How are light, moderate, or extreme rains classified?

Rains, enhanced by Cyclone Yaku, have been causing havoc in the country: floods, overflowings and landslides, which have taken lives and have left thousands of people literally on the streets. But what are rains? How to know if they are light or extreme?

The rainy season, which began in September, has left 71 deaths and 57 injured, as well as 12,200 displaced and 49,100 affected. Meanwhile, there are 21,682 affected houses and 3,173 uninhabitable, especially in the north of the country, according to figures from the National Emergency Operations Center (COEN) on March 11.

The World Meteorological Organization indicates that rain is the precipitation of liquid water particles, with a diameter greater than 0.5 millimeters or smaller drops, but very dispersed.

HOW ARE RAINS GENERATED?

Rain can originate in different types of clouds, generally nimbostratus and cumulonimbus, and depends on three factors: atmospheric pressure, temperature, and especially atmospheric humidity. Water can return to the earth, also in the form of snow or hail, explains the Andina agency based on information from the World Meteorological Organization. The entity points out that if rain does not reach the earth's surface, it would not be rain, but virga, and if the diameter is less than 0.5 millimeters, it would be drizzle. Rain is measured in liters fallen per square meter.

HOW ARE RAINS CLASSIFIED?

The intensity of rain is defined as the amount of water that falls per unit of time in a specific place. Know how they are classified:

• Light or weak rains: whose intensity is equal to or less than 2 millimeters per hour.
• Moderate rains: are those whose intensity ranges from 2 millimeters up to being equal to or less than 15 millimeters per hour.
• Extreme rains: there are those that are considered strong, because their intensity is between 15 and 30 millimeters per hour. There are also very strong ones (intensity between 30 and 60 millimeters per hour) and torrential, whose intensity exceeds 60 millimeters per hour.

WHAT ARE THE DANGERS OF RAIN?

When rains are intense, they contribute to the occurrence of natural disasters such as the activation of ravines, landslides, rockfalls, floods, and excessive increase in river flow, causing overflows that end up causing serious personal and material damage with significant economic losses.