Milford Sound is one of the wettest places on Earth

Milford Sound, tucked inside Fiordland National Park, is officially one of the wettest inhabited places on the planet, with an average annual rainfall of roughly 6,400mm falling across about 182 days a year. That's nearly four times the rainfall of a famously drizzly city like London. The moisture comes from wet westerly winds sweeping off the Tasman Sea, which slam into the Southern Alps and dump their load almost instantly on Fiordland's steep valleys.

Far from ruining a visit, the rain is part of the spectacle. Within hours of a downpour, hundreds of temporary waterfalls appear, streaming off Mitre Peak and the surrounding cliffs, a sight locals say rivals the sound's famous permanent falls, Stirling and Lady Bowen. Many Queenstown-based cruise operators quietly note that rainy days often produce the most dramatic photos, as the fiord's walls turn silver with cascading water.

This extreme rainfall is also why Fiordland's rainforest is so lush, with ancient podocarp trees and moss-draped cliffs thriving in the near-constant moisture. It's part of the reason the area was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site as Te Wahipounamu.

**Q: How much rain does Milford Sound get compared to other places?** **A: Milford Sound averages about 6,400mm of rain annually, compared to roughly 600mm in London, making it one of the wettest inhabited places on Earth.**

**Q: Is Milford Sound still worth visiting if it's raining?** **A: Yes, rain triggers hundreds of temporary waterfalls cascading down the fiord's cliffs, a sight many visitors and cruise operators consider even more dramatic than a clear day.**