Precipitation refers to the process due to which water contained in clouds comes down to the Earth due to gravity. There are several common types of precipitation that we are going to discuss here. Some of these are rain, snow, hail, drizzle, sleet, and so on. Among these types of precipitation, only rain and drizzle deliver liquid water. Unlike these other forms, provide frozen water on the Earth.
Types of Precipitation
There are also three types of precipitation, namely, cyclonic, convective, and orographic precipitation.
- The circular motion of winds forms cyclonic precipitation.
- When the hot air rises, it forms convective precipitation.
- When the air struck by mountains as barriers, it causes up to cause orographic condensation.
Forms of Precipitation
The most common forms of precipitation are:
Rain
- Rain is water droplets falling from the clouds, condensed from vapor in the atmosphere
- The size of these droplets is greater than 0.5mm
- The maximum droplet size is 6mm
- It is the predominant form of precipitation, hence termed synonymously with precipitation
- The magnitude of rainfall shows spatial variations and high temporal
- The aroma of rain is due to a molecule called ‘geosmin.’
- Rain is more or less in a spherical shape like a teardrop
Snow
- Precipitation of water vapor in the atmosphere in the form of small white ice crystals at a temperature less than 32 °F
- Light snow is a powder, Heavy snowfall is snowstorms, and Snowstorms with high winds is blizzards
- The precipitation is in the form of frozen water or solid.
- Since snow is composed of frozen water, it can be classified as a mineral.
- It is homogenous which forms inorganically
- Ice in the snowfall has a definite chemical composition.
Hail
- Precipitation of water vapor in the atmosphere in the form of small balls or lumps of ice and snow
- A hailstorm can cause heavy vehicular damage, vegetation damage, and severe injury to humans
- Hails are larger as compared to sleets
- They generate during a violent thunderstorm, which is more often in spring
- Hailstones form when the air is moving in an upward direction
- The size is greater than 8mm
Sleet
- Precipitation of water vapor in the atmosphere in the form of frozen or partly frozen rain
- Sleet forms a layer of rain and snow before falling on the ground.
- Since it is a mixture of rain and snow. Thus another name of sleet is a wintery mix of snow and rain
- They are translucent balls of ice which are smaller than 0.76cm
