Ad
related to: what causes precipitation
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
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 ...
Geographic distribution of rain is largely governed by climate type, topography and habitat humidity. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where the upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation. On the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional ...
Convective precipitation (showers, thundershowers, heavy rain and related unstable weather) is caused by air being lifted and condensing into clouds by the movement of the cold front or cold occlusion under a mass of warmer, moist air.
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.
Unlike rain, freezing rain does not generally run off until it is warm enough to melt. Often, the only way to get rid of ice is to wait for it to melt or to melt it with salt.
The strength of the water cycle and its changes over time are of considerable interest, especially as the climate changes. [26] The hydrological cycle is a system whereby the evaporation of moisture in one place leads to precipitation (rain or snow) in another place. For example, evaporation always exceeds precipitation over the oceans.
As the narrative of the Southern California wildfires has shifted to identifying the causes behind what could prove to be the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, a common refrain has ...