Rain shadow deserts are created when mountain ranges lie parallel to moist, coastal areas . Prevailing winds moving inland cool as air is forced to rise over the mountains. Carried moisture falls on slopes facing the winds. When the winds move over the crest and down the far side, they are very dry.
What is a rain shadow and what creates it?
A rain shadow is a patch of land that has been forced to become a desert because mountain ranges blocked all plant-growing, rainy weather . On one side of the mountain, wet weather systems drop rain and snow. ... Cool air forms clouds, which drop rain and snow, as it rises up a mountain.
What is a rain shadow example?
A rain shadow is a dry area on one side of a mountain or mountain range. ... Examples of rain shadows include the east side of the Rocky Mountains in the United States , the Atacama Desert in Chile (caused by the Andes), and the Gobi desert in Mongolia (caused by the Himalayas).
How does the rain shadow effect happen?
The sharp contrast in vegetation is called the rain shadow effect. ... Moisture condenses and falls as rain or snow on the windward slopes . The air that crests the mountaintop warms and dries as it heads down the leeward slopes, leaving them dry and making vegetation sparse.
What elements are needed to create a rain shadow effect?
Rain shadows are dry areas on the backsides of mountains. As all tall structures do, the mountain creates a shadow, yet in this case it’s a shadow of dryness. To create this effect, a climate needs three essential elements: the ocean, wind, and a mountain range to block the air .
What is the biggest rain shadow?
In the United States, the biggest rain shadow is just east of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges , covering most of western Washington, eastern Oregon, Nevada and Utah. Death Valley is one of the driest places on Earth because it is in the rain shadow of the two mountain ranges.
What is the opposite of a rain shadow?
A rain shadow region is the leeward side which is opposite to the windward side .
What is rain shadow in a sentence?
The east side of the mountains produce a rain shadow , creating an extremely arid environment. As the air descends the lee side of the mountain, it warms and dries, creating a rain shadow. Rainfall is quite low as it is in the rain shadow of mountains to the west and southwest.
Why a rain shadow area is generally dry?
A rain shadow is a dry region of land on the side of a mountain range that is protected from the prevailing winds . ... This dry air produces a rain shadow. Land in a rain shadow is typically very dry and receives much less precipitation and cloud cover than land on the windward side of the mountain range.
What is the first step in the formation of a rain shadow?
This occurs when mountains block rainfall from getting to the other side of the mountain range, casting a “shadow” of warm, dry, air. This occurs when rising moist air cools and molecules clump together . When water does this from the oceans, the vapor is picked up by winds and pushed toward land.
Where is a rain shadow effect most likely to occur?
Rain shadows are common on the western coast of the United States , where mountain ranges run parallel to the coast and perpendicular to the prevailing winds coming off the Pacific Ocean.
What is the role of convection in producing the rain shadow effect?
What is the role of convection in producing the rain shadow effect? warm air/water both rise, produce convection currents , etc. The intense sunlight at the equator is absorbed by the earth’s surface, causing it to give off heat and warm the air above it.
Where the most weather changes occur?
Weather is different in different parts of the world and changes over minutes, hours, days and weeks. Most weather happens in the troposphere , the part of Earth’s atmosphere that is closest to the ground.
What is rain shadow Class 9?
A rain shadow area is an area of dry land that lies on the leeward(or downwind) side of a mountain . High mountains act as barriers for cold or hot winds; they may also cause precipitation if they are high enough and lie in the path of rain-bearing winds. The leeward side of the mountains remains dry.
What produces the rain shadow effect quizlet?
? An area having relatively little precipitation due to the effect of a topographic barrier, especially a mountain range , that causes the prevailing winds to lose their moisture on the windward side, causing the leeward side to be dry.
What is orographic rainfall?
Orographic precipitation, rain, snow, or other precipitation produced when moist air is lifted as it moves over a mountain range . As the air rises and cools, orographic clouds form and serve as the source of the precipitation, most of which falls upwind of the mountain ridge.
