexico 24 mm 31 °C 25 °C 24 mm 3 344 h 29 °C
48 Albuquerque United States 25 mm 22 °C 8.9 °C 25 mm 4 321 h –
49 Calgary Canada 26 mm 11 °C -0.2 °C 26 mm 6 254 h –
50 Stockton United States 26 mm 26 °C 12 °C 26 mm 3 317 h –

Monthly values for the month named in the ranking; only destinations with a published climate page are ranked. Download this ranking as CSV.

The same ranking one month earlier and later

September: top 5

  1. Bakersfield 0.9 mm
  2. San Francisco 1.7 mm
  3. Salinas 1.8 mm
  4. Fresno 1.8 mm
  5. Modesto 1.9 mm

Full ranking for September

November: top 5

  1. Mexicali 4.2 mm
  2. San Luis Río Colorado 4.5 mm
  3. Torreón 7.9 mm
  4. Oaxaca 8.8 mm
  5. Las Vegas 9.5 mm

Full ranking for November

How this ranking is built

What is ranked
Total precipitation, in mm, in October, lowest first.
Period
1991–2020 climate normals: the same 30 years for every destination, so the list compares like with like.
Who is included
50 destinations in North America with a published climate page. Neighbouring places that share a climate series are shown once.
Ties
Equal values are ordered by fewest wet days.
Sources
ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis via Open-Meteo; sea temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1. Measured values are reproduced unchanged; only the ordering is ours.

Data sources and method

Normal period
1991–2020
Dataset version
era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: ranking order, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.