Question

Falling raindrops acquire terminal velocity due to

Answer 1

Raindrops are larger. A large raindrop, about one-quarter of an inch across or about the size of a house fly, has terminal fall speeds of about 10 meters per second or about 20 mph. That kind of speed can cause compaction and erosion of the soil by their force of impact.

Answer 2

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Falling raindrops break terminal velocity

Superfast droplets lack clear explanation but could alter weather forecasts

BY 

THOMAS SUMNER 

7:15AM, OCTOBER 15, 2014

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SPLASHDOWN  Scientists have confirmed the existence of rapid raindrops that plummet faster than terminal velocity, the speed at which falling objects stop accelerating.

LUKE PETERSON/FLICKR (CC BY 2.0)

Raindrops have been caught breaking the speed limit.

Using drizzle detectors, researchers discovered tiny raindrops falling more than 1.3 times as fast as terminal velocity, the speed at which air resistance cancels out gravitational pull.

The cause of the drops’ super speed remains unknown, but their existence could affect the way scientists estimate average raindrop size, says lead author Michael Larsen, an atmospheric physicist at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, and thereby skew rainfall measurements. Meteorologists often measure rainfall speed, which is then used to infer the average raindrop size and ultimately the total volume of rainwater.