Obviously what has to be answered is why do people perceive that
drizzle is wetter than heavy rain?

Could it do with the amount of raindrops per sq ft. Are there more rain
drops per sq ft in drizzle than heavy rain?


There are certainly many more drops per square foot, or per cubic metre
or whatever, in drizzle than in even quite heavy rain, which is why drizzle
reduces the visibility markedly. With rain, the visibility is only reduced
when it is almost torrential, and even some of that reduction may be due to the
formation of mist. The drops are much larger, and fall more quickly, but there
are fewer of them than in drizzle.

Tudor Hughes, Warlingham, Surrey.

In message , TudorHgh
writes
It's the sort of drizzle that (totally unscientific) wets you more
than a tropical downpour, as my mother would say. Must be due to
number of droplets per cubic metre, which always seems to at its
greatest in these situations.


If you go out in a drizzle, the droplets are so small and light they are
stopped by the slightest thing, so they stay totally on the outside of your
clothing, sometimes it seems barely touching it. Equally, your hair is no
wetter than if you'd sprayed it as the barber might do. Yet if you go out in
heavy rain the large drops bash straight through your clothing and hair,
soaking you in no time. So why does this nonsensical bit of folklore about
drizzle being wetter than heavy rain still persist? It's something I was
brought up with and still hear, but simple observation totally contradicts it.
It's just complete ********!

Tudor Hughes

It all depends on which part of the country you are in. I agree that
drizzle in SE England is usually not very wetting. On the other hand,
the sort of drizzle that's common in places such as Fort William is
absolutely drenching.

Norman.
(delete "thisbit" twice to e-mail)
--
Norman Lynagh Weather Consultancy
Chalfont St Giles
England

In uk.sci.weather on Sat, 18 Sep 2004 at 10:46:07, JPG wrote :
I can personally vouch for its ability to soak anyone out in it however!

You'd think a rate of 1mm an hour or so would show on the radar, but
only the "heavier" busts seemed to show up.

Oops, I meant "heavier" bursts. Freudian slip maybe, to follow on
from my comments on the Jordan barometer.

Grin.
--
Paul Hyett, Cheltenham