What the
heck is the difference between the terms Rain and Showers.
When you
hear or see showers on the forecast do you think, there won’t be very much and
when you the term rain is used do you think, it will be soaking?
The
difference between the two is kind of tricky and subtle. There is no doubt that
showers are indeed rain. Taking at face value the term rain or showers, has
nothing to do with how much precipitation is going to fall. Instead it tells
you how it is going to fall. It has to do with the type of cloud they come
from.
What are
showers?
A shower is
a short duration event, that can last a couple of minutes to perhaps 15 minutes
or so. But they can sometime last over half an hour. They typically start
quickly and end quickly. There can be heavy downpours when dealing with
showers.
Showers come
from Cumuliform clouds - Cumulus or Cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) the puffy ones
that look like they are bubbling up. often separated by blue sky. Showers are
pushed around by the wind, so you only experience a particular shower if you
are in its path Since they are hit and miss, your house could be getting wet,
while your next-door neighbor could be dry. Cumulus normally result in lower
totals while amounts can get quite high from Cumulonimbus.
The
customary way of talking about them is isolated showers or scattered/widespread
showers. Because they are hit and miss you will never see 100% chance of
showers.
Cumulus
Cumulonimbus
Cumulonimbus
What is
rain?
Rain is a
moderate to long duration event. That can last for a couple of hours to all
day. It typically starts gradually then ramps up and ends gradually.
Rain comes
from Stratiform clouds- Altostratus and Nimbostratus. These types of clouds are
more or less featureless and cover the sky in a grey, widespread sheet, with
little to no blue sky to be seen, and of the two, Nimbostratus is thicker and
produces heavier rains.
Rain covers
a wide area, so most or everyone over a large area are getting wet. Rain can
come down lightly or heavily. Because of its long-lasting duration, it can lead
to flooding issues.
Altostratus
Nimbostratus
Well if some
of y’all were confused by the two terms, I hope this clears it up.
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