Where does rain come from?

Have you ever watched rain tap on a window? Pitter, patter, the drops slide down the glass. Maybe you have felt cool rain land right on your nose.

The rain falls from the sky above you. But where does all that water come from? Let's find out together.

Think about all the water down on the ground. It fills the sea, the rivers and the puddles. All that water is where rain begins its journey.

The sun shines on that water and warms it. Warm water slowly rises into the air in tiny bits, too small to see. So the water goes up, up, up, and you never notice.

Far above the rooftops, the air is cold. The cold air cools those tiny bits of water. They gather into droplets, which means very tiny drops of water.

So many droplets crowd together that now you can see them. That is a cloud! Each droplet is so light that it floats in the air.

Inside the cloud, the droplets bump into each other. When two droplets touch, they join into one bigger drop. Bump by bump, the drops grow heavier. What do you think happens when a drop gets too heavy to float?

Down it falls! Now the pull down is stronger than the air holding it up. Many heavy drops fall from the cloud together, and that is rain.

Let's remember our special word: droplets. The sun lifts water from seas and puddles into clouds, where droplets grow heavy and rain down.

Next time rain taps on your window, you will know just where it came from, so snuggle in and rest well.