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virga Wisps or streaks of water or ice particles falling out of a cloud but evaporating before reaching the earth's surface as precipitation. Virga is frequently seen trailing from altocumulus and altostratus clouds, but also is discernible below the bases of high-level cumuliform clouds from which precipitation is falling into a dry subcloud layer. It typically exhibits a hooked form in which the streaks descend nearly vertically just under the precipitation source but appear to be almost horizontal at their lower extremities. Such curvature of virga can be produced simply by effects of strong vertical windshear, but ordinarily it results from the fact that droplet or crystal evaporation decreases the particle terminal fall velocity near the ends of the streaks. Also called Fallstreifen, fall streaks, precipitation trails, cloud filaments and mare's tails. See also cloud classification. Compare with praecipitatio, which is the similar cloud feature when the precipitation does reach the ground.

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