It was soon discovered that the radio waves not only bounced off such solid objects but also echoed back from such elemental events as rain storms. The answer to this question refers back to ancient Greece where a meteor was any atmospheric penomenon that might appear in the sky. This of course included clouds, rain, rainbows etc. Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher-scientist, wrote a book called Meteorologica which explained all that was then purported to be known about the sky. In this early textbook of atmospheric science Aristotle described hurricanes as being caused by evil winds falling upon good winds with a resulting moral conflict.
Modern explanations are quite different.