2007-04-20 01:15:43 · 9 answers · asked by rainbowlittle 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
Unless you're in the tropics, rain starts out as ice crystals (snow).
Also, some of the rain evaporates on the way down. It takes energy to evaporate, so the surrounding air cools. This makes the air mass that the rain is in cooler than the surrounding air. So the air is also cooler than before it rained.
Thirdly, in very strong storms, some of the rain is melted hail. This is usually the method of producing large, cold raindrops.
2007-04-20 03:15:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The rain in some cases is the same as the air temperature. It feels colder than the air, because it is more dense than air. Imagine a 75 degree sunny day compared to swimming in a 75 degree pool. The pool would feel pretty cold, but the air would feel comfortable.
Rain can be cooler than the air in many cases as well. The primary reason for rain being colder is due to the process of evaporational cooling. This occurs when the air in not saturated with moisture. There are 2 terms rgarding this, one is the dew point temp., which is the temperature an air mass would need to in order to acheive 100% humidity. Another term is the wet bulb temp. This is the temperature the air mass could lower to as a result of rain falling through and evaporating.
An easy way to see this process in action is to pour alcohol on your skin. It will cool your skin due to it evaporating.
This is why we sweat too! The sweat evaporates in an effort to lower your body temp. If you sweat in a humid aimass it is much harder to cool of since the sweat does not evaporate as fast as if the air was dry.
Kinda wordy...there are many examples of reasons for the rain cooling and/or feeling cool. I hope I didn't confuse you!
*The Meteorologist's answers here are correct, but unless your eight year old is a scientist I doubt explaining Laspe Rates will offer much understanding :) I've tried to offer simple illustrations that can be understood more easily.
2007-04-20 09:37:47 · answer #2 · answered by Robert B 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Two reasons:
1. Air temperature is almost always cooler than body temperature so, with the rain being at air temperature, it naturally feels cooler than the body.
2. When the rain comes in contact with your son's warm body, it wants to evaporate. Evaporation means the water is warming and thus it pulls heat from his body and feels cold on his skin.
2007-04-20 08:24:14 · answer #3 · answered by Joan H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dear Rainbowl - It is due entirely to the temperature at which the rain drop forms. The standard lapse rate in the troposphere is 6.5 C/km. So you can see how quickly the temperature drops with altitude.
2007-04-20 16:25:20 · answer #4 · answered by 1ofSelby's 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The reason why rain is cold is because it passes through parts in the atmosphere that is really cold.
2007-04-21 08:58:33 · answer #5 · answered by Justin 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because the higher you go, the cooler it gets and rain is formed in the sky where it is cooler so the rain will be cold.
2007-04-20 08:22:02 · answer #6 · answered by nats 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not an expert but I would assume that it is becasue it is colder up where the clouds are.
2007-04-20 08:18:11 · answer #7 · answered by Rocketman 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It IS because it is colder where the clouds are.
2007-04-20 08:19:31 · answer #8 · answered by Bill W 【ツ】 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its not cold, it just has less heat
2007-04-20 09:51:51 · answer #9 · answered by ennairb 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋