Not freezing rain, but regular rain. I looked at the current weather for Oshawa, ON, Canada. Temp is 27°F with "light rain", not freezing rain. How is this possible?
2007-02-01 12:13:20 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
The upper atmosphere is warmer than the lower atmosphere therefore it can rain~
2007-02-01 12:16:51 · answer #1 · answered by verime 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's simple, really... first, lets start by changing the 27F to degrees celcius and get out of the stone age... i seriously don't understand you americans... you're so held back...
Anyways, so, 27 F is about -2.8 degrees C... for all you backwards Americans... thats 2.8 degrees below freezing... water does not instantly freeze at the freezing point... water can freeze and melt at varying degrees all around the freezing point... variables such as impurities, movement of water, etc can all cause water to freeze more easily or vice versa.
In this case, the upper atmosphere is likely to be warmer than the air near the ground... that's the easy part... the more difficult part of the question is "what happens once the water reaches the -2.7 degree air near the ground?"
Well, water has a very high specific heat capacity... this means that it takes A LOT of energy to change the temperature of water. So, if the temperature of the upper atmosphere is significantly warmer than the lower atmosphere, then the rain water may be (relatively) so warm that it simply cannot freeze instantly. What is likely to happen though, is the temp will drop overnight, freezing the wet snow and ground left after the rain.
2007-02-01 15:55:39 · answer #2 · answered by Canadian Scientist 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the temperature in the upper atmosphere (where the rain forms) is above freezing, but the temperature at the surface of the earth is below freezing.
2007-02-01 12:16:12 · answer #3 · answered by Ken M 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It isn't. If it's really 27 degrees, it's going to freeze when it hits the ground, even if it doesn't freeze on the way down. Hence, it will be "freezing rain" no matter what those talking heads on TV say it is.
2007-02-01 12:17:11 · answer #4 · answered by texasjewboy12 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The ground is probably above freezing
2007-02-01 12:39:27 · answer #5 · answered by Justin 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Should be snow at that temp.
2007-02-03 10:27:12 · answer #6 · answered by Jeremy© ® ™ 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
typo on the weather persons behalf !
2007-02-01 12:16:16 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋