What does rain shadow mean?
Definitions for rain shadow
rain shad·ow
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word rain shadow.
Princeton's WordNet
rain shadownoun
an area that has little precipitation because some barrier causes the winds to lose their moisture before reaching it
Wiktionary
rain shadownoun
an area of diminished precipitation on the lee side of mountains
Wikipedia
Rain shadow
A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is carried by the prevailing onshore breezes towards the drier and hotter inland areas. When encountering elevated landforms, the moist air is driven upslope towards the peak, where it expands, cools, and its moisture condenses and starts to precipitate. If the landforms are tall and wide enough, most of the humidity will be lost to precipitation over the windward side (also known as the rainward side) before ever making it past the top. As the air descends the leeward side of the landforms, it is compressed and heated, producing foehn winds that absorb moisture downslope and cast a broad "shadow" of dry climate region behind the mountain crests. This climate typically takes the form of shrub–steppe, xeric shrublands or even deserts. The condition exists because warm moist air rises by orographic lifting to the top of a mountain range. As atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing altitude, the air has expanded and adiabatically cooled to the point that the air reaches its adiabatic dew point (which is not the same as its constant pressure dew point commonly reported in weather forecasts). At the adiabatic dew point, moisture condenses onto the mountain and it precipitates on the top and windward sides of the mountain. The air descends on the leeward side, but due to the precipitation it has lost much of its moisture. Typically, descending air also gets warmer because of adiabatic compression (as with foehn winds) down the leeward side of the mountain, which increases the amount of moisture that it can absorb and creates an arid region.
ChatGPT
rain shadow
A rain shadow is a dry area on the side of a mountainous region that is sheltered from prevailing winds and receives less rainfall than the area on the windward side. This phenomenon occurs because the mountain range blocks rain-producing weather systems, causing them to drop most of their moisture before reaching the leeward side.
Wikidata
Rain shadow
A rain shadow is a dry area on the lee back side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them. As shown by the diagram to the right, the incoming warm and moist air is "pulled" by the prevailing winds towards the top of the mountains where it condenses and precipitates before it crosses the top. The air, without much moisture left, advances behind the mountains creating a drier side called "rain shadow."
Matched Categories
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of rain shadow in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of rain shadow in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4
Translations for rain shadow
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"rain shadow." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/rain+shadow>.
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