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What's this kind of rain?



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
"rain" vs "rainfall" | Usage of "changing room"
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What's this kind of rain? #1 (permalink) Tue Jun 17, 2008 18:02 pm   What's this kind of rain?
 

Hi,

What can we call the kind of rain that has not only water but also ice cube? I don't know in which part of the world this kind of rain is common, but I've heard that there used to be this kind of rain in my country Laughing (I've never seen it, though Very Happy )

Can it be called a cloudburst? Razz
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What's this kind of rain? #2 (permalink) Tue Jun 17, 2008 18:11 pm   What's this kind of rain?
 

Are you referring to "hail"? That's a summer-type rain storm because the ice forms very high up in that atmosphere. Hail can be small, the size of peas, or quite large - I've heard of, but never seen, baseball-sized hail! Hail can damage crops, dent cars, and of course be hazardous to people!

If you are talking about winter-type rain/ice, that can be freezing rain or sleet. (Freezing rain bounces when it lands; sleet just makes a lot of ice.)
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What's this kind of rain? #3 (permalink) Tue Jun 17, 2008 18:39 pm   What's this kind of rain?
 

Hi Barb
I've experienced the car-denting kind of hail on a number of occasions -- all of them in Germany.

Hi Nessie
To me a cloudburst is a sudden, heavy downpour of rain -- usually of short duration, and with no ice involved.
.
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What's this kind of rain? #4 (permalink) Tue Jun 17, 2008 19:19 pm   What's this kind of rain?
 

Thanks a lot, Barb and Amy Smile

I think "hail" is the right word because I'm asking about summer-type rain (I don't know if there is really any hail in Vietnam but anyway, never is there any snow here Razz)
Now I just have one more question: does the word "hail" refer to the ice balls or the rain itself?

Many thanks
Nessie
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Sad... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. Sad

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...
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What's this kind of rain? #5 (permalink) Tue Jun 17, 2008 19:24 pm   What's this kind of rain?
 

Hi Nessie

Hail is ice.
During the height of a hailstorm, you probably won't have (or notice) any liquid precipitation at all. I suppose it's possible that there could be a mix of rain (water) and ice toward the end of a hailstorm.
.
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What's this kind of rain? #6 (permalink) Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:03 am   What's this kind of rain?
 

in Belarus we call it 'rain and hail', you see, we separate them Smile
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What's this kind of rain? #7 (permalink) Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:04 am   What's this kind of rain?
 

I found it in Longman dictionary: frozen rain drops which fall as hard balls of ice
heavy showers of rain and hail
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What's this kind of rain? #8 (permalink) Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:05 am   What's this kind of rain?
 

And in Nigeria we say "Look, it's hailstoning". Do you all have the verb?
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What's this kind of rain? #9 (permalink) Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:07 am   What's this kind of rain?
 

No, we don't have. Smile
But in English it can be 'it's hailing'?
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What's this kind of rain? #10 (permalink) Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:16 am   What's this kind of rain?
 

Inga wrote:
No, we don't have. Smile
But in English it can be 'it's hailing'?


OK.
Molly
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What's this kind of rain? #11 (permalink) Wed Jun 18, 2008 16:15 pm   What's this kind of rain?
 

So "hail" refers to the ice, not the rain? And if we want to talk about the rain, we must use "hailstorm"? Uhm... is it really ok to use "hailstorm" even if the rain is not very heavy?
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Sad... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. Sad

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...
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What's this kind of rain? #12 (permalink) Wed Jun 18, 2008 16:36 pm   What's this kind of rain?
 

nessie wrote:
So "hail" refers to the ice, not the rain?
Right

nessie wrote:
And if we want to talk about the rain, we must use "hailstorm"?
Wrong. We use the word rainstorm when it's raining heavily, and hailstorm when it's hailing.

nessie wrote:
Uhm... is it really ok to use "hailstorm" even if the rain is not very heavy?
No, if a storm is a mix of rain and something else, then it's usually described that way (i.e. as a 'storm' with a 'mix of rain and hail' or a 'mix of sleet and rain', etc..)
.
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What's this kind of rain? #13 (permalink) Wed Jun 18, 2008 17:30 pm   What's this kind of rain?
 

Thanks a lot, Amy Smile

So... can we say "a light hailstorm" to refer to a hailstorm which is not very heavy?
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Sorry seems to be the hardest word...
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