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Rainfall vs Cloudburst - What's the difference?

rainfall | cloudburst | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between rainfall and cloudburst

is that rainfall is the amount of rain that falls on a single occasion while cloudburst is a sudden heavy rainstorm.

rainfall

English

Noun

  • (meteorology) the amount of rain that falls on a single occasion
  • Derived terms

    * effective rainfall * excess rainfall * excessive rainfall * initial rainfall * inversion of rainfall * orographic rainfall * point rainfall * rainfall component * rainfall distribution * rainfall duration * rainfall effectiveness * rainfall excess * rainfall frequency * rainfall intensity * rainfall intensity area curve * rainfall intensity-duration curve * rainfall intensity-duration-frequency curve * rainfall intensity frequency * rainfall intensity pattern * rainfall intensity return period * rainfall inversion * rainfall loss * rainfall rate * rainfall regime * rainfall station * rate-of-rainfall gauge * residual rainfall *

    cloudburst

    Alternative forms

    * cloud-burst

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A sudden heavy rainstorm.
  • * 1899 , , "A Cup of Cold Water" in The Greater Inclination :
  • [B]ut the sound . . . expressed an utter abandonment to grief; not the cloud-burst of some passing emotion, but the slow down-pour of a whole heaven of sorrow.
  • * 1908 , , The Riverman , ch. 38:
  • A cloudburst in the China Creek district followed by continued heavy rains was responsible for the increased water.
  • * 1936 Aug. 17, " Miscellany," Time (retrieved 20 May 2014):
  • In Uniontown, Pa., John Walchesky & family rushed from their house when lightning set it afire, rushed in again when a cloudburst put out the blaze.
  • * 2007 Feb. 25, , " Devotion'', chapter 1" (book excerpt), ''New York Times (retrieved 20 May 2014):
  • [H]e walked across the lawn, wet from a fleeting late-afternoon cloudburst , the first rain in a month.

    Synonyms

    * cloudbust