Rain in a rain forest help?

Question

If there are very low amounts of wind in the tropics and near the equator, and with out wind you cant have rain ( on land at least ) then how do tropical rain forests recive so much rain ( over 100 inches of rain yearly ).

Answer 1

The equatorial region which lies in the tropics is a low pressure belt.Here the winds from both the hemisphere (trade winds) meet due to which convergence takes place resulting in vertical movement of the air(convection).As the air in this region is warm and humid clouds form as the air rises.Only vertical movement of the air is required for the formation of clouds and the horizontal movement of air(wind)need not me much.
The fact that the wind is light in this region is an apparent one only.Strong trade winds meet each other from opposite directions and cancel each other resulting in light winds.

Answer 2

There usually is some wind somewhere in the atmosphere where it is raining. That is necessary to continue providing moisture. The wind does not need to be strong, even a few mph can be sufficient. Also you could have stronger winds off the surface. To get rain you must have rising air with a sufficient amount of moisture (which the tropics for the most part have plenty) that condensation results. One way to get a parcel of air to rise is to heat it and make it more buoyant, and the Sun is pretty good at doing this in the tropics.

Most tropical rain forests exist in the area known as the intertropical convergence zone. In this area the trade winds converge and result in a lot of lifting of air and subsequent rainfall.