There are different types of rain , each with its own characteristics and origin. We know that clouds are formed by a large number of water droplets and small ice crystals that result from the change of state from water vapor to solid in a mass of air. When a cloud is laden with water droplets and the environmental conditions are favorable, it begins to rain. Different types of rain can be observed, each with its own characteristics.
In this article we are going to tell you everything you need to know about the different types of rain and their characteristics.
How is rain formed
The first thing to understand is how rain is generated. We know that it happens when air at the surface heats up and rises. While in the troposphere, the air's temperature decreases with altitude. The higher we go, the colder it gets. Therefore, when a mass of air rises, it encounters cooler air and becomes saturated with moisture. When the air condenses, water droplets or ice crystals form, depending on the temperature of the surrounding air.
These water droplets form and attach to particles smaller than two microns in diameter, called hygroscopic condensation nuclei. Clinging to these condensation nuclei, the air mass continues to rise, forming a cloud known as a vertical development. These types of clouds typically form due to atmospheric instability. When they reach a considerable thickness and vertical development, they allow very little solar radiation to pass through.
For water vapor in an air mass to reach saturation, it must condense into water droplets, and several conditions must be met. The first is that the air mass must have cooled sufficiently for a cloud to form. The second condition is that there must be enough condensation nuclei in the air on which the water droplets can form. Once the cloud has formed, certain conditions give rise to different types of rain. Two forces act on each water droplet: the drag exerted by the updraft and the combined weight of the droplet and gravity.
When the water droplets are large enough to overcome the drag force, they fall to the ground. The longer the water droplets spend in the cloud, the larger they become. In addition, depending on the time that the droplets spend ascending and descending in the cloud and how much is the total amount of water that the cloud itself has.
Types of rain
Once we know what the origin of the rains is, we are going to see what the different types of rain are. These types occur depending on the shape and size of the drops of water that are precipitating according to the environmental conditions. We can find drizzles, showers, hail, snow, sleet, rain, etc. Let's analyze which are the main ones.
- Drizzle: It is a type of rain to take care of water droplets are quite small and can of a uniform shape. They do not tend to get the soil too wet, although it depends on other factors such as wind speed and relative humidity. If there is a lower wind speed, they can get to wet the ground a bit more.
- Showers: They are those that contain larger drops and tend to give violently. The main characteristic of showers is that they fall intensely but for a very short time. Those areas where there are places with lower atmospheric pressure, a center of low pressures is usually created, forming storms. This is the ideal place for the formation of showers. They are also related to the type of cloud known as Cumulonimbus that is generated with too much speed, which is why the water droplets acquire a large size.
- Hail and snowflakes: We know that different types of rain can also be solid. For this to happen, in the clouds there must be ice crystals formed at very low temperatures. These temperatures are around -40 degrees. Ice crystals can grow at the expense of very low temperature water droplets that freeze on them. This is how hail formation begins. They can also bond with other crystals and form snowflakes. When it reaches the right size, gravity before the rest of the work. If the environmental conditions are appropriate the precipitation will come out in solid form.
Sometimes it can happen that the organized snowflakes meet a layer of warm air in their fall and melt before reaching the ground.
Types of rain depending on the clouds
We know that different types of rain occur depending on the cloud type and the prevailing environmental conditions. In this case, the most common types of rain are frontal, orographic, and convective or thunderstorm. Frontal rain occurs when clouds are associated with both warm and cold fronts. When a warm front and a cold front meet, frontal precipitation clouds form.
We know that the cold front forms when a mass of cold air pushes and displaces a mass of higher temperature upwards. During the rise of the warmer air, it cools when it reaches higher altitudes and gives rise to the formation of cloudiness. In the case of a warm front, it is the hotter air mass that slides over another with a lower temperature.
When a cold front forms, the cloud type that develops is a cumulonimbus or altocumulus. These clouds typically have greater vertical development and trigger intense precipitation with a higher volume of water . The size of the cloud is much larger than those that form with warm fronts. On the other hand, the clouds that form with warm fronts have a more stratified structure. They are usually of the nimbostratus, stratus, or stratocumulus type. Warm fronts generate light rain, such as drizzle.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the different types of rain and their characteristics.