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 dryer side called "rain shadow."
Read more about Rain Shadow: Description, Regions of Notable Rain Shadow
Famous quotes containing the words rain and/or shadow:
“Tasting of the sweet damp woods and of the rain one inch above the meadow:
It was like feasting upon air.”
—William Jay Smith (b. 1918)
“The vanishing volatile froth of the present which any shadow will alter, any thought blow away, any event annihilate, is every moment converted into the Adamantine Record of the past.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)