Why does it rain more in the winter than in the summer?

Question

I know this sounds like a bit of a silly question, but what is the actual reason?

I mean the UK.. I did say it was a silly question but no need to give stupid answers!!

Answer 1

what are you, nuts?

Answer 2

If your location has the majority of it's rain in the winter like California,U.S.A. , then that's probably the reason why. But it actually rains more in the summertime. This is due to more humidity in the atmosphere. Humidity is water vapor in the atmosphere. When the Humidity is near 100% and the Dew Point is the near or the same as the air temperature. [Dew Point is the temperature at which precipitation starts to fall (Precipitation is rain, snow,sleet, hail and freezing rain)]. So if the Dew Point is near or the same as the air temperature it starts to rain. So to make a long story short rain falls more in the summer due to large amounts of water vapor in the atmosphere.

Answer 3

Don't feel bad, I used to think the same thing... I grew up in Michigan, where it snowed all winter which is the basic same principle as rain...

I've read on www.weather.com that it's due to the drops in temperatures and changes in Barometric pressure that makes water droplets in the sky start to stick together. when this happens, it rains. Normally, (in America) our Summer is hot and winter is cold... it's the opposite in Australia and some other places... but the concept is still the same... when it's hot, water evaporates and becomes a gas... when it cools down and pressure get greater, the gas clumps together forming a heavier substance and falls back down to earth as rain, snow, ice, hail, whatever....

Answer 4

In clouds there are little drops of water that has a length about 8 and 15 mm of diameter. It depends of type of cloud.

So pressure and temperature will cause that little drops of water to fall by condensating the water vapor at atmosfere.

Waterdrops fell because of its weight at a velocity between 4 and 8 m/s according to wind, and its size vary from 0.7 to 5 mm.

In few words, rain depends in humidity conditions, that is why in some places it rains more in summer (for example in tropical places) than in winter.

You need clouds, and humidity conditions in order to have rain.

Good luck.
MariLuz

Answer 5

Because it is so much hotter in the summer, surely the heat should evaporate more water than in winter, when it is much colder.During the summer, when it is hotter, evaporation does occur at a faster rate. The reason that you don't see an increase in cloud formation or rain is that warmer air can hold more water vapour.This happens more frequently in winter because more cold fronts occur. Also, both temperature and water vapour pressure are higher in summer, which means fewer clouds because fewer water molecules condense. And because the diffusion of the water molecules is proportional to the temperature, warm molecules can spread easily without forming clouds.

Answer 6

As you have found from your readers it rains more in the summer. The reason? Unequal heating of the earth's surface and the availability of moisture produces convective clouds, thunderstorms, and plenty of rain. Look at the following web page which shows a graph of rain amount by month. Plug in most any city you would like and look at the same graph.

http://www.wunderground.com/NORMS/DisplayNORMS.asp?AirportCode=KDCA&SafeCityName=Upper_Marlboro&StateCode=MD&Units=none&IATA=DCA

Answer 7

not true especially this summer just gone but generally there is more rain in winter as there are more low pressure,s in winter which generate rain and in the summer there are more high pressure,s which keep the low pressures away well that's apart from this summer just gone

Answer 8

I would think that it rains more in the summer. The most rain hits between may and august in New Orleans. I do not know the reason for this though sorry.

Answer 9

I'm not sure where you live, but here in Michigan it doesn't rain in the winter & we get most of our rain at the beginning & end of the summer.

Answer 10

in the summer, its hot, so the rain is still a gas. but in the winter its cold so the rain gas starts to rise higher in the sky, but its even colder there so it turns to water which comes down as rain.

Answer 11

dont let peoples answeres of being hot in summer = less rain. i grew up in africa and we had a summer rainy season (when it bothered to rain)

i think it rains in winter mroe here just to depress us!