On a hot summer day, a town, city or region is warmed by the rays of the sun. The temperature of the air over this town, city or region rises above the surrounding countryside. The warm air rises and its place is taken by cooler air. The cooler air is warmed in its turn. Gradually, the rising air gets cooler. Finally, it reaches the saturation point. The water vapor in the air then condenses and a cloud is formed.
When the clouds are full of condensed #water vapour, the sky fills with #clouds, which become heavier and darker. Soon after, drops of #rain come splashing down on the ground and #trees, and buildings. If the weather is really cold, snow or a mixture of snow and rain called #sleet, falls instead. At other times, the #moisture may freeze completely to form pellets or even balls of #ice called hail. The process described above is known as #precipitation. Rain, #snow, sleet and hail are various forms of precipitation-liquid or solid #water coming from high in the #atmosphere.
The water in our #atmosphere is often in the form of an invisible gas or #vapor, and much of this water has been evaporated from #oceans, lakes and streams, often by the heat of the sun. Water vapor also comes from volcanic sources and from #vegetation. It also comes from the exhaled breaths of human beings and animals.
The type, amount and distribution of precipitation depends not only on climate but also on the physical features of the #land and #sea. For example, there’s likely to be more #rainfall in tropical climates than in other areas. The reason for this is the increased heat near the equator which causes more #evaporation of water from water bodies into the atmosphere.
Secondly, there’s often more rain near the sea than there is inland, owing to the fact that the land and the sea are often at different temperatures. The #breeze blowing off land contains less moisture than #wind blowing off the sea. And if the air becomes cool enough, this moisture condenses into #fog, clouds or rain.
However, there are exceptions. A #region where prevailing winds contain little moisture over a coastal area may be a desert, Along the western coast of South America particularly #Chile and #Peru, is a common example. This may also occur where the water or climate is cool. All things being equal however, the rainfall increases with the height above sea level up to heights not exceeding ordinary cloud level. This is due to the action of #mountains in condensing the water vapor contained in the winds that blow over them.
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