Rain facts
How heavy is rain?
A total of 500,000 tonnes of rain can fall from a single
thunderstorm.
That's the same as nearly 65,000 London buses!
In one second a total of 16 million tonnes falls
in rain, hail or snow. |
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How much energy does rain have?
The average thunderstorm can release
as much energy as a one megaton bomb!
Some people find storms so interesting
that they "chase" them, following storms as they
pass through. They are known as
"storm chasers". In a storm, clouds can reach
a towering 20 kilometres tall! |
What is the driest place on earth?
The Atacama
desert in Chile has so little rain that it is hard to
measure it. In fact parts of the desert have not seen a
single drop of rain since records began. Although it is
a desert people and animals still live there. One reason
it is so dry is that it is in a rain
shadow | |
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Rain Gods
Chac was the god of rain for the
Mayans. He was a benevolent god for the Mayans who often sought
his help for their crops. Chac was associated with creation
and life. Chac was also considered to be divided into four
equal entities. Each division represented the North, South,
East, and West. |
Snow or rain?
For every inch of rain that falls, the equivalent in snow would be 10 inches.
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| The wettest
place on Earth |
There is a lot of dispute about the wettest place in
the world. Here are the contenders
1. Mount Wai-'ale-'ale, Kauai
This is one of the Hawaiian islands - the weather station
here is 1569 metres high and records on average 11,684mm
to 13,000mm rain per year. Rain falls on between 335
and 360 days per year
2. Mount Tutenendo, Colombia
This records 11,770mm to 12,045mm rain per year, again
depending on which source you choose to believe and
there's just 275mm difference between sources.
3. Lloro, Colombia
Estimated 13,299mm rain per year. According to The National
Climatic Data Center this is an estimated amount and
in fact Quibdo in Colombia, which is at a lower altitude
than Lloro, is with an average annual rainfall of 8,991.6mm
rain South America's wettest place.
4. Cherrapunji,north-eastern India
This was thought for many years to be the wettest place
in the world. Here 10,820mm rain falls on average in
a year, well short of the amounts that fall at the other
contenders. Unlike Hawaii and Columbia where the rain
falls throughout the whole year, Cherrapunji gets most
of its rain during the 'south-west monsoon', or wet
season, between June and August.
5. Mawsynram, India
Is quoted by the American National Climatic Data Center
as having an annual average rainfall of 11,871mm and
11,877mm by BBC Weather, more than any other contender
except Lloro in Colombia. Mawsynram is just a few kilometres
away from Cherrapunji.
The Decision
The more sources you look at, the more quoted rainfall
amounts differ. So lets say for now that Mount Wai-'ale-'ale,
a couple of spots in the Colombian Highlands and one
or two parts of India are the wettest places in the
world. It really depends on measurement practice and
procedures and the period being measured
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