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| R13jd |
 Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 5:25 am Post subject: Rain... |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 14 May 2008
Posts: 2
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I am currently having a heated debate about the terminology in regards to the differing variations of rain and it's order eg. drizzle, spitting etc. Could sombody please help me out.  |
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| KALSTER |
| Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 5:36 am Post subject: |
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Forum Cosmic Wizard
Joined: 08 Sep 2007
Posts: 2060
Location: South Africa
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Really? About rain? Think about it in this way: There are many forms of precipitation (water falling from the sky). This falling water is either ice or liquid and mixtures thereof. The terms you are in a heated debate about is simply that: terms. Without proper definitions of each and every term (go check on a meteorological website or Wikipedia), they can be arbitrarily assigned at will by laymen and the precise definitions will vary widely.
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| Ophiolite |
| Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:25 am Post subject: |
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Forum Radioactive Isotope
Joined: 25 Jul 2005
Posts: 4486
Location: Scotland
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Spitting is less continuous than drizzle, though the drops tend to be larger. As a native of the west coast of Scotland I consider myself an expert on rain. 
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| UKDutyPaid |
| Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 11:26 am Post subject: |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 13 Nov 2007
Posts: 79
Location: London
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| I think anyone from the UK can consider themselves somewhat of a rain expert. but yes, Ophiolite, coming from Scotland, I would consider you a grand master! |
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| Lynx_Fox |
| Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 3:10 pm Post subject: |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 84
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Catagories of liquid precipitation depend on size.
Fog and mist are droplets so small they're suspended.
Drizzle droplets are larger than mist, large enough to fall, but smaller than rain droplets. Generally falling and less than 0.5mm diameter. Also it's possible to have heavy drizzle--lots and lots of tiny falling droplets.
Rain of course is larger falling droplets.
A common mistake is confusing light rain with drizzle. |
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| Selene |
| Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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Banned
Joined: 04 Feb 2008
Posts: 1060
Location: I live in Bertrand Russells teapot!
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Rain can be
Drizzling
mizzling
Smurry or smirry (Scottish-fine mist)
Teeming
Torrential
Pissing
Spitting
Spotting
Chucking it down
Coming down in buckets or sheets or cats and dogs
A shower
A downpour
Deluge
Drencher
Soaker
Cloudburst
plash or platter
Splashing and splatter
dropping or dripping
(Many of these words are Scottish in origin!)
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| Bunbury |
| Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 26 Sep 2007
Posts: 731
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| In Houston, when it rains so hard the sewers back up it's called a turd floater. |
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| Ophiolite |
| Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 2:22 am Post subject: |
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Forum Radioactive Isotope
Joined: 25 Jul 2005
Posts: 4486
Location: Scotland
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| Bunbury wrote: |
| In Houston, when it rains so hard the sewers back up it's called a turd floater. |
I was in Houston last week, but the only turds were on the freeways.
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| sunshinewarrior |
| Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 2:47 am Post subject: |
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Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 26 Sep 2007
Posts: 972
Location: London
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| Bunbury wrote: |
| In Houston, when it rains so hard the sewers back up it's called a turd floater. |
In the Bombay monsoon when that happens (on average once a year), the sight to see is the state of the local railway - I remember one year jumping off a stranded train and recoiling in horror: only the shiny tops of the tracks were unsubmerged and they were covered with cockroaches, beetles, rats and other denizens of the depths doing their best to keep their heads above water...
I didn't give the phenomenon a name. |
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| SuperNatendo |
| Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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Forum Masters Degree
Joined: 10 Dec 2007
Posts: 518
Location: Nashville, TN USA
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| Bunbury wrote: |
| In Houston, when it rains so hard the sewers back up it's called a turd floater. |
Houston is starting to smell a lot like France 
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