El Paso Is Officially One of America’s Driest Cities

El Paso has been dubbed the sweatiest city and the city with the ugliest men, and we can debate if all that's true later, but today I come to you with bad news that we have made yet another unfavorable list. However, when I tell you what list we made, and the ranking we made, I think you'll agree that it's a bit hard to argue with it.

This time around, though, it’s kind of hard to argue with the data! The ranking comes from WorldAtlas, which put together the “10 Driest Cities in the United States” using decades of climate records and rainfall averages. And where did El Paso land? Well, we claimed the No. 10 spot, with an annual rainfall of just 8.78 inches, far below the national average of 30.

El Paso One of the Driest Cities in the Country

So what exactly makes El Paso crack the top ten? According to WorldAtlas, it all comes down to our desert climate. Sitting in the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert, El Paso sees long stretches of hot, dry weather with plenty of clear skies. The city averages less than nine inches of rain a year, and most of that falls in a short burst during the late-summer North American Monsoon. That’s when moist air drifts in from the Gulf of Mexico, fueling quick but powerful afternoon thunderstorms.

READ MORE: It's Official: This is the Dustiest Year El Paso Has Ever Had

So while it may seem like each year that passes our monsoon season gets worst, it's barely even scratching the surface! The catch? Those storms are often highly localized, one side of town may get drenched and even flood while another neighborhood stays completely dry. Outside of that brief monsoon season, rain is scarce, leaving El Paso firmly planted on the driest cities list.

Living in one of the nation’s driest cities means El Pasoans have learned to adapt! Just like we adapt during windy season, the dry heat has taught us where to go when we need to cool off like the waterparks or sometimes it's just staying inside somewhere well air-conditioned.

Being on this list might not sound flattering, but it’s part of the Sun City’s identity. The dry climate gives us our endless blue skies, our desert sunsets, and our nickname itself, proof that even when we land on the “unfavorable” lists, El Paso finds a way to make it uniquely ours.