Rain Shadow Effect

Rain Shadows - dry areas on downwind sides of mountains - are prominent on the Big Island of Hawaii and east of the Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest. Many rain shadows exist around the world - including north of Asia’s Himalayas, west of Austalia's Great Dividing Range, and east of California's Sierra Nevada Range.
Three essential items are needed to develop the rain shadow effect - an ocean nearby, winds blowing steadily onshore, and a mountain range to block the traveling air mass. Evaporation on the surface of the ocean creates moist air. Prevailing winds push the wet air inland until it hits the base of the mountains. The air is forced to rise. As the air lifts, it expands and cools. Cooler air can’t hold as much moisture, so clouds form and it rains a bunch, resulting in a lush, green landscape. The now dry air mass crosses the mountains and begins to sink on the leeward side of the range. It compresses and warms, promoting evaporation. The result? Dry areas on downwind sides of mountains. A rain shadow!
Tom Foster (HUGEfloods.com) and Nick Zentner (Central Washington University) have been hiking together in Washington for years. This ’Rain Shadow’ episode is part of a “2 Minute Geology” video series.

[@michaelambrose]

I've never in my life thought I'd ever see someone hiking wearing a bright red bow-tie, hahaha! I love it, lol

[@Ellensburg44]

+Michael Ambrose It's really a cry for help, Michael.

[@bridgerandres5990]

I got scammed! 2 minute geology? More like 5 minute geology. smh 😂😂😂

[@trashquacks2073]

lol

[@ellxiis]

Some of his videos are 20 mins long 😂

[@profd65]

Wow, somebody in the YT comment section trying to be funny; I've never seen that before.

[@yonkers92]

@@profd65 bro hush- not like you could make a funnier comment

[@raaghavirsharma9668]

@burntt popcorn meeeeeeeee mostly bcuz of school thoooo lmfaooo

[@noscopegaming3286]

2 hrs b4 a test, watched it, aced it

[@Ellensburg44]

Great!

[@the_man7925]

Good for u

[@yellowmunchkin3657]

shush u joke man

[@09tenshi]

Yellow Munchkin you make no sense-

[@dumpmuch]

So americans are actually educating, but…can you tell me which country is which in Europe?

[@GotYourWallet]

Wow, I've never heard of this effect before. Excellent illustrations!

[@peteaplin8324]

I always enjoy these bits and of course the longer videos as well, thanks!

[@chadhansen5057]

That's why I love the Northwest so much diversity

[@Ellensburg44]

+Chad Hansen Me too.

[@valhalla3595]

An educator that is entertaining. What a concept, I wish there were professors like this in 1970. Imagine teaching with plain English, and the students not needing a dictionary and thesaurus to read a textbook. Kudos!

[@Xerethane]

I remember visiting a little town in Victoria Australia called Seymour for just a few weeks. Its about an hour up the road from the coastal city of Melbourne but the changes in weather as you go are very noticeable. Somewhere just outside the small town of Broadford on the way to Seymour is a place where the clouds just stop. You can see them moving in during the wet season, drenching Broadford, Melbourne and the ares south but Seymour remains dry unless the storm was strong enough or came from the right angle to avoid the hills. The clouds literally just stopped there and often would then move east or west rather than continue north. The "mountains" are not tall there but the rain shadow effect can be clearly seen.

[@Ellensburg44]

Thanks for the report, Daniel!

[@CaliforniaBushman]

I'll never forget going to the Gorge @ George in August 98 to see two shows camping out for 2 - 3 days. 105°F. We came from SLC, UT and thought we were in Moab.

[@gregoryfox7551]

I live in eastern Washington and my favorite color is brown. Ah home. The wonderfulness of it all!

[@Comrade134]

Great lesson on this amazing phenomenon. I live on a rainy hill but my job is on the dry side of the San Bernardino mountains. It's less than an hour drive and merely a 2000 ft gain in elevation but there is a totally different climate out there. The transition is unbelievable. Thank you 🙏🏽

[@mklooker]

I’m always trying to explain this condition to all my colleagues that work with throughout the United States. I got a send them this video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge 😀

[@davidanderson5310]

I'm impressed by how many different location shots you did for this video. One script spread across both sides of Hawaii and both sides of the Cascades? Most people would just use connecting narration after the filming.

[@Dempsii410]

Wow, that made it clear to me, thanks!!

[@gwidonnau]

Thanks for all your fantastic movies!

[@Ellensburg44]

Naudts Guido Thanks for watching! It's Tom Foster at Hugefloods.com that does all of the photography, illustrations, and editing.

[@berry1057]

a new way to look at the world! thank you!

[@lindakilmer2548]

I’m really looking forward to travel post-coco!! I’m planning my “dream” geology trip to Washington State!!

[@waltciii3]

I want to check out those rain shadow deserts in Eastern Washington. As a Southern Californian, I love desert geology. I went to school as a lowly engineer; now I wish I had taken some Geology classes.

[@scooterjohansen3847]

There it is !!! Thank you !!!

[@Ellensburg44]

Thank you!!!

[@GeographyGeek]

Love your videos. You should come back and make more.

[@sonsol33]

great videos !! ur explanations are great

[@jennifaison2863]

Thanks! You kept it simple.

[@kenhatemongerstevensofthet3085]

Thank you for the knowledge.

[@leoverran311]

Would love to hear more about Hawaii, was watching a show last year and they were saying that huge landslides occur off the island chains and they can trigger massive waves, continental west coast is in the path, Two minute geology could teach us about that, how long do you have to evacuate from such an event?

[@HKspurs10]

Hi could you tell me what effects there would be if there is no great dividing range? Would the east coast turn into desert or would the areas west of the range receive rainfall and become forests?

[@thephoenix3155]

Examples could be east of the Grampian Mountains in Scotland, east of the Andes in Patagonia, South America, and east of the Southern Alps in New Zealand.

[@Paleoman]

Another great video Mr. Z. I like the geology baladeer aspect with the guitar and intro song. If you were to form a band with your colleagues you could be known as "The Geologists"

[@Ellensburg44]

Great idea.

[@reinettestreasures6198]

Love this series! Not a fan of the music though but that won't put me off because I adore learning about geology!

[@adamgorski3173]

Great Vid!

[@Ellensburg44]

Thanks Adam!

[@essamadman]

here 5 years later lmao

[@Rollwiththevibes]

Pleeeeeeease do more of these! I love learning the natural history of western Washington!

[@Ellensburg44]

Thanks for the encouragement, Roland.

[@Rollwiththevibes]

***** I have been giving bike tours of the city and everyone loves the stuff that I have learned in your videos. I never knew how awesome this region was! Any plans for more videos?

[@Ellensburg44]

Bike tours sounds like a cool thing. Congrats. Subscribe to this channel and you'll be up to date on Tom's videos.

[@Rollwiththevibes]

***** Ok thank you. Will do!

[@sabrinaolivares9901]

Thanks for teaching our class! We all understand this concept now : )

[@gavrieljaeger2908]

thanks so much. this really helped in my revision

[@Ellensburg44]

Glad we could help.

[@sblaken]

Kudos Nick!

[@Ellensburg44]

You're a nice person, Suzanne.

[@Ultrasound700]

I'm using this to help my friend with fictional world building and making their world more geographically realistic.

[@dyannejohnson6184]

Nick did not know you could sing…nice tonal quality

[@011mph]

awesome explanation! it helped me a lot.

[@Ellensburg44]

+zynbw Good to hear.

[@richardclough2998]

Thank you so much, this video helped lots with my geography project

[@gabiwhitley5030]

Anyone had to watch this for social studies homework ☠️

[@grimbluesins7592]

Science homework, but yeah

[@samanthahansen4886]

i had to ugh

[@grimbluesins7592]

@@samanthahansen4886 lmao

[@youareanidio1]

Not Social Studies, but for science

[@quachuonglilac]

Thank you. It helps me in Geography class :)

[@Ellensburg44]

Nice to hear this video was helpful to you!

[@lelnub8706]

Geology

[@arslongarocks]

That was fantastic!

[@Ellensburg44]

Thanks!

[@haroldburrows4770]

I love Nicks videos

[@hasanahbujang2134]

Thank you

[@robloxgirl1471]

This has helped me a lot for my studies

[@johnbiggins4864]

What forms mesa's nick.....some wild ideas out there

[@Christof742]

Rumour has it that some French guy grabbed a tape measure and sailed around the world, physically measuring from one side to the other. Then he made up the term "metre". Or "meter", if you're not using the Queen's English (yes, I know, those same folks who would say "fee", instead of "the" )

[@johnredhd]

Love the song, Is that you singing it, Nick? I have very much enjoyed all of your videos. I live in Eastern Iowa and now want to go to Washington to see all you have discussed! I have been to Western Washington, but haven't been east of Roslyn.

[@Ellensburg44]

Thanks John. Yes. Come out for a visit!

[@knoxvillehermitfreemoviesm3625]

Great video. Excluding the shadow effect for a moment, do lakes or reservoirs have an evaporation effect that causes significant rain? Or does it have to be a big mass of water like the ocean or great lakes? If a 10 mile long reservoir was drained, would this have any noticeable effect on the local area's rain?

[@Ellensburg44]

Thanks. I've not heard of a large lake or reservoir creating rain downwind.

[@hebneh]

Lake effect snow is certainly a major factor around the Great Lakes during the winter.

[@Shaheen_Hassan]

@@Ellensburg44 The great lakes in USA, lake Victoria in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, lake Volta in Ghana and the Caspian Sea in Iran are all examples that lakes and inland seas increase precipitation near its shores.

[@Rock_TalesTV]

Hello Nick Zentner, I was wondering if I could use parts of this video to create a yt short. Thanks.

[@brandonschrockor]

Intro is fire

[@Ellensburg44]

Thanks?

[@chonglor5961]

Superb Video. From a HS earth science teacher.

[@Ellensburg44]

***** We love hearing that teachers use our stuff. Thanks!

[@hgbugalou]

Or as some of us meteorology geeks would call it orographic uplift and adiabatic cooling/warming. I love the high desert area in the northwest. There are lots of beautiful rock formations for miles and miles that have not been beaten to death with water!

[@Ellensburg44]

Look at you with the big words, Michael! Thanks for the comments. Yes, our deserts not hit with much rain...but of course the Ice Age Floods did quite a bit of beating!

[@rayrowley4013]

I tell people I'm from Washington. Most of them are surprised when I tell them I live in a desert because, "Isn't Seattle all rainy?" Tell your friends, there is more to Washington than Seattle. Not much more, but at least a bit.

[@shrek-ya6063]

Lol, I had to use this video for a quiz on Science. (I got a 100% tho, it was quite easy)

[@Shas45663]

binod

[@UTubeGlennAR]

>^..^< Oahu also has a rain shadow/kona side (the word kona means dry side in Hawaii I was once told). I attended 1st and 2nd grade in a little town of Waianae on Oahu. Waianae was the defitnaly in the kona area of Oahu, it was dry and sunny there I easily recall. However, Wai in the Hawaiian language denotes water. Example Ali Wai canal in Honolulu, Waimanalo Beach on teh north shore of Oahu. AnywAy, I just wonder why a town on the kona side of Oahu (dry side) has the name of Waianae.....? So getting back to 2 min geology. The petrified forest on this video must have evolved on the other side of the rain shadow line, correct?

[@pannacottairl2781]

I have a test that effects 35% of my grade on this thanks for the help

[@Ellensburg44]

+Rare Pepe Scanner Good luck!

[@Cheese_Boi1986]

its unrealistic but could you combat rain shadows by making a 5 km cut in the mountain range for clouds to push through?

[@braddblk]

NAS Whidbey Is. exist where it is because of the Olympic rain shadow. At NAS Barbers Point we had cactus instead of the jungle.

[@Ellensburg44]

True.

[@martinwalker9386]

Maui has a more pronounced rain shadow. 400 inches vs 7 inches and that doesn’t tell the entire story. The seven inches comes in 10 inch dumps of a single storm. Therefore only 2 out of 3 years have any real precipitation. There is an area in South America that hasn’t had rain in over 100 years. The plants that grow there collect dew and funnel it to the roots.

[@guyh.4553]

Okay Dr. Nick, how come is this titled "2 Minute Geology" when this video 4 1/2 minutes? Hmmmm??? HA HA HA HA!!!! Love your videos! And Go Vandals!

[@matthewbolton4289]

Madras, prineville, redmond and bend of central oregon are much dryer comparstively then eastern washington.

[@dlwatib]

Not that much difference, actually. Bend gets about 11.3 inches of rain per year and is representative of the other towns you mentioned, Spokane gets 16.5, but Yakima only gets 8.3! The difference is that Spokane is farther North and catches a few more Arctic storms per year. It's also farther away from the Cascades than Yakima so the rain shadow isn't quite as intense that far East. See www.usclimatedata.com/ for more data. Washington, Oregon and California all have two rain shadows, one at the Coastal range (Olympic range in WA), the second at the Cascades (Sierra Nevada range in CA). Madras, Prineville, Redmond, Bend, Yakima and Spokane are all to the East of the second rain shadow so the clouds are mostly rung out by the time they get over the second mountain range.

[@songthrush9430]

what if there is no mountain ???? do both sides get same amount of rain ???

[@Ellensburg44]

Yes.

[@hebneh]

Rain shadows occur on all the Hawaiian Islands.

[@Ellensburg44]

Good to know.

[@Lady8D]

So basically the mountains are causing the deserts by stealing all the water!? I love mountains, even if they're sometimes jerks. Speaking of, I've been having a hell of a hard time trying to find good videos about the geology of Colorado, our rocky mountains in particular-any suggestions?

[@Ellensburg44]

I love mountains too. I don't know of geology videos in your area. Sorry.

[@gaffurshaik311]

Sir if u r alive please make a video, I m alive living in corona era

[@UTubeGlennAR]

FYI: Kona is a Hawaiian word which means the dry side of the island. In english this word is probably leeward, Hilo side is windward. On the Big Island of Hawaii, the proper name of this town is Actually "Kailua Kona". I have been told this is so the US post offices does not sned the mail to the wrong island.

[@Ellensburg44]

Good to know.

[@tylermiddaugh1515]

just found your channel. you should come back to youtube

[@wow1983]

I can not understand lectures and talking learning because its hard for me to listen. I was about to leave until the diagram came I was like OOOH YAS and I then immediately understood thx! I don't need the teacher now lolz

[@Ellensburg44]

Glad the diagram helped.

[@GustavoMaldonado42]

Great video!!🤤 lol

[@Ellensburg44]

Thank you.

[@dolphinrider5905]

Don't we technically have three because of the blue mountains?

[@yellowmunchkin3657]

O yea i forgot we still in for the motel at 12 with the hard mattres ohhhhhh yeaaaa

[@kevintynan796]

You’re geology lectures are wonderful and easy for the layman enthusiast (me) to follow. But.... is the branding of your image (red bow tie) a good idea? Branding is everywhere I realize, but....

[@muffintime7448]

its 4 minutes not 2

[@Ellensburg44]

You live up to your name.

[@ErikWellswillsurf]

Not gunna lie kinda dissapointed. JK

[@ErikWellswillsurf]

Jk it was good

[@muffintime7448]

Erik Wells dude I made that comment 2 years ago

[@harrisonabolafia5176]

Ms. Danz class was here

[@mikemessier7977]

I didn't know Hawaii had the shadow effect. I has assumed length of the mountain was too short.

[@Ellensburg44]

Thanks for watching, Mike. Pretty wild changes in relatively small area. Put the Big Island on your trip planner!

[@briane173]

@@Ellensburg44 I've seen a pronounced rain shadow effect on Oahu as well. The windward mauka squeezes out moisture from the Trade Winds that are forced almost vertical on the east side of Oahu, drenching Kaneohe Bay, while over in Waipahu where my daughter and her family lived at the base of the leeward mauka, it was bone dry. The iron-rich volcanic soil along the leeward mauka is so dry it blows like desert sand and turns all the houses over there a nice rusty red -- impossible to wash off. Total distance for this rain shadow as the crow flies: 14 miles. 37" annual average rainfall to 17", in the span of only 14 miles.

[@jaykim165]

1:06 he must be sweaty

[@Ellensburg44]

Sorry you weren't available to stand with me out there...

[@songthrush9430]

can we do anything to make the rain shadow region green ?

[@Ellensburg44]

Whaa?

[@songthrush9430]

Nick Zentner I am from indian state of tamil nadu. Our state is bordered by western ghats(mountain range) on the west and bay of bengal in the east and by indian ocean in the south. Also we have eastern ghats( mountain range) which runs along the centre of the state. The problem is we get less rainfall and state on the other side of the western ghats recieves more rainfall. So how to recieve more rainfall same as the other side of the western ghats??? If those mountain ranges are blasted, will our state recieve more rainfall???

[@coyoteroadkill]

We are lucky enough to have the Columbia River and it's tributaries running through eastern Washington State so we can irrigate. In places where we don't have irrigation we grow dry land wheat and if it's too rocky, we raise cattle with several acres per head because there is so little to graze. Some areas you can't do anything with except admire the scenery. You can't control the weather. You just have to learn how to live with it.

[@robinsss]

I disagree...………….I think Ratcht is right...…………...if we remove the tops of a mountain range that has the rain shadow on one side then the clouds should float by before the water cools and drops their rain...…..……..this could bring normal rain to several areas and possibly eliminate tornado alley in the US

[@robinsss]

the desert does have beauty but compared to the idea turning the desert into a grassland that could be developed and lived on I would take the grassland

[@ambiguous8661]

1:18 lmao everbrown

[@jaykim165]

WHY DID I HAVE TO WATCH THIS DX

[@Ellensburg44]

WHY DID YOU HAVE TO USE UPPERCASE?

[@the_man7925]

I have to watch this for school...

[@Ellensburg44]

The horror...

[@jaykim165]

same

[@jesss.7788]

Helpful graphics starting at 1:25

[@Ellensburg44]

Nice to hear. Those were created by Tom Foster at hugefloods.com

[@WarhammerFix]

i luv u doe

[@WarhammerFix]

+Alex Nolin OMGOMGOMwG IF U POUZE AT 3:01 u can se a hamwbugrer!!!!!1!!!1!

[@Medina.243]

2:53

[@xxeclipsegamingxx6191]

Hi mrs monetaux

[@Ellensburg44]

Hello Gangster Twins.

[@xeltist]

why did this make me sad

[@ahstories111]

boi this was 4 minutes

[@ColTravis]

Washington the Evergreen State, pasha!!! After Sunday May 18, 1980 it was Ashington the Evergey State! You forgot to mention that the Hoh Rain Forest gets up to 14' of rain per year, I grew up there. The average takes into acount the rain shadow East of the Olympics.

[@Ellensburg44]

Thanks for watching.

[@ColTravis]

Being from there I really just love seeing the scenery, it brings me home to my roots. Don't forget next August 21st at 10:15 PST to try and get to Goldendale down on the Columbia River for the Total Eclipse of the Sun. They have a WWI memorial in the shape of Stonehenge, I think that you would really like it even though it has very little to do with geology you could still do a video on it. I think it would be really cool. I was there with my step dad, family plus several of his students in 1979. As a side note, one of the stundents was the one who turned and fell on his camera just as the pyroclastic flow hit him thus saving the film.

[@Thomas-pl4bg]

Dis my HW

[@Ellensburg44]

Good luck on the test.

[@ernestoverduzco7290]

im here for school

[@finalfusion4997]

360 no scope #Kyanisbae

[@Ellensburg44]

Agree 100%.

[@victoriamuniz8589]

He said 2:00 more like 4:26

[@alexreilly7117]

this is my dad (this comment)

[@geoffreylee5199]

Need to use more metric measurements... 🤫

[@Ellensburg44]

Will do.

[@sogy_toast242]

2 minutes geologically??? Lies

[@jameshemminger5980]

This video is 4:26...

[@youareanidio1]

I came from online school Who else?

[@sp3edah]

:v

[@yonkers92]

Anyone else here from science?

[@lindam3839]

Whys it 4 minutes

[@shift_cozmik]

2:00 minutes you say more like 4:26 seconds!

[@gabiwhitley5030]

Here we go: u said it would be 2 minutes, it was 5 minutes, and it felt like a 10 hour lecture