does rain ever fall directly vertical or at an angle?

Question

I was told that rain never falls vertically but always at an angle. is this true? It looks pretty vertical to me!!

Answer 1

its vertical thats how gravity works!, there is usually wind though which will push it to an angle, quite rare to have it perfectly vertical.

Answer 2

Essentially, how rain falls depends on the environment it falls through. If the winds at all levels below cloud base are calm (a very rare situation), the only force acting on the rain is gravity, which causes the rain to fall vertically toward the ground. Since this is a rare setup, most of the time rain falls at least at a slight angle to vertical. The greater the wind below cloud base, the greater the resulting angle from vertical the rain shaft will be oriented.

A substantially slanted rain shaft is often a key sky clue to the potential for strong winds with the rain (though that may not always be the case when the stronger winds are well above the ground).

If interested in learning more about the weather, weather trivia, and how to use real-time internet weather data to anticipate/recognize various weather hazards, refer to http://www.storm-prep.com. Hope this helps...

Answer 3

Its all due to the strength of the wind. Gravity makes things fall vertically down but as a rain drop is quite light and wind can be strong, it may mean that rain fails at an angle. In some cases it may even make the rain look like its moving horizontally.

Answer 4

Rain always falls vertically unless it is blown sideways by the wind, however if there is no wind factor then rain falls at an ever increasing angle depending on how fast you are moving. If you are travelling at the same speed as the rain is falling then the effect is horizontal rain.

Answer 5

Rain falls vertically. The wind determines the direction of the rain. The wind makes the rain fall vertical.

Answer 6

I have also seen horizontal rain, this is caused by a little something called wind... so is rain at an angle. Depending on your viewpoint, rain doesn't really fall vertically as the Earth is round so there's always some slight angle involved ;P

Answer 7

Yes and no, if there was no influence on the raindrop caused by wind, it would fall vertically. But its progress from the cloud would appear to be at an angle because of the rotation of the earth, Corriolise effect, I think it is called, not sure of spelling. The higher the cloud, obviously the further the rain drop will fall, so the point directly below it when it left the cloud, would, when it hits the ground have moved some distance away.

Answer 8

It is wrong! Rain will fall vertically whenever there is no wind at all (near enough to vertical to be indistinguishable).

To be more precise, the path of raindrops is deflected from the vertical by the wind acting on them during their fall, so if a rain drop was given some sideways momentum somewhere in its fall, this could still remain even when if reached a region of still air near the ground. However, air resistance means that the sideways momentum will decrease as a raindrop falls through still air, and passage through a substantial depth of still air will leave a raindrop falling almost perfectly vertically.

Answer 9

The Wind Directs the Rain

Answer 10

Rain can fall vertically. But, it usually falls at an angle due to wind.

Answer 11

Rain falls vertically due to gravity but if there is wind it will adjust the angle of the rainfall. Also, depending on how high up the cloud is, movement of the earth may effect the angle of the rainfall