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Precipitation
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images & Videos
A vertical rain shaft descends over the sea during a colorful tropical sunset, with silhouetted hills and coastline at Man-of-War Bay, Tobago.
A large window looking at a forested exterior, four hand-drawn blue raindrops, and a hand holding a phone displaying a pie chart showing a 60% chance of partly cloudy skies, and a 40% chance of rain.
How Do Clouds Float?
frozen precipitation
How do snowflakes form?
Learn the role of tiny impurities like salt, dirt, soot, or a grain of clay in the formation of raindrops
What Is Cloud Seeding?
Diagram showing orographic lift, where moist air rises up the green, windward side of a mountain, cools and forms clouds with precipitation, while the opposite, brown lee side remains dry in the rain shadow. Map of North America color-coded to show average annual precipitation levels, with drier regions in shades of orange and yellow across the western interior and Arctic areas, and wetter regions in shades of green along the Pacific Northwest coast, southeastern United States, Central America, and the Caribbean islands. Major cities such as Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, New York, and Panama City are labeled. A legend indicates precipitation amounts ranging from 200 millimeters (8 inches) t Thematic map of the Guinea Coast region in West Africa showing the distribution of major ethnic groups and average annual rainfall. Coastal and southern areas, including parts of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon, are shaded in green and purple to indicate higher rainfall, while northern and inland regions are shaded in yellow and orange for lower rainfall. Major ethnic groups such as Temne, Mende, Yoruba, Igbo, and Ashanti are labeled within their respective reg
Quizzes
Lightning over a farm field. Weather electricity thunderstorm light energy tree
Facts You Should Know: Weather Quiz
Umbrella colored like a rainbow sticking out above a sea of black umbrellas while it rains. (storm, weather)
Weather Words Vocabulary Quiz
water glass on white background. (drink; clear; clean water; liquid)
Water and its Varying Forms
rain. Child in the rain, wearing a rain coat, under a yellow umbrella. April Showers weather climate rain storm water drops
April Showers to March’s Lions and Lambs
Thunderstorm cumulonimbus clouds above Montana. weather storm thunderstorm atmospheric disturbance cumulonimbus clouds thunder and lightning Homepage blog 2011, science and technology
Clouds and Cloud Types

Precipitation: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Article title updated for style. Nov 10, 2026
Modified link of Web site: IOPscience - IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering - Evaluation of precipitation forecasting methods and an advanced lightweight model. Sep 12, 2026
Add new Web site: IOPscience - IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering - Evaluation of precipitation forecasting methods and an advanced lightweight model. Apr 02, 2026
Add new Web site: The University of British Colombia - Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences - Precipitation Processes (PDF). Dec 19, 2025
Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Is precipitation a good metric for model performance? Sep 26, 2025
Media added. May 08, 2025
Add new Web site: CiteSeerX - Methods for verifying satellite precipitation estimates (PDF). Apr 19, 2025
Add new Web site: US Army Corps of Engineers - Hydrologic Engineering Center - Precipitation Basic Concepts. Jan 11, 2025
Add new Web site: Academia - Precipitation and Rainfall Types with Their Characteristic Features. Nov 12, 2024
Add new Web site: Japan Meteorological Agency - Measurement of Precipitation. Aug 23, 2024
Add new Web site: University of California - Understanding Global Change - Precipitation. Jul 13, 2024
Media added. Jun 03, 2024
Add new Web site: OpenStax - Chemistry 2e - Precipitation and Dissolution. Apr 25, 2024
Add new Web site: National Wildlife Coordinationg Group - Clouds and Precipitation. Jan 20, 2024
Add new Web site: University of Regina - Precipitation. Jul 19, 2023
Video and links added. May 31, 2023
Add new Web site: University of Hawaii Pressbooks - Atmospheric Processes and Phenomena - Precipitation Processes. May 26, 2023
Add new Web site: UNESCO - ELOSS - Types and Characteristics of Precipitation. Mar 15, 2023
Add new Web site: Chemistry LibreTexts - Precipitation Process. Nov 08, 2022
Add new Web site: SciJinks - What Is Precipitation? Dec 02, 2019
Add new Web site: USGS Water Science School - Precipitation and the Water Cycle. Oct 11, 2017
Media added. Sep 22, 2017
Added video that describes the role small particulates play in raindrop formation. Dec 02, 2015
Add new Web site: National Geographic - Precipitation. Aug 07, 2013
Article revised and updated. Jul 02, 2008
Added new Web site: NASA - Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission. Nov 13, 2006
Article added to new online database. Jul 20, 1998
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