ASK THE METEOROLOGIST
“Why does it rain on one side of the street but not the other?”
Laura, White City
This is a question we may ask ourselves when we are in desperate need of rainfall. Our neighbor across the street tells us he got two tenths of an inch, but our rain gauge has gotten barely a trace! Well, know that this might be happening for a couple of reasons.
Sometimes, it simply rains on one side of the street and the rain stops in just a matter of a minute or two, leaving the other side dry. Remember, everything has a beginning and an end, even rainfall. Also, showers are sometimes very localized and isolated, causing it to rain maybe only over a few acres.
Another possibility is that the steering winds in the mid-levels of the atmosphere are very light. That means that once a storm or shower pops up, it may start raining and end all in the same spot because the storm is not being pushed in any certain direction by the winds. This occurs relatively often in the summertime when we get pop up thunderstorms.
Great question, Laura!
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Chief Meteorologist Kate McKenna