Rain Cloud Name?
July 1, 2008 1:25 PM   Subscribe

There is a name for a cloud formation that is dropping rain in a vertical "funnel" similar to this photo. The word might be Native American or Arabic, might start with a "Y" and I'm going insane trying to remember it.
posted by atomicmedia to Science & Nature (3 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Rain that falls from clouds but doesn't hit the ground is called virga. I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for, though.
posted by MrVisible at 1:33 PM on July 1, 2008


Response by poster: that may be it, thanks so much...i had only heard it on the radio 2 years ago, so my memory is a bit fuzzy!
posted by atomicmedia at 1:58 PM on July 1, 2008


Best answer: Here's a good image of virga that seems to match yours pretty well.

I heard this term in an astronomy class I had a couple of years back, and the word was so beautiful it stuck with me.
posted by MrVisible at 2:02 PM on July 1, 2008


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