the.com/raincloud
a million tons of water floating overhead, pretending gravity doesn't apply to it
means A dark, moisture-laden cloud that produces or threatens rain.
from A transparent compound of "rain" and "cloud," both ancient Germanic words. "Rain" descends from Old English "regn," with cousins across the Germanic family (German "Regen," Dutch "regen"). "Cloud" comes from Old English "clud," which originally meant a rock or hill — a mass or lump — and only later drifted upward to name the puffy masses in the sky, perhaps because a heavy cloud on the horizon looks like a rocky outcrop. Stick the two together and you get the literal sky-rock that drips.
- actual weight
- an average cloud weighs around 1.1 million pounds
- how it floats
- droplets so tiny air resistance beats their fall
- the trigger
- raindrops form around dust, salt, even bacteria
- gray secret
- thickness blocks light, painting white clouds dark
- speed limit
- raindrops max out near 20 miles per hour
cumulonimbus over the amazon — produces the amazon's own rainfall recycling system, with clouds reaching 50,000+ feet