PRECIPITATION

By
Joseph Okolla

1 99 Flying School _JOAOK

 OBJECTIVES
 To describe the processes involved in the
formation of precipitation and classify
different types of precipitation, intensity
and continuity.

2 99 Flying School _JOAOK

 INTRODUCTION
 Precipitation is form of hydrometeor (various forms of
water in the atmosphere) falling from cloud, may or may
not reach the ground
 Precipitation can fall as
 Rain
 Snow
 Freezing rain
 Ice pellets
 Hail

3 99 Flying School _JOAOK

 INTRODUCTION cont..
 From nimbostratus or altostratus we get continuous or
intermittent rain for long periods and varying in intensity
 From cumulonimbus precipitation realized are showers
which last for a short time at any instance
 In stable air masses precipitation formed will be drizzle,
freezing rain or snow grains from stratocumulus or stratus
 Maximum intensity usually an hour after sunrise

4 99 Flying School _JOAOK

 INTRODUCTION cont..
 Precipitation from orographic lifting depends on type of
cloud but often of a convective character

5 99 Flying School _JOAOK

 PROCESSES OF PRECIPITATION FORMATION
 There four main processes
 Coalescence produce liquid drops of water
 Bergeron Findeisen first produce ice crystals which later turn to
water droplets
 Aggregation (snow) produces loosely packed ice particles like
snowflakes
 accretion (hail) produces firmly packed ice crystals like hail

6 99 Flying School _JOAOK

 INTENSITY OF PRECIPITATION
Rainfall rate (mm/hr) Snow
accumulation
Rain Rain/hail (cm/hr)
showers
Slight <0.5 <2 <0.5

Moderate 0.5 to 4 2 to 10 0.5 to 4

Heavy >4 10 to 50 >4

Violent >50
13 99 Flying School _JOAOK
 CONTINUITY OF PRECIPITATION
 Showers
 Associated with convection or heap type of clouds
 Showers do not have a long duration
 Intermittent
 Associated with layer cloud. Falling from “time to time” with no
marked clearance
 Continuous
 Associated with layer cloud. No breaks

14 99 Flying School _JOAOK

 OPERATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE
 Precipitation can reduce pilot’s visibility & greatest reduction
in visibility in order is
 Snow
 Sleet
 Drizzle
 Rain
 Hail

15 99 Flying School _JOAOK

 PRECIPITATION TYPES
Precipitation type Cloud type Comments
Drizzle ST or SC Diameter: 0.2 to 0.5 mm
Freezing drizzle Visibility:500 to 3000 m
Snow grains Imperceptible impact
Does not make a splash on
ground
Rain Thick AS & Diameter: 0.5 to 5.5 mm
NS Visibility: 3000 m to 5.5 km
Perceptible impact
Drops have to be large to
overcome the up-currents in
the cloud in order to fall.
Larger drops break up into
16 99 Flying School _JOAOK
smaller
 PRECIPITATION TYPES cont..
Precipitation type Cloud type Comments

Snow (continuous) Thick AS and NS Grains/Needles: < 1mm

diameter
Pellets: 2 to 5 mm
diameter
Flakes: a collection of
crystals greater than 4 mm
in diameter. The lower the
temperature the smaller the
flakes
Surface temp must be
<40C for snow to reach
ground

17 99 Flying School _JOAOK

 PRECIPITATION TYPES cont..
Precipitation types Cloud types Comments
Hail CB

Rain (intermittent) Thick AS and SC

Snow (intermittent)
Rain showers Heavy CU and CB
Snow showers

Sleet Mixture of rain & snow or

snow melting in the
descent
Falls when temperature is
between +50C to +60C

18 99 Flying School _JOAOK

 PRECIPITATION TYPES cont..
Precipitation type Cloud type comments

Soft hail or Graupel CB Small rounded pellets of < 5 mm

diameter
Can be the early stage of hail
growth

Ice pellets SC Diameter: <5 mm

Transparent pellets either
spherical or rounded

19 99 Flying School _JOAOK

 DAMAGE BY HAIL
 Can cause substantial damage to a/c
 The table below gives approximate vertical speed needed to
keep hailstone suspended

20 99 Flying School _JOAOK

 DAMAGE BY HAIL cont..
Type of hail Diameter Weight Vertical speed

Small hail < 5 mm 1 gm 10 mps

hail 2 cm 9 gm 20 mps
6 cm 80 gm 30 mps
10 cm 370 gm 40 mps
14 cm 1 kg 70 mps

21 99 Flying School _JOAOK