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What is Orographic Rainfall

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Question: What is Orographic Rainfall?

Answer: Snow, rain, or other precipitation created when moist air is raised as it flows across a range of mountains is known as orographic precipitation. Relief precipitation is another name for orographic precipitation. As the air rises and cools, orographic clouds develop and serve as a source of precipitation, with the majority falling upwind of the mountain crest. 

Spillover refers to falls that occur a short distance downwind of the crest. Rainfall is normally low on the lee side of a comparable mountain range, and the area is under a rain shadow. Typically, substantial precipitation occurs upwind of a conspicuous mountain range that is angled across a prevailing wind from a warm ocean.

As a result, the orthographic influence on rainfall is responsible for the planet’s most dramatic climatic variations.

Two factors are directly accountable for the cause of orographic rainfall over the world, and the same may be predicted or forecasted. These two items are offered as-

  1. Humid atmospheric conditions, with clouds reaching full saturation, would cause observers to conclude that measurable precipitation will form. Also, virage occurs when rainfall evaporates before reaching the land (due to passing through dry air).

  2. An inclination, for example, one might encounter while climbing a mountain. Orographic rainfall is caused by these two factors, but it also denotes “rainfall connected with or generated by the presence of mountains.” Nothing is more explicit than the description of rainfall-induced by “the presence of mountains.”

Rainfall causes moisture loss in the air as it moves to the leeward side. As it comes into touch with the heat of the troposphere, the descending air warms up. This absorbs the leftover rainfall and forms a dry zone known as a rain shadow. As a result, locations near the leeward side are essentially drier because orographic precipitation eliminates all moisture from the rain shadow.