Virga
| Part of a series on |
| Weather |
|---|
 Weather portal |
In
temperate climates. In North America, it is commonly seen in the Western United States and the Canadian Prairies. It is also very common in the Middle East, Australia, and North Africa
.
Virgae can cause varying weather effects because, as
microburst which can be extremely hazardous to aviation. Conversely, precipitation evaporating at high altitude can compressionally heat as it falls, and result in a gusty downburst which may substantially and rapidly warm the surface temperature. This fairly rare phenomenon, a heat burst
, also tends to be of exceedingly dry air.
Virgae also have a role in seeding
nucleation particles for the next thunderhead cloud to begin forming.[citation needed
]
Etymology
The word is derived from the Latin virga, meaning rod, sprig, staff, branch, shoot, twig, spray, sprout, switch or graft.
Extraterrestrial occurrences
See also
- Fallstreak hole
- Precipitation shaft
- Sun pillar
References
- ISBN 1-878220-34-9. Archived from the originalon 2011-06-06.
- ^ "Planet Venus: Earth's 'evil twin'". BBC News. 7 November 2005.
- ^ "NASA Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow, Soil Data Suggest Liquid Past". 2008-09-29. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virga (meteorology).
Look up virga in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- National Science Digital Library - Virga
- "Viewing the Vagaries and Verities of Virga" Alistair B. Fraser and Craig F. Bohren, Department of Meteorology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 2 November 1992 and 25 January 1993.