What Makes It Rain?
Introduction
Have you ever wondered what makes it rain? Well this website will tell you.
Water was part of the ocean long before any animals lived on Earth. The water on the Earth today has been here for millions of years, but it keeps being recycled by the water cycle. Because of the water cycle the water we use now is actually the same water from a long time ago.
The Water Cycle
A cycle is when a thing happens over again in the same order. That's what happens with water.
Liquid water, such as the water in a lake or a puddle, gets heated up by the sun. The heat changes the liquid water into gas called water vapor. Then water vapor rises up in the sky. This step is called evaporation.
Next, the water vapor next gets cooled down and turned back into tiny liquid water droplets. This step is called condensation. During the condensation step, the droplets gather together to make clouds.
Finally, the water droplets join together in the clouds to make bigger and bigger droplets. When the drops get too big and heavy to stay in the cloud, they come back down to Earth. This step is called precipitation. And then the cycle starts all over again
Rain drops
It rains when clouds get too full of water droplets. The raindrops that fall from the sky depend on the size. Raindrops are not like tear drops that come out of your eyes. Raindrops are shaped more like hamburger buns.
The process of the water turning into water vapor is called evaporation. The process of water vapor becoming a liquid again is called condensation. And the process of water falling back to Earth is called precipitation.
Forms of Precipitation
Rain, sleet, snow, and hail are all forms of precipitation. Water or ice gets released from clouds during precipitation.
Water drops that fall back down to the ground in liquid form are called rain. Rain is the most common form of precipitation, but it is not the only way that water falls back down to Earth.
Water can also fall back to Earth in solid form. When chunks of ice drop to the ground from the clouds this is called hail. Snow is water falling to the ground in the form of solid ice crystals. Sleet is a combination of ice pellets mixed together with part rain and part snow.
Exploring Weather
Clouds are made of a lot of rain droplets joined all together. Raindrops are made out of water, but also dust particles. Raindrops are not tear-shaped but instead they are flatter, more like the shape of a hamburger bun. Cumulonimbus clouds make storms.
Condensation usually occurs higher up in the sky to form clouds. Sometimes the air is cooler closer to the ground. When this happens, clouds may form closer to the ground. This is called fog. This occurs especially when the air is cooler in the morning and there is a lot of water vapor in the air. So places near lakes or oceans may experience more fog because there is more water vapor in the air.
This diagram shows some important information about the water cycle. The three main steps are evaporastion, condensation, and precipitation.
Rain is the most common form of precipitation when water falls back down to the Earth is liquid form.
Sometimes a rainbow may be formed when it rains and when it is sunny.
Snow is a form of precipitation where water falls to the ground as solid ice crystals.
Hail is a form of precipitation where water fall to the ground in its solid form of ice.
This is a cumulonimbus cloud that makes storms.
Have you ever wanted to touch a cloud? Fog is kind of like a cloud that forms close to the ground. Fog happens when water vapor meets with cold air that is lower to the ground.
Visit these sources to find more information:
What causes a rainbow?
When light reflects inside a water droplet, the light gets bent and separates into different colors.
How come you don't see a rainbow every time it rains?
A rainbow requires water droplets to be floating in the air. That's why you sometimes see rainbows when it is raining or right after it has rained.
But you need more than just rain to make a rainbow. You also need sunlight. The sunlight must be behind you and the clouds cleared away so that the sunlight can travel through the water droplets. When the sunlight reflects off of the inside of the water droplet, the light separates into its different colors to make the rainbow.
The best times to see a rainbow are days when it is both rainy and sunny, and when the sun is lower to the ground.
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