Precipitation is a major component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing

most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 (121,000 cu mi) of water
falls as precipitation each year, 398,000 km3 (95,000 cu mi) of it over the oceans.[4] Given
the Earth's surface area, that means the globally-averaged annual precipitation is
990 millimetres(39in).

Mechanis
ms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform,[7] and orographic rainfall.[8]
Convective processes involve strong vertical motions that can cause the overturning of
the atmosphere in that location within an hour and cause heavy precipitation,[9] while
stratiform processes involve weaker upward motions and less intense precipitation.
Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water,
liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice. Mixtures of different types of
precipitation, including types in different categories, can fall simultaneously. Liquid forms
of precipitation include rain and drizzle. Rain or drizzle that freezes on contact within a
subfreezing air mass is called "freezing rain" or "freezing drizzle". Frozen forms of
precipitation include snow, ice needles, ice pellets, hail, and graupel.[10]

Rain (R, RA) - Rain is liquid precipitation that reaches the surface in the form of drops that
are greater than 0.5 millimeters in diameter. The intensity of rain is determined by the
accumulation over a given time. Categories of rain are light, moderate and heavy.
Snow (SN, SNW, S) -Snow is an aggregate of ice crystals that form into flakes. Snow forms
at temperatures below freezing. For snow to reach the earth's surface the entire
temperature profile in the troposphere needs to be at or below freezing. It can be slightly
above freezing in some layers if the layer is not warm or deep enough the melt the snow
flakes much. The intensity of snow is determined by the accumulation over a given time.
Categories of snow are light, moderate and heavy. Hail (GR, A) -Hail
is dense precipitation ice that is that least 5 millimeters in diameter. It forms due to ice
crystals and supercooled water that freeze or stick to the embryo hail stone. Soft hail is
whiter and less dense since it has air bubbles. Soft hail occurs when hail grows at a
temperature below freezing by ice crystals and small supercooled water and cloud
droplets merging onto the hail. Hard hail occurs when liquid water drops freeze on the
outer edges of the hailstone after the outer edge is above freezing. The freezing of
supercooled water releases latent heat and this can result in the outer edge of the hail
stone warming above freezing. Then the water refreezes creating solid ice. Hail will
commonly have soft ice and hard ice layers when it is sliced open.
Sleet / Ice Pellets (PE, PL, IP, SLT) - Sleet (Ice Pellets) are frozen raindrops that strike the
earth's surface. In a sleet situation the precipitation aloft when it is first generated will be
snow. The snow falls through a layer that is a little above freezing and the snow partially
melts. If the snow completely melts it will be more likely to reach the earth's surface as
supercooled water instead of sleet. If the snow partially melts there will still be ice within
the falling drop for water to freeze on when the drop falls into a subfreezing layer. The
lowest layer of the troposphere will be below freezing in a sleet situation and deep enough
to freeze drops completely. The lower boundary layer can be above freezing and sleet
occur if the sleet does not have time to melt before reaching the surface. Rain,snow,hail
and sleet.Details follow.
If the air temperature inside a cloud is above freezing,water droplets merge and grow until
they are heavy enough to fall,reaching the ground as RAIN.
If ice crystals are present in a cloud,they bond together until large enough to fall.While
falling,they either remain frozen,reaching the ground as SNOW,or melt,reaching the group
as rain. HAIL is a solid precipitation in the form of balls or pieces of ice (hail stones) falling
from a thundercloud. These hail stones form when several layers of ice build up on
supercooled water droplets in a thundercloud. When supercooled raindrops fall through
freezing air they form tiny ice pellets known as SLEET .The difference between the sleet
and hail is that the sleet forms in any type of cloud whereas hail forms only in
thunderclouds. It can also be said that sleet is a precipitation between rains and snow but
distinct from hail. Precipitation

In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which

are atmospheric water phenomena) is any product of the condensation of atmospheric
water vapor that is pulled down by gravity and deposited on the Earth's surface.[1] The
main forms of precipitation include rain, snow, ice pellets, and graupel. It occurs when the
atmosphere, a large gaseous solution, becomes saturated with water vapour and the water
condenses, falling out of solution (i.e., precipitates).[2] Two processes, possibly acting
together, can lead to air becoming saturated: cooling the air or adding water vapour to the
air. Virga is precipitation that begins falling to the earth but evaporates before reaching the
surface; it is one of the ways air can become saturated. Precipitation forms via collision
with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud.

Moisture overriding associated with weather fronts is an overall major method of

precipitation production. If enough moisture and upward motion is present, precipitation
falls from convective clouds such as cumulonimbus and can organize into narrow
rainbands. Where relatively warm water bodies are present, for example due to water
evaporation from lakes, lake-effect snowfall becomes a concern downwind of the warm
lakes within the cold cyclonic flow around the backside of extratropical cyclones. Lake-
effect snowfall can be locally heavy. Thundersnow is possible within a cyclone's comma
head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation
is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at
elevation. On the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air
caused by compressional heating. The movement of the monsoon trough, or intertropical
convergence zone, brings rainy seasons to savannah climes.

Rain drops range in size from oblate, pancake-like shapes for larger drops, to small
spheres for smaller drops. Precipitation that reaches the surface of the earth can occur in
many different forms, including rain, freezing rain, drizzle, ice needles, snow, ice pellets or
sleet, graupel and hail. Hail is formed within cumulonimbus clouds when strong updrafts
of air cause the stones to cycle back and forth through the cloud, causing the hailstone to
form in layers until it becomes heavy enough to fall from the cloud. Unlike raindrops,
snowflakes grow in a variety of different shapes and patterns, determined by the
temperature and humidity characteristics of the air the snowflake moves through on its
way to the ground. While snow and ice pellets require temperatures close to the ground to
be near or below freezing, hail can occur during much warmer temperature regimes due to
the process of its formation. Precipitation may occur on other celestial bodies, e.g. when it
gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of ice needles, rather
than rain or snow.[3]

The urban heat island effect leads to increased rainfall, both in amounts and intensity,
downwind of cities. Global warming is also causing changes in the precipitation pattern
globally, including wetter conditions across eastern North America and drier conditions in
the tropics. Precipitation is a major component of the water cycle, and is responsible for
depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres
(121,000 cu mi) of water falls as precipitation each year; 398,000 cubic kilometres (95,000
cu mi) of it over the oceans.[4] Given the Earth's surface area, that means the globally-
averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres (39 in). Climate classification systems
such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help
differentiate between differing climate regimes.