Rainfall totals Des Moines, IA
Through Oct 7, 2026, Des Moines has received 46.73 inches of rain for the year, according to the official daily climate report. The normal year-to-date total is 30.96 inches. The normal figure is what the city would typically have seen by this point in the calendar. This reading comes from the station gauge at DES MOINES in the National Weather Service's daily climate report.
as of
Data from Des Moines International Airport, with records back to 1945. Across the record from 1945, 100 percent of days have a reading, with 100 percent in 2025.
Most recent rainfall
0.15 inches of rain fell on Oct 1, 2026, the latest measurable rainfall this year.
DES MOINES saw no measurable rain on Oct 7, 2026, according to the National Weather Service daily climate report.
Official rainfall report for Oct 7, 2026
| Measured | Normal | vs normal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain on Oct 7, 2026 | 0.00 inches | 0.09 inches | -0.09 inches |
| Last 48 hours | 0.00 inches | ||
| Last 72 hours | 0.00 inches | ||
| Last 7 days | 0.15 inches | ||
| Month to date | 0.15 inches | 0.68 inches | -0.53 inches (-78%) |
| Year to date | 46.73 inches | 30.96 inches | +15.77 inches (+51%) |
| Record for Oct 7 | 3.67 inches | 1884 |
Source: National Weather Service daily climate report for DES MOINES, issued the morning after Oct 7, 2026. The local National Weather Service office issues the daily climate report for the airport station the next morning, and that report is the official figure.
How much rain did Des Moines get?
Days with measurable rain, 2026
| Date | Rainfall |
|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 0.15 inches |
| Sep 30, 2026 | 0.73 inches |
| Sep 29, 2026 | 0.72 inches |
| Sep 27, 2026 | 0.08 inches |
| Sep 26, 2026 | 0.31 inches |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 0.45 inches |
| Sep 24, 2026 | 0.07 inches |
| Sep 22, 2026 | 0.02 inches |
| Sep 21, 2026 | 0.24 inches |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 0.10 inches |
| Sep 19, 2026 | 1.18 inches |
| Sep 16, 2026 | 0.06 inches |
| Sep 15, 2026 | 2.19 inches |
| Sep 14, 2026 | 0.74 inches |
| Sep 13, 2026 | 0.22 inches |
| Sep 9, 2026 | 2.12 inches |
| Sep 8, 2026 | 3.77 inches |
| Sep 7, 2026 | 0.13 inches |
| Sep 6, 2026 | 1.37 inches |
| Aug 29, 2026 | 0.15 inches |
| Aug 24, 2026 | 0.20 inches |
| Aug 15, 2026 | 0.10 inches |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 0.96 inches |
| Aug 13, 2026 | 2.38 inches |
| Aug 12, 2026 | 0.02 inches |
| Aug 9, 2026 | 0.07 inches |
| Aug 6, 2026 | 0.02 inches |
| Aug 5, 2026 | 1.65 inches |
| Aug 4, 2026 | 0.28 inches |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 0.35 inches |
With 3.77 inches on Sep 8, 2026, this is the 9th wettest of the 8,808 measurable rain days in the Des Moines International Airport record, which begins in 1945. That is the most rain recorded at this station on September 8 since 1945.
Through Oct 3, 2026, the GHCN-Daily station record shows 46.73 inches of measurable rain so far this year, falling over a 85-day span. Station observations are from GHCN-Daily, with a 1-3 day lag and quality checks by NOAA.
Des Moines rainfall by month, 2026
| Month | Rainfall | Normal | vs normal |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.89 inches | 1.08 inches | -0.19 inches (-18%) |
| February | 0.71 inches | 1.34 inches | -0.63 inches (-47%) |
| March | 2.31 inches | 2.17 inches | +0.14 inches (+6%) |
| April | 6.83 inches | 4.02 inches | +2.81 inches (+70%) |
| May | 2.53 inches | 5.24 inches | -2.71 inches (-52%) |
| June | 4.51 inches | 5.26 inches | -0.75 inches (-14%) |
| July | 8.47 inches | 3.82 inches | +4.65 inches (+122%) |
| August | 5.83 inches | 4.17 inches | +1.66 inches (+40%) |
| September | 14.50 inches | 3.18 inches | +11.32 inches (+356%) |
| October | 0.15 inches | 2.78 inches |
October is still in progress; figures run through Oct 3, 2026. Averages are 1991-2020 normals from NCEI.
Rainfall days at each threshold in Des Moines
| Year | 0.5+ in. | 1+ in. | 2+ in. | 3+ in. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 22 | 9 | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 | 23 | 9 | 1 | 1 |
| 2023 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 23 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | 26 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 27 | 12 | 5 | 1 |
| 2018 | 33 | 10 | 3 | 0 |
| 2017 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 26 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Average | 21.6 | 7.9 | 1.5 | 0.3 |
A day counts when its rainfall total meets or passes the column amount, from Des Moines International Airport records in GHCN-Daily. Every complete year starting with 1945 counts toward the average, 80 years in total.
Past rainfall years in Des Moines
All-time rainfall records
| Wettest day | 6.18 inches | Aug 27, 1975 |
|---|---|---|
| Wettest year | 55.88 inches | 1993 |
| Driest year | 17.07 inches | 1956 |
| Average year | 33.58 inches | 80 complete years on record |
| Rain days a year | 109 | average, 0.01 inch or more |
| Record begins | 1945 | 29,648 daily readings |
Monthly rainfall normals
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inches | 1.08 | 1.34 | 2.17 | 4.02 | 5.24 | 5.26 | 3.82 | 4.17 | 3.18 | 2.78 | 1.91 | 1.58 | 36.55 |
Averages are 1991-2020 normals from NCEI.
The daily climate report is issued by the local National Weather Service forecast office and delivered to this page by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet of Iowa State University. Under 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright attaches to the government-produced figures on this page, including reports, alerts, station observations, and normals, which were created by the National Weather Service and other NOAA offices. The notice that 17 U.S.C. 403 requires appears in this sentence. It does not imply endorsement by or affiliation with those agencies. See: Data sources and attribution.