In
meteorology,
precipitation (also known as one of the classes of
hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena) is any product of the condensation of
atmospheric water vapor that is deposited on the Earth's surface.
[1] The main forms of precipitation include rain, snow, ice pellets, and graupel. It occurs when the atmosphere, a large gaseous
solution, becomes saturated with water vapour and the water condenses, falling out of solution (i.e.,
precipitates).
[2] Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated cooling the air or adding water vapour to the air.
Virga is precipitation that begins falling to the earth but evaporates before reaching the surface; it is one of the ways air can become saturated. Precipitation forms via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a
cloud.
Moisture overriding associated with weather fronts is an overall major method of precipitation production. If enough moisture and upward motion is present, precipitation falls from convective clouds such as cumulonimbus and can organize into narrow rainbands. Where relatively warm water bodies are present, for example due to water evaporation from lakes, lake-effect snowfall becomes a concern downwind of the warm lakes within the cold cyclonic flow around the backside of extratropical cyclones. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy. Thundersnow is possible within a cyclone's comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where 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 heating. The movement of the monsoon trough, or intertropical convergence zone, brings rainy seasons to savannah climes.
Rain drops range in size from oblate, pancake-like shapes for larger drops, to small spheres for smaller drops. Precipitation that reaches the surface of the earth can occur in many different forms, including rain, freezing rain, drizzle, ice needles, snow, ice pellets or sleet, graupel and hail. Hail is formed within cumulonimbus clouds when strong updrafts of air cause the stones to cycle back and forth through the cloud, causing the hailstone to form in layers until it becomes heavy enough to fall from the cloud. Unlike raindrops, snowflakes grow in a variety of different shapes and patterns, determined by the temperature and humidity characteristics of the air the snowflake moves through on its way to the ground. While snow and ice pellets require temperatures close to the ground to be near or below freezing, hail can occur during much warmer temperature regimes due to the process of its formation. Precipitation may occur on other celestial bodies, e.g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of ice needles, rather than rain or snow.[3]
The urban heat island effect leads to increased rainfall, both in amounts and intensity, downwind of cities. Global warming is also causing changes in the precipitation pattern globally, including wetter conditions across eastern North America and drier conditions in the tropics. Precipitation is a major component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000&_160;cubic kilometres (121,000&_160;cu&_160;mi) of water falls as precipitation each year; 398,000&_160;cubic kilometres (95,000&_160;cu&_160;mi) of it over the oceans.[4] Given the Earth's surface area, that means the globally-averaged annual precipitation is 990&_160;millimetres (39&_160;in). Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes.
