View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Sandi Hryhor in Blairstown, New Jersey, caught this image of virga – rain that doesn’t reach the ground – with a phone, on March 26, 2022. Sandi wrote: “Taken at the Blairstown airport. It was completely overcast when we left our house 10 miles away, then some sun, then it hailed, and this sky greeted us when we arrived.” Thank you for sharing!
Rain that doesn’t reach the ground
Virga often appears in streaks or shafts extending from the bottoms of clouds. You often see virga over a desert, where low humidity and high temperatures can cause rain to evaporate shortly after being released by clouds. Or you might see virga at high altitudes; in fact, the precipitation often starts out in the form of ice crystals. Virga is commonly seen in the U.S. West and above the Canadian prairies, in the Middle East, Australia and North Africa. At some northerly latitudes, too – as in the photos from Sweden on this page – virga sometimes paints the sky above.
The word virga is derived from Latin meaning “twig” or “branch”.
It’s an especially dramatic sight at sunrise or sunset.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | The June 1, 2019 dawn sky – with a waning crescent moon and (to the moon’s left) the planet Venus – and with virga extending down from the clouds. Photo taken by Mike Lewinski. Those are the Sangre de Cristo mountains near Taos, New Mexico. Thanks, Mike!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Here’s an interesting one, a virga rainbow. Hazel Holby in Willows, California, captured this image on September 29, 2021. She wrote: “I was so surprised to see this rainbow in the rice fields close to sunset. There had been only a trace amount of rain in this part of northern California for months. Can you tell me how this rainbow managed to form? Thank you and love your site!” Thank you, Hazel! Les Cowley of the website Atmospheric Optics said: “This is a broad bow and also of variable width. These suggest that it was made by virga [rain that falls but doesn’t reach the ground] or other very small water droplets in the air. These would not necessarily be seen or felt as rain. The smaller the water drops, the broader the bow. When the drops get down to mist size then we have a fogbow.” Thank you, Les!Jill Whamond captured this virga in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.In Boden in northern Sweden, by Birgit Bodén.Virga over Golden Open Space, New Mexico. Photo via Jay Chapman.Timothy Busch caught this virga at sunset in New Mexico.Susan Jensen captured this image of virga in eastern Washington.Birgit Bodén captured virga during a midnight sunset in the month of June, from northern Sweden.Ron Ratliff caught this virga near Mexican Hat, Utah.Virga over Montana. Photo via Jessica Gutliph Karr.Virga over West Texas. Photo via Deborah Byrd.Virga over Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Photo via Beth Katz.Virga over Sweden in the month of April. Photo via Jorgen Norrland Andersson.
Bottom line: Photos of virga, rain that evaporates before it reaches the ground.
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she was the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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