Rain

Rain falling

Rainy day

Rain is a kind of precipitation. Precipitation is any kind of water that falls from clouds in the sky, like rain, hail, sleet and snow. It is measured by a rain gauge. Rain is part of the water cycle.

Clouds will often absorb smoke to create rain, commonly referred to as "nature's laundry" due to this process.

Some places have frequent rain. This makes rainforests. Some have little rain. This makes deserts.

A rainstorm is a sudden heavy fall of rain. It may cause flash floods in valleys. Heavy rain for a long time may make floods that destroy houses and drown people. Also, landslides may happen.

Convectional rain

When the Sun heats the Earth's surface, the ground heats the air above it. Convection makes the air rise and cool. When it cools to the dew point, clouds form and rain follows.This usually occurs on flat land. This type of rainfall often causes summer showers and thunderstorms.

Relief rain

Relief rain usually occurs along coastal areas where a line of hills runs along the coast. When wet onshore wind from the sea meets a mountain, hill or any other sort of barrier, it is forced to rise along the slope and cools. When the air temperature falls to its dew point, water vapour condenses to form clouds. When the clouds can no longer hold the water droplets, relief rain begins to fall on the windward slope of the mountain. On the leeward slope, air sinks, it is warmed and further dried by compression. Therefore, the leeward slope is known as rain shadow. Moist winds blow in from the sea and are forced to rise over the land. The air cools and the water vapour condenses, forming rain drops. The rainiest places in the world are places that have relief rainfall.

Frontal rain/Cyclonic rain

Diagram of a cold front causing rain

Frontal rain happens when cooler air and warmer, humid air meet in a weather front. The less dense warm air rises and condenses forming clouds. These clouds grow and eventually create rain. In some places on the northern temperate zone the cold air front tends to come from the north west and the warm air front comes from the south west.

Collection

Some people collect rain in a rainwater tank. People use rainwater for watering plants, cleaning the house, bathing, or drinking. It is not always safe to drink rainwater.^[1] It can have bacteria, parasites, viruses, and chemicals that could make people sick.^[2]

Rain Media

Hard rain on a roof covered with felt and tar paper in Gåseberg, Lysekil Municipality, Sweden. Original version. The yellowish dots on the roof are lichen.
Konvektionsregen
Steigungsregen
Rainfall distribution by month in Cairns showing the extent of the wet season at that location
Average surface air temperatures from 2011 to 2020 compared to the 1951–1980 average. Source: NASA
Band of thunderstorms seen on a weather radar display
Nylex rain gauge 1000 which hold 250mm of rain in 1mm increments.
clima de lluvia intensa