Orographic lift

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Effects of orographic lifting

Precipitation

• The mountains near Baja California North - specifically La Bocana to Laguna Hanson.
• The windward slopes of Khasi and Jayantia Hills see over 11000 mm (see Mawsynram
  Mawsynram
  
  Mawsynram is a village in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya state in north-eastern India, 56 kilometers from Shillong. Reportedly the wettest place on Earth, with an annual rainfall of 11,872 mm ....
  ) of rain during the Southwest Monsoon Season
• The Western Ghats
  Western Ghats
  
  The Western Ghats also known as the Sahyadri mountains, is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea....
   that run along India's western coast.
• The eastern seaboard of Australia, which faces prevailing easterly winds.
• The Great Dividing Range
  Great Dividing Range
  
  The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the 4th longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan_Island,_Queensland off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through New South Wales, then into Victoria...
   of Eastern and South Eastern Australia which forces uplift of moist air originating from the oceans
• The mountains of New Zealand
  New Zealand
  
  New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
  , which faces a prevailing westerly flow off the Tasman Sea
  Tasman Sea
  
  The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately 2000 kilometres across. It extends 2800 km from north to south....
  .
• The mountainous western coastal regions of Tasmania
  Tasmania
  
  Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
   which also face a prevailing westerly flow.
• The southern Andes
  Andes
  
  The Andes form the world's longest exposed mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. The range is over 7,000 km long, 200-700 km wide , and of an average height of about 4,000 m ....
  , which faces a prevailing westerly flow off the Pacific Ocean
  Pacific Ocean
  
  The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
  .
• The Northwestern United States
  Northwestern United States
  
  The Northwestern United States comprise the northwestern states up to the western Great Plains regions of the United States, and consistently include the states of Oregon and Washington, to which Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Southeast Alaska, and parts of Northern California are sometimes added....
   and Canada
  Canada
  
  Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
   (Oregon
  Oregon
  
  Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
  , Washington
  Washington
  
  Washington is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute....
   and British Columbia
  British Columbia
  
  British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's Provinces and territories of Canada and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu ....
  ) see prevailing westerly flow off the northern Pacific Ocean
  Pacific Ocean
  
  The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
  . Places on the sea-facing side of coastal mountains see in excess of 140 inches (over 3.5 m) of precipitation
  Precipitation (meteorology)
  
  File:MeanMonthlyP.gifIn meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of Atmosphere water vapor that is deposited on the earth's surface....
   per year. These locales are on the side of the mountain
  Mountain
  
  A mountain is a landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill....
  s which are in the path of storm
  Storm
  
  A storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's Celestial body atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather....
   systems, and therefore receive the moisture which is effectively squeezed from the clouds.
• The ski country
  Ski country
  
  Ski country is a term used to describe portions of the boundary between the Niagara Frontier and the Southern Tier of upstate New York....
   region of New York
  New York
  
  The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
   and Pennsylvania
  Pennsylvania
  
  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
  , particularly with lake effect snow
  Lake effect snow
  
  Lake-effect snow is produced in the winter when cold winds move across long expanses of warmer lake water, providing energy and picking up water vapor which freezes and is deposited on the lee shores....
  s.
• Transylvania County, North Carolina
  Transylvania County, North Carolina
  
  Transylvania County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 29,334. Its county seat is Brevard, North Carolina....
  , which gets the most rainfall of anywhere in the Eastern U.S. (90 inches).
• The Eastern seaboard of
  Ecoregions of Madagascar
  
  Madagascar island, located in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, is the fourth largest island in the world. Its long isolation from neighbouring continents allowed the evolution of distinct communities of plants and animals....
   Madagascar
  Madagascar
  
  Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
  .

Rain shadowing

Main article: Rain shadow

Rain shadow

For the Australian television series see Rain Shadow .A rain shadow or rainshadow, or more accurately, precipitation shadow, is a dry region of land that is leeward of a mountain range or other geographic feature, with respect to prevailing wind direction....

• The Himalayas
  Himalayas
  
  The Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short , meaning "abode of snow" ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau....
   block moisture from the Tibetan Plateau
  Tibetan Plateau
  
  The Tibetan Plateau , also known as the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is a vast, elevated plateau in Central Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province in China and Ladakh in Kashmir, India....
  
• The Atacama Desert
  Atacama Desert
  
  The Atacama Desert is a virtually rainless plateau in South America, covering a 966 km strip of land on the Pacific Ocean coast of South America, west of the Andes mountains....
   in Peru
  Peru
  
  Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
   and Chile
  Chile
  
  Chile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean....
  
• Switzerland
  Switzerland
  
  Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
  's Rhone valley
  Rhône River
  
  The Rhone, or the Rh?ne is one of the major rivers of Europe, originating in Switzerland and running from there through the south-eastern corner of France....
  
• Areas east of the Cascade Range
  Cascade Range
  
  The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California....
   in the Pacific Northwest (Washington
  Washington
  
  Washington is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute....
   and Oregon
  Oregon
  
  Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
  )
• Areas east of the Olympic Mountains
  Olympic Mountains
  
  The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of western Washington in the United States. The mountains are not especially high - Mount Olympus is the highest at - but the western slopes of the Olympics face the Pacific Ocean and are thus the wettest place in the 48 contiguous states; the Hoh Ranger Station in the Ho...
   in Washington state
• The Great Basin
  Great Basin
  
  The Great Basin is a large, arid region of the western United States. Its boundaries depend on how it is defined. Its most common definition is the contiguous drainage basin, roughly between the Wasatch Mountains, in Utah and the Sierra Nevada , that has no natural outlet to the sea....
   of the United States, east of the Sierra Nevada
• Geography of the United States Pacific Mountain System
  Geography of the United States Pacific Mountain System
  
  The Western Cordillera covers an extensive area of mountain ranges, basins, and plateaus in western North America. The area covers much of western North America west of the Western Great Plains....
  
• Pacific Cordillera
  Pacific Cordillera
  
  The Pacific Cordillera is a top-level physiographic region of Canada. The mountain ranges in this region were covered during the Pleistocene by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet....
  
• California
  California
  
  California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
  's Central Valley
• The Canadian Prairies
  Canadian Prairies
  
  The Canadian Prairies is a list of regions of Canada of Canada, specifically in Western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political....
  
• The Hawaii
  Hawaii
  
  File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
  an island of Kauai
  Kauai
  
  Kauai or Kauai is the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago and the List of islands of the United States by area....
  
• North East England is in the rain shaddow of the Pennines, this combined with Britian's previaling wind from the South West. This explains the significant differences between the rainfall in the North West and North East.

Leeward winds

Associated clouds

• Orographic fog is formed as the air rises up the slope and will often envelope the summit. When the air is humid, some of the moisture will fall on the windward slope and on the summit of the mountain.

• The leeward edge of an extensive mass of orographic clouds may be quite distinct. On the leeward side of the mountain, the air flows downwards. Because some of the moisture has condensed on the top of the mountain, the leeward air is drier. The remaining moisture quickly evaporates as the air descends.
  
  The distinct cut-off line which forms along and parallel to the ridge line is sometimes known as a foehn wall-(or föhn wall). This is because the edge appears stationary and it often appears to have an abrupt wall-like edge. A foehn wall is a common feature along the Front Range
  Front Range
  
  The Front Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains of North America that is located in the north-central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado....
   of the Colorado
  Colorado
  
  The State of Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Mountain States of the United States of America. Colorado may also be considered to be a part of the Western United States and Southwestern United States regions of the United States....
   Rockies
  Rocky Mountains
  
  The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 4,800 kilometre from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in Canada, to New Mexico, in the United States....
  .
• A Rotor cloud is sometimes formed downwind and below the level of the ridge. It has the appearance of the ragged cumulus
  Cumulus
  
  Cumulus may refer to:*Cumulus cloud, a type of cloud*Cumulus Media, a radio broadcasting company*Cumulus , digital asset management software developed by Canto Software...
   cloud type but it is caused by a turbulent horizontal vortex, ie the air is very rough.

• A chinook arch cloud
  Chinook wind
  
  Chinook winds, often just called chinooks, commonly refers to foehn winds in the interior West of North America, where the Canadian Prairies and Great Plains meet various mountain ranges, although the original usage is in reference to wet, warm coastal winds in the Pacific Northwest....
   is an extensive wave cloud. It has this special name in North America where is is associated with the Chinook wind
  Chinook wind
  
  Chinook winds, often just called chinooks, commonly refers to foehn winds in the interior West of North America, where the Canadian Prairies and Great Plains meet various mountain ranges, although the original usage is in reference to wet, warm coastal winds in the Pacific Northwest....
  . It forms above the mountain range, usually at the beginning of a chinook wind as a result of orographic lifting over the range. It appears when seen from downwind to form an arch over the mountain range. A layer of clear air separates it from the mountain.