# Rain across the U.S.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 19, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398 "2017-06-19T20:28:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398/1 "2017-06-19T20:28:35Z")
I hope this question isn’t too ridiculous for GQ, but is it theoretically possible for rain to be falling on every square inch of the United States at the same time? I’m sure the answer’s probably no, but _why_ is the answer probably no?
---
### Author:  [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398/2 "2017-06-19T20:32:32Z")
I’d guess the opposite. It’s theoretically possible (assuming (i) you mean something like a raindrop hits each square inch at least once a second (ii) you allow snow to count in case there’s some place in Alaska where it’s never warm enough to rain). There’s certainly enough water on earth for that to be true as oceans cover much more area than the U.S.
It’s incredibly unlikely however.
---
### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398/3 "2017-06-19T21:10:47Z")
The storm of all storms
---
### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398/4 "2017-06-19T21:29:51Z")
The largest diameter hurricane ever was [Typhoon Tip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Tip) at 1,380 miles in diameter. That would cover about half the continental US.
---
### Author:  [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398/5 "2017-06-19T22:01:53Z")
It would be a large storm system, but i don’t think it is impossible
---
### Author:  [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398/6 "2017-06-19T22:11:54Z")
We got heavy rain in Michigan when Hurricane Andrew hit.
---
### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398/7 "2017-06-19T22:29:50Z")
It’ll happen this August 21. ☹
---
### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398/8 "2017-06-20T00:04:05Z")
[It apparently happened worldwide billions of years ago.](http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/why_oceans.html)
---
### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398/9 "2017-06-20T01:31:45Z")
Here’s another scenario to consider: [Raindrop](https://what-if.xkcd.com/12/) It’s not raining everywhere, but it’s raining all at once. It’s still bad.
---
### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2017, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398/10 "2017-06-20T01:37:52Z")
A semi-serious answer: I’d agree with post #2. There’s no physics theoretical reason it couldn’t rain over that large an area. It’s vanishingly unlikely though with the current climate.
In one sense, the atmosphere consists of sections that are dry and therefore cloudless, sections that are a little humid and therefore cloudy, and sections that are too humid to keep all the water in suspension, so some of it falls as rain/snow.
Typical weather is about gathering the widely distributed moisture into a much smaller area, thereby concentrating it enough so it starts falling out.
For all the air over the US to be that highly concentrated there’d have to be a very, very large area nearby that’s extremely dry. Very unlikely.
---
### Author:  [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2017, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rain-across-the-u-s/789398/11 "2017-06-20T01:39:25Z")
> [@Telemark](#):
>
> The largest diameter hurricane ever was [Typhoon Tip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Tip) at 1,380 miles in diameter. That would cover about half the continental US.
Ah, but, hurricanes have eyes.
> [@John\_DiFool](#):
>
> [It apparently happened worldwide billions of years ago.](http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/why_oceans.html)
And maybe 4000 years ago too. Guy named Noah knew all about it but he wasn’t specific about whether rain actually fell on every inch at the same time or not.