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Precipitation of liquid water drops with diameters
greater than 0.5 mm (0.02 inch). When the drops are smaller,
the precipitation is usually called drizzle. Concentrations of
raindrops typically range from 100 to 1,000 per cubic m (3 to
30 per cubic foot); drizzle droplets usually are more numerous.
Raindrops seldom have diameters larger than 4 mm, because as
they increase in size they break up. The concentration generally
decreases as diameters increase. Except when the rain is heavy,
it does not reduce visibility as much as does drizzle.
Meteorologists
classify rain according to its rate of fall. The hourly rates
relating to light, moderate,
and heavy rain are, respectively, less than 2.5 mm, 2.8 to 7.6
mm, and more than 7.6 mm. Raindrops may form by the coalescence
of small water droplets that collide or from the melting of snowflakes
and other ice particles as they fall into warm air near the ground. |