Different Types of Rainfall

What You'll Learn?

1 Different Types of Rainfall

2 1. Convectional Rainfall

3 2. Orographic Rainfall

4 3. Cyclonic Rainfall

4.1 The Water Cycle

4.2 Types of Rainfall supported on Intensity

4.3 Related Differences:

Is the rain which is formed in the cities and forests similar? There is a difference between Different Types of rainfall in different regions. Precipitation is that the process where the local air becomes saturated with vapor and starts to pour because it can no longer maintain the water vapor within the gaseous form. There are different types of precipitation – Liquid, Freezing, and Frozen.

Rainfall is defined as precipitation in liquid form. There are various varieties of rainfall supported in the origin which are discussed here

Different Types of Rainfall

1. Convectional rainfall

2. Orographic or relief rainfall

3. Cyclonic or frontal rainfall

1. Convectional Rainfall

The air getting heated becomes light and rises in convection currents. Because the air rises, it expands and drops the temperature and subsequently, condensation takes place and cumulus clouds are formed. Heavy rainfall with lightning and thunder takes place which doesn’t last long. Such rain is typically within the summer or the warmer part of the day. This sort of rainfall generally takes place within the equatorial regions and internal parts of the continents, predominantly within the northern hemisphere. This rainfall is related to hail and graupel

2. Orographic Rainfall

When the saturated atmospheric air mass comes across a mountain, it’s forced to rise. The rising air expands, eventually, the temperature falls, and therefore the moisture gets condensed. The principal characteristic of this kind of rain is that the windward slopes help to get more rainfall. After giving rain on the windward side, when these winds reach the opposite side, they slip, and their temperature increases. Then their ability to require moisture increases and hence, these leeward slopes remain dry and rainless. The region situated on the leeward side is called the rain-shadow area.

3. Cyclonic Rainfall

Cyclonic activity causes cyclonic rain and it occurs along the fronts of the cyclone. When two masses of air of unlike density, temperature, and humidity meet then it’s formed. The layer that separates them is known as the front. A warm front and also a cold front are the two parts of the front. At the warm front, the warm lighter wind increases slightly over the heavier cold air. As the warm air rises, it cools, and therefore the moisture present in it condenses to make clouds this rain falls gradually for some hours to some days.

The Water Cycle

How does water move from the rivers and streams all the way up to the sky and form clouds? How does water move from sea to sky? These questions can be answered using the water cycle or hydrological cycle as it is more scientifically called. This cycle is the cycle that makes water move from sea to sky and sky to river. Without this, we would have no streams, lakes, or rain, not even the sea. Without this cycle, it would not be possible for humans or animals to survive at all. Here it is.

The cycle begins at sea. Water from the sea is warmed by the sun. This causes the seawater to evaporate. The seawater turns to water vapour and steam. The vapour rises as hot air tends to be light.
As the water vapour rises, it is cooled. This cooling causes the water vapour to condense as cool air tends to be heavier and cannot store water droplets.
When the vapour condenses, it forms cloud. The cloud receives more and more vapour until it cannot store any more. The cloud is saturated and so, begins to precipitate.
Depending on temperature, precipitation has many forms. It can include rain, hailstones, sleet or snow. The most likely form is rain.
The rain or precipitation flows into rivers and streams and these rivers and streams bring the water back to the sea where the cycle begins again.