rainfall

Everyday

1. Rainfall is the amount of rain that falls in a place in some time, like a day, a month or a year. tree →
2. A rainfall is a fall of rain, a shower. tree →

In the lessons

In maths: a measured amount of rain, usually in inches, millimeters or centimeters, often compared between days or months; total and average rainfall; bar charts of rainfall. In science and geography: rainfall decides if a place is a desert or a rainforest; it is measured with a rain gauge. In everyday life: weather reports.

Examples

• The rainfall in May was 4 inches. tree →
• June had 2 inches more rainfall than May. tree →
• Find the total rainfall for the three months. tree →
• The average daily rainfall was 5 millimeters. tree →
• Deserts get very little rainfall. tree →
• Rainforests have heavy rainfall almost every day. tree →
• We drew a bar chart of the rainfall for each month. tree →
• A rain gauge measures rainfall. tree →
• The heavy rainfall flooded the field. tree →

Note

An amount to add, compare or average. Trap: watch the units; centimeters and millimeters cannot be added without changing one (10 mm = 1 cm; 1 inch ≈ 25 mm). Average = total ÷ number of days or months. Mostly uncountable: «little rainfall».