Convectional Rainfall

Convectional Rainfall
Here the air rises because the ground heats it,
It rises in warm currents.
We call these convectional currents
So we call the rain convectional rainfall.

  1. The sun warms the ground... which then warms the air above it.
  2. Currents of warm air rises.
  3. The rising air cools. The water vapour condenses. Clouds form.
IT RAINS

Relief Rainfall
Wind is moving air.
When the wind meets a line of high hills or mountains, there’s only one way to go – up! So the air rises and cools - and we get rain. We call it relief Rainfall
  1. Warm moist air arrives from the Atlantic Ocean.
  2. The air is forced to rise.
  3. The rising air cools. The water vapour condenses. Clouds form. IT RAINS
  4. The rain falls on the windward side of the mountain. The leeward side stays dry.

Frontal Rainfall
Huge blocks of air called air masses move around the Earth.
When a warm air mass meets a cold one the warm air is forced to rise. So we get rain. This is Frontal Rainfall.
Frontal rain can fall anywhere, since air masses can travel anywhere. But in the UK, they often arrive in from the Atlantic Ocean. So the west of the UK gets loads of rain.
  1. A warm air mass meets a cold air mass.
  2. The warm air mass slides up over the cold one, or gets driven up by it.
  3. The rising air cools. The water vapour condenses. Clouds form. It rains.