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Orographic precipitation occurs when moist air is forced upwards over rising terrain and condenses on the slope, such as a mountain. Precipitation can fall in either liquid or solid phases, is mixed with both, or transition between them at the freezing level. Liquid forms of precipitation include rain and drizzle and dew. Rain or drizzle which ...
Orographic precipitation is known to occur on oceanic islands, such as the Hawaiian Islands and New Zealand; much of the rainfall received on such islands is on the windward side, and the leeward side tends to be quite dry, almost desert-like. This phenomenon results in substantial local gradients in the amount of average rainfall, with coastal ...
Orographic precipitation. Orographic precipitation occurs on the windward (upwind) side of mountains and is caused by the rising air motion of a large-scale flow of moist air across the mountain ridge, resulting in adiabatic cooling and condensation.
Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. [ 1 ] : 162 As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically , which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and create clouds and, under the right conditions, precipitation .
Orographic precipitation is precipitation created through the lifting action of air due to air masses moving over terrain such as mountains and hills, which is most common behind cold fronts that move into mountainous areas. It may sometimes occur in advance of warm fronts moving northward to the east of mountainous terrain.
Hawaii also has rain shadows, with some areas being desert. [24] Orographic lifting produces the world's second-highest annual precipitation record, 12,700 mm (500 in), on the island of Kauai; the leeward side is understandably rain-shadowed. [1] The entire island of Kahoolawe lies in the rain shadow of Maui's East Maui Volcano. [citation needed]
Freezing rain occurs when the wedge of warm air aloft is much thicker, allowing the raindrop to survive until it comes in contact with the cold ground. A coating of ice forms on whatever the ...
In the Pacific Northwest, the Olympic Peninsula's western side and the western slopes of the Cascade Range receive as much as 160 inches (4,100 mm) of precipitation annually due to the "ocean-effect rain". The ranges cause an orographic lift of the air masses blown inland from the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the windward side of the mountains ...