Why does rain fall at varying speeds?

Question

Why does rain fall at varying speeds? sometimes really gentle and other times extreamly hard.

Answer 1

The primary forces acting on a raindrop are gravity and drag. Gravity acts on the mass of each raindrop to give it weight (W = mg). Drag comes from the atmosphere pushing on the raindrop as it moves through the air.

If the rain were falling in a vacuum, all the drops, no matter their shape or size, would fall to the ground with the same acceleration (g = 32.2 ft/sec^2 on the Earth's surface). Their velocities would vary depending on how high they fell from because v = gt; where v is the velocity of a body accelerating t time units at g acceleration. t, the time to fall, would be greater from greater heights. Higher start altitudes would give the raindrops higher end speeds upon impact with the ground.

But if the rain is falling in an atmosphere, the drag forces can act on each drop to cause a wide variety of end speeds on impact. Up drafts, for example, could slow the raindrops down. Down drafts could speed them up.

One noticeable effect of up drafts is to keep a raindrop in the air so long that it freezes, drops, then gets lifted again, freezes with more ice, and repeats that cycle over and over until the now ice pellet is so heavy (W) it drops through all that up draft and falls to ground as hailstones "the size of softballs".

Answer 2

the rain falls at diff rent speeds because the more condensation or evaporation their is the more the clouds have to hold in the heavier it rains

Answer 3

Height of cloud
Size of raindrops
Downdraft
Wind speed

Answer 4

When you go to the tiolet, some times it gushes, other times it`s
a trickle,

When God goes for a jimmy, it`s the same

Answer 5

'' love duznt come by gazing at each other but by seeing togather at the same direction'!'