Types of rainfall Flashcards
(3 cards)
What is orographic rainfall?
The type of rain that occurs when moist air is forced to rise over mountainous terrain causing it to cool, condense, and precipitate as rain.
Essentially meaning it’s rainfall caused by the physical relief of the land (like mountains) forcing air to rise and cool down; also known as “relief rainfall.”.
What is frontal rainfall?
Refers to a type of precipitation that occurs when two distinct air masses of different temperatures meet at a weather front, causing the warmer air to rise, cool, and condense, leading to cloud formation and rain.
Essentially, it’s rain produced when a warm air mass is forced to rise over a colder air mass at a frontal boundary.
What is convectional rainfall?
A type of precipitation that occurs when the sun heats the Earth’s surface, causing warm air to rise rapidly, cool down as it ascends, and condense into clouds, leading to heavy, often short-lived rainfall.
It’s typically accompanied by thunderstorms; this process is most prevalent in tropical regions and during hot summer days in temperate climates.
