Rain with no clouds?

Im sorry i dont know if this is the right area, anyway 4-5 hours ago i was in my garden playing football with my girlfriend and labrador. We played for maybe 30 minutes with the sun going down then all of a sudden it started to spit with rain? i looked up expecting clouds coming our way but the sky was clear? I have no clue how this has happened both my neighbors are very private one is on holiday and the other doesnt do any gardening accept for mowing the lawn so it couldnt of been either of them screwing around with a hose pipe. Has anyone ever heard of this before? ive been trying to figure it out for hours.

I would imagine low density ice crystal in the atmosphere.

A search came up with this.

wiki.answers.com...

"Clouds cover a huge range of physical dimensions, and particle sizes. The particle size range is similar to that from baseballs to planets. Not surprisingly the physics of the clouds varies significantly over such a large particle size range. There are several aspects of cloud physics that we take for granted on Earth, but which are not general. FOR INSTANCE IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE TO HAVE RAIN WITHOUT CLOUDS. Clouds occur on Earth because it is relatively difficult to grow particles to large enough sizes for coalescence to occur. Similarly, significant supersaturations can occur without cloud formation. It is thought that as much as 20% of the upper troposphere of Earth is supersaturated with respect to ice, but clouds are not present due to the difficulty of ice nucleation. Such supersaturated regions may be even more common on cold planets."

Or a bird passing by

I was just thinking about how weird this is yesterday. The sky was mostly blue with a few white puffy clouds (I bet they have a name for those) and WAAAAY off in the distance there were some ominous grey skies. I mean miles and miles away. Started raining while I was in the car. Almost wanted to shoot video of it but thought no one would care

reply to post by Domo1


I was going to do the same thing but with it starting to get dark i doubt my phone would of taken good video

Originally posted by Mianeye
I would imagine low density ice crystal in the atmosphere.

A search came up with this.

wiki.answers.com...

"Clouds cover a huge range of physical dimensions, and particle sizes. The particle size range is similar to that from baseballs to planets. Not surprisingly the physics of the clouds varies significantly over such a large particle size range. There are several aspects of cloud physics that we take for granted on Earth, but which are not general. FOR INSTANCE IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE TO HAVE RAIN WITHOUT CLOUDS. Clouds occur on Earth because it is relatively difficult to grow particles to large enough sizes for coalescence to occur. Similarly, significant supersaturations can occur without cloud formation. It is thought that as much as 20% of the upper troposphere of Earth is supersaturated with respect to ice, but clouds are not present due to the difficulty of ice nucleation. Such supersaturated regions may be even more common on cold planets."

When the rain started it was very light but as the night has progressed it has gotten very heavy at the minute my window is closed and its so heavy i can hear it hitting the ground outside

We get that hear from time to time, sometimes on a clear day. You look up and go WTF?
Glad to know I'm not crazy.

reply to post by LvSLoLo


Without being specific, can you give a geographic area of where you are at? It might help the more scientifically inclined to track down what you experienced.

I hate that when Jets dump their holding tanks. Serving too many drinks on board I guess

Originally posted by rickymouse
I hate that when Jets dump their holding tanks. Serving too many drinks on board I guess

Now there's a horrifying thought...

Rickymouse, you truly are evil to the bone my friend.

Yep, Its a Natural Atmospheric Phenomenon. I've witnessed it Myself on many accounts. I first Witnessed it when i was about 13 years old or so, I was so awed by it that i had to hit the Library and see what the heck was going on.

Many many years before The Internet and Personal Computers.

I can imagine you amazement, As i was when i first witnessed it.

reply to post by ownbestenemy


Im in doncaster england, thorne to be more precise