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Glite Dictionary
🌧️ Can become rain 🧪 Can form a solid
precipitable

precipitable

1 8.8
Able to turn into rain or snow and fall from the sky
  • adjective
  • /prɪˈsɪpɪtəbl/
  • Specialized
: condensable
  • In high humidity conditions, the amount of precipitable water can indicate the likelihood of heavy rain.
  • precipitable water

Examples

  • Meteorologists measure the amount of precipitable water in the atmosphere to predict rainfall and snowfall.

  • The interior of Antarctica is one of the driest places on Earth, with typically less than 0.5 millimeters of precipitable water in the atmosphere and as low as 0.2 millimeters in winter.

    Academic text (1993)

  • My OLR regressions on precipitable water and rain as resistors yield R²s better than 0.9.

    Blog text (21)

  • For snow to fall, the atmosphere must have sufficient levels of precipitable moisture.

Synonyms

condensable
vsprecipitable
  • Specialized
7.4

A gas that can change into a liquid when cooled or under pressure

is limited to condensing from air and falling as precipitation

How Likely

certain
286 1.0
precipitable
  • Specialized
1 8.8
likely
∞ 1.0
possible
∞ 1.0
unlikely
486 1.9

Surface Forms

precipitable positive

Morphology

precipitable = precipitate (transparent) = precipitate + able

The adjective is formed by adding '-able' to the verb 'precipitate' in its meteorological sense, yielding 'capable of being precipitated'.

Etymology

Precipitable comes from the same root as precipitation and precipitate, words that mean 'to fall'. So, when we talk about 'precipitable' water, think of water in the air that can 'fall' as rain, snow, or sleet.