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Name: Rick
Status: other
Grade: other
Location: IL
Country: N/A
Date: 3/24/2005
Question:
How fast does average rain drops fall? Does size matter? What about the height of the cloud? Does the altitude of the ground matter?

Replies:
Dear Rick-

The terminal velocity of raindrops is somewhere between 5 and 20 mph. All of the conditions you mentioned can be factors affecting the velocity. For an excellent discussion on this subject, visit this link:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/wonderquest/2001-12-19-rain-drops.htm

Wendell Bechtold, meteorologist
Forecaster, National Weather Service
Weather Forecast Office, St. Louis, MO

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