GlossaryVirga
Supplementary feature · Special
Virga
virga
Definition
A supplementary cloud feature consisting of precipitation that falls from a cloud but evaporates or sublimates before reaching the ground, appearing as vertical or slanted streaks that end in mid-air.
Field note
Virga needs a dry sub-cloud layer, and the evaporation cools that layer and makes it sink. This is why virga can bring a cool gusty outflow with no rain at all reaching the surface.
- Added
- 31 July 2026
- By
- Class
- Supplementary feature
- Band
- Special
Read the full field note
Virga: rain that never lands
Virga is precipitation falling from a cloud that evaporates before it reaches the ground. It is not a cloud genus — it is a supplementary feature, a suffix attached to whatever cloud is producing it. It is also one of the most common sources of a false weather report, because from a distance it looks exactly like rain.