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Rain Shadow

© Copyright 2000, Jim Loy

On the left side of this picture, we see a cloud full of water, approaching a mountain. As it climbs the mountain, it loses moisture, in the form of rain. And when it gets to the other side of the mountain, it has little water, and does not form any rain. In many places on earth, the winds almost always go in the same direction. In that case the far side of a mountain range may be a desert. This desert is said to be in a rain shadow.

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