Cities Are Rainfall Magnets

December 13, 2025

The effect of urbanization on temperature is relatively well known, with cities often measurably warmer than their surrounding rural areas. What fewer people know is that there is also an urban precipitation anomaly, where the presence of urban development measurably affects the amount of rainfall in an area.

Research that looked at 1,056 cities across the globe found that more than 60% of them receive more precipitation than their surrounding rural areas. In some cases, the difference is significant. For instance, Houston, on average, receives almost 5 inches more rain per year than its surrounding rural areas.

This could have wide-ranging implications, including worsened flash flooding in densely built areas.

In addition to Houston, the list of big cities with the largest precipitation anomalies includes Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Lagos, Nigeria; and the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area.

There are several reasons most cities receive more rainfall than their rural neighbors, including the presence of tall buildings, which block or slow wind speeds. This leads to a convergence of air toward the city center.