Air-mass Thunderstorm - Convective Precipitation

Convective Precipitation

Convective rain, or showery precipitation, occurs from cumulonimbus clouds. It falls as showers with rapidly changing intensity. Convective precipitation falls over a certain area for a relatively short time, as convective clouds such as thunderstorms have limited horizontal extent. Most precipitation in the tropics appears to be convective. Graupel and hail are good indicators of convective precipitation and thunderstorms. In mid-latitudes, convective precipitation is intermittent and often associated with baroclinic boundaries such as cold fronts, squall lines, and warm fronts. High rainfall rates are associated with thunderstorms with larger raindrops. Heavy rainfall leads to fading of microwave transmissions starting above the frequency of 10 gigahertz (GHz), but is more severe above frequencies of 15 GHz.