Precipitation | Wikipedia audio article
Channel: wikipedia tts
Date: 2018-12-08

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Precipitation


00:03:12 1 Types
00:04:46 2 How the air becomes saturated
00:04:56 2.1 Cooling air to its dew point
00:06:29 2.2 Adding moisture to the air
00:06:58 3 Formation
00:07:07 3.1 Raindrops
00:08:38 3.2 Ice pellets
00:09:44 3.3 Hail
00:11:10 3.4 Snowflakes
00:13:15 3.5 Diamond dust
00:13:48 4 Causes
00:13:57 4.1 Frontal activity
00:14:51 4.2 Convection
00:15:39 4.3 Orographic effects
00:17:24 4.4 Snow
00:19:27 4.5 Within the tropics
00:21:29 4.6 Large-scale geographical distribution
00:22:32 5 Measurement
00:25:03 5.1 Hydrometeor definition
00:25:46 5.2 Satellite estimates
00:28:26 5.3 Satellite data sets
00:31:23 6 Return period
00:32:28 7 Uneven pattern of precipitation
00:32:50 8 Role in Köppen climate classification
00:35:13 9 Effect on agriculture
00:36:27 10 Changes due to global warming
00:38:04 11 Changes due to urban heat island
00:38:55 12 Forecasting
00:40:29 13 See also



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SUMMARY
=======
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity.  The main forms of precipitation include  drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel and hail.  Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and "precipitates".  Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the water vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate.  Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated: cooling the air or adding water vapor to the air. Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud.  Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called "showers."Moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is typically active when freezing rain occurs. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain and serves as the foci for forcing and rising air. Provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely  stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the cloud droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops and descend toward the Earth where they will freeze on contact with exposed objects.  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.  Most precipitation occurs within the tropics and is caused by convection.  The movement of the monsoon trough, or intertropical convergence zone, brings rainy seasons to savannah climes.
Precipitation is a major component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing 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 and 107,000 cubic kilometres (26,000 cu mi) over land. Given the Earth's surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres (39 in), but over land it is only 715 millimetres (28.1 in). Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes.
Precipitation may occur on other celestial bodies, e.g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes ...