Shower (precipitation)

Shower in Reignier-Esery, Haute-Savoie, France.

A shower is a mode of precipitation characterized by an abrupt start and end and by rapid variations in intensity. Often strong and short-lived, it comes from convective clouds, like cumulus congestus. A shower will produce rain if the temperature is above the freezing point in the cloud, or snow / ice pellets / snow pellets / hail if the temperature is below it at some point.[1] In a meteorological observation, such as the METAR, they are noted SH giving respectively SHRA, SHSN, SHPL, SHGS and SHGR.[2][3]

  1. ^ "Shower". AMS Glossary. American Meteorological Society. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  2. ^ Meteorological Service of Canada. "METAR Study Guide". meteocentre.com. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  3. ^ Meteorological Service of Canada (2013). MANOBS (PDF). Environment and Climate Change Canada. p. 148. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-03-13.