2007-01-04 15:07:56 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
If you are talking about the chance of precipitation, then the answer is "Yes." You can have a 10% chance and still get precipitation. What these predictions mean is that historically when the weather conditions have been that way there has been precipitation N% of the the time.
2007-01-04 15:19:47 · answer #1 · answered by Magic One 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your wording is a bit confusing. Do you mean less than 50% chance of precipitation, or less than 50% humidity?
Chance of precipitation depends on the conditions where you are, and a forecast of less than 50% chance of precipitation (snow, sleet, [freezing] rain, etc.) just means that the computer data used for the forecast suggests less than 50% chance. But, of course, the "best" forecast is still just an educated guess, and the forecast itself doesn't determine what, if anything, will fall from the clouds.
Humidity, on the other hand, is a measure of how much moisture the air can hold. There would have to be extreme difference in the air conditions between the ground and the upper atmosphere to lead to rain or other precip with less than 50% humidity. That, or somebody's measuring instruments are broken.
2007-01-04 23:51:42 · answer #2 · answered by bryan2001x 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Rain IS a form of precipitation. So are snow, hail and freezing rain.
You are referring to relative humidity, which is an expression of the amount of water that the air can hold in vapor form at any given temperature. The higher the relative humidity, the greater the chance of precipitation.
Precipitation is the result of the temperature dropping to the extent that the air can no longer hold the water vapor or hold it easily. That water vapor, however. also needs some particulate matter in the air around which it can coalese.
I have no recollection of precipitation with a relative humidity of less than 50%.
2007-01-04 23:18:10 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
According to sources like the one below, when you see 30% chance of rain, it means that under those conditions, 30% of the time there is rain.
2007-01-04 23:19:02 · answer #4 · answered by eric l 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The percentage is the viewing area of the T.V. station you are watching not a 50 / 50 shot of raining at your house..
2007-01-04 23:10:06 · answer #5 · answered by Laura J 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
POP stands for probability of percipitation, so therefore refers to a chance that it'll rain/snow/hail/sleet... sometimes the meterologists are right, sometimes not.
2007-01-04 23:16:42 · answer #6 · answered by spacey_post 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hell yes. Ever been to Texas? It floods at 20%.
2007-01-04 23:15:13 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
It does in Montana.
2007-01-04 23:54:03 · answer #8 · answered by Susan M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋