Jonathan Winter discusses rainfall and weather conditions in an Inverse article

Jonathan Winter, associate professor in the Department of Geography, spoke to Inverse about the science behind the Japanese animated sci-fi movie, Weathering with You, by director Makoto Shinkai. In the movie, Inverse describes a so-called "Sunshine Girl" who "can pray away the rain and make the sun appear again".

Winter, who studies extreme rainfall, explained to Inverse that a warmer atmosphere can hold more water. Inverse writes: "Imagine a cloud as a bucket that can only hold a gallon of water under normal conditions, but under warmer weather, it can now hold two gallons of water. Suddenly, double the amount of normal water is falling into your city.

"So, when you get the right condition, you can get more water falling out of the sky," Winter explains.

But Winter adds that while annual precipitation might increase in humid areas of the world — along with short bursts of extreme rainfall — we certainly won't go months on end without seeing a clear sky as in the movie."

Read the full article here.