Marine Glossary

|| || || || ||

precipitation

1. Any or all forms of water particles, whether liquid or solid, that fall from the atmosphere and reach the ground. It is distinguished from cloud, fog, dew, rime. frost, etc., in that it must "fall"; and it is distinguished from cloud and virga in that it must reach the ground. Precipitation includes drizzle, rain, snow, snow pellets, snow grains, ice crystals, ice pellets, and hail.

2. The amount, usually expressed in inches of liquid water depth, of the water substance that has fallen at a given point over a specified period of time. The worldwide average for annual fall over oceans is 44 inches; for land it is 28 inches. One of the driest regions is Arcia, Chile with a fall of less than 0.02 inches and the wettest location is Mount Waialeale on Kauai, Hawaii with an annual rain fall of 490 inches.