A mass of streaks of rain appearing to hang under a cloud and evaporating before reaching the ground.
mass noun‘the ghostly apparition of virga—an indicator of violent downdraughts’
‘a violet virga’
‘I kept a wary eye on both for fifteen to twenty minutes while climbing in the last couple thermals and observed that the virga never extended its range closer to the ground.’
‘As benign and pastoral as this scene might appear, areas of virga can produce 65-knot columns of downward tumbling air mass.’
‘I took one more thermal near Cross Mountain to 16,000 ft and glided to Maybell where I decided to land due to numerous areas of virga and lightning.’
‘We can see virga coming out of some of the clouds.’
Origin
1940s from Latin, literally ‘rod, stripe’.
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