Weather Tidbits: Rain Coverage Terminology

This edition of Weather Tidbits will be discussing words that meteorologists may use when describing the coverage of rain for a viewing area. These words are generally used for rain forecasts or when describing the current radar image. We can use general percentage thresholds for such words. If less than 20% of the area sees rain, the rain is isolated. The rain is widely scattered if around 20-40% of the area is affected.  When 40-60% of an area is affected by rain, the rain is scattered. If 60-80% of the area is affected by rain, the rain showers are numerous. Finally, rain is considered widespread if more than 80% of the area is affected by rain.