Rain By Any Other Name

Last week in a post about Bread Pudding and the PDX Blogger Bake Sale, I mentioned that Portlanders have more than twenty names for precipitation, based on amount, intensity, consistency and duration.  Most native residents can identify them all. (That’s how we weed out the Californians.)  A few folks challenged my statement, accusing me of hyperbole, so I have no option but post this in reply.  And before you say, “Hey, you’re just adding adjectives to the same word,” let me tell you that any Portlander over the age of three can tell you the difference between Light Drizzle and Heavy Drizzle while standing on one webbed foot with their eyes closed.  Anyway, these are the names for Pacific Northwest Precipitation that I can think of off the top of my head.  Some are official meteorological terms and some are colloquialisms. I am certain there are more.

If you can think others, please comment below.  If you know that your term originated outside the Pacific Northwest (like, say London) please make a note.  Either way, I will add them to the list.  You never know when some budding meteorologist will be stumble onto this blog.

Precipitation in Liquid Form:

1. Fog
2. Heavy Fog
3. Freezing Fog*
4. Mist
5. Heavy Mist
6. Light Drizzle
7. Drizzle
8. Heavy Drizzle
9. Freezing Drizzle*
10. Light Sprinkles
11. Sprinkles
12. Light Showers
13. Showers
14. Heavy Showers
15. Light Rain
16. Rain
17. Heavy Rain
18. Freezing Rain*
19. Rain Storms
20. Downpour
21. Pouring Rain
22. Pelting Rain
23. Thundershowers
24. Thunderstorms

Precipitation in Solid Form:

1. Hail
2. Sleet
3. Snow Flurries
4. Light Snow
5. Snow
6. Snow Showers
7. Heavy Snow (Admittedly, Mid-Westerners would laugh at what we call “Heavy Snow” here in the PNW.)

* This is listed as a liquid because it doesn’t actually freeze until it hits the ground.

Common Phrases about Precipitation in the Pacific Northwest:

• Partly cloudy with a chance of showers
• Heavy Showers with intermittent sun-breaks

Want to learn more about the weather in the PNW?  Check out a few of my favorite Weather Guessers:

• Matt Zaffino [KGW]
• Rhonda Shelby [KATU]
• Dave Salesky [KATU]
• Andy Carson [KPTV]
• Stephanie Kralevich [KPTV]
• Jim Bosley [In Memoriam]  If you grew up in Portland in the 60’s, 70’s or ’80’s, chances are you learned most of what you know today about weather from a man named Jim Bosley.   He died in early April some years ago.  There is almost an 100% chance that it was raining here in Portland that day.