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On the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. Most precipitation occurs within the tropics and is caused by convection. [3] Precipitation is a major component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet.
Precipitation is measured using a rain gauge, and more recently remote sensing techniques such as a weather radar. When classified according to the rate of precipitation, rain can be divided into categories. Light rain describes rainfall which falls at a rate of between a trace and 2.5 millimetres (0.098 in) per hour. Moderate rain describes ...
Freezing rain often causes major power outages by forming glaze ice. When the freezing rain or drizzle is light and not prolonged, the ice formed is thin and usually causes only minor damage (relieving trees of their dead branches, etc.). [10] When large quantities accumulate, however, it is one of the most dangerous types of winter hazard. [11]
Virgae can cause varying weather effects because as rain is changed from liquid to vapor form it removes significant amounts of heat from the air due to water's high heat of vaporization. Precipitation falling into these cooling downdrafts may eventually reach the ground.
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. [1] It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. [2] It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. [3]
This causes them to cool down, which causes an excess of moisture to condense into high clouds and results in heavy precipitation over the mountain range. This is known as orographic rainfall and after this process, the air is dry because it has lost most of its moisture over the Atlas Mountains. On the leeward side, the cold, dry air starts to ...
Acid rain has a much less harmful effect on oceans on a global scale, but it creates an amplified impact in the shallower waters of coastal waters. [95] Acid rain can cause the ocean's pH to fall, known as ocean acidification, making it more difficult for different coastal species to create their exoskeletons that they need
Alkaline precipitation occurs due to natural and anthropogenic causes. It happens when minerals, such as calcium , aluminum , or magnesium combine with other minerals to form alkaline residues that are emitted into the atmosphere, absorbed by water droplets in clouds, and eventually fall as rain.