Virga Rain...NOW This...is Cool

Virga is rain that doesn’t reach the ground
earthsky.org...





There are more pictures in the link above..

Virga often appears in streaks or shafts extending from the bottoms of clouds. You often see virga over a desert, where low humidity and high temperatures can cause rain to evaporate shortly after being released by clouds. Or you might see virga at high altitudes; in fact, the precipitation often starts out in the form of ice crystals. Virga is commonly seen in the U.S. West and above the Canadian Prairies, in the Middle East, Australia and North Africa. At some northerly latitudes, too – as in the photos from Sweden on this page – virga sometimes paints the sky above.

The word virga is derived from Latin meaning “twig” or “branch”.

It’s an especially dramatic sight at sunrise or sunset.

Now for me everytime I saw the drizzle effect under the clouds I was thinking man, those people underneath it are getting dumped on! Or, that farm land is getting a good crop soaking! Or that just plainly looks cool

So after stumbling upon this, and as a skywatcher, I will continue to be observant of mother nature's beauty Hope you guys learned something new from this! Cheers

SW2011

I was expecting something totally different. I thought the title said "Viagra" lol..

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

That is neat. I never knew this was a thing.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Thank you for pointing that out...I changed the title to prevent this confusion lol

Cool pilot weather terms...cat....virga.....scud......squall.....squall line, with scud meaning low puff clouds that dissolve

disagree on the word meaning as 'twig'.

IIRC Virga is a variation of Virgin, in that the rain never actually touches ground.