Friday Facts About Rain

Since it’s done nothing but rain every day for a week, I can’t seem to think about anything but the obvious. Rain.

The Houston area had nearly 36 inches of rain from Jan. 1 to July 1—eleven inches more than normal.

I don’t know the rainfall since July1, but I do know the whole area is under flood watch.

FACTS ABOUT RAIN

(1) Rain has a distinctive smell even though it is thought to be odorless. The earthy smell when it first starts comes from moistening of the ground. That smell is called petrichor, as coined by Australian scientists in 1964.

Petrichor is created by a byproduct of the decomposition of organic matter which is called geosmin which may be present in the ground is released in aerosol form when raindrops hit the earth’s surface. Humans pick up the petrichor scent that’s present in the aerosols.

(2) Even though we think raindrops are shaped like teardrops, they’re not. Most are round and plump like a hamburger bun unless they’re larger than 1 mm. When they get large, the shape gets distorted.

(3) The average raindrop weighs about .001 ounce (0.034 grams), and that’s less than the weight of an eyelash.

(4) The average speed of raindrops is about 14 mph.

(5) The rainiest place on the planet is Mawsynram in India in Maghalaya state that averages  467.4 inches of rain each year.

(6) The driest place on the planet is the Atacama Desert in northern Chile and southern Peru. This non-polar desert gets an average of 0.019 inches of rain each year.

Of course, sometimes rain may fall, but it never reaches the ground which brings us to our last rainfall fact.

(7) When rain falls from clouds and the air is very dry, raindrops can evaporate as they fall. Falling rain that evaporates before hitting the ground is called virga.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

That’s all I have time for now. I’ve got to give Freddie a quick walk before the next rain shower.

Joan Reeves aka SlingWords: The Word Slinging Adventures of Joan Reeves