Virga Rain

Simply put, virga is rain that never makes it down to earth.  Most commonly, it is seen in the Southwest US and Canadian prairies in North America.  Always interesting to see, when combined with a desert Southwest sunset, it becomes magical.

Enjoy!

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Sunset Virga

The other day, we had some virga falling at the perfect time to coincide with sunset.  Great images were the result…..

Rosy Virga

Virga is rain that never makes it to the ground.  It looks like delicate sheets of falling rain.

Raining Sunset

Altho I don’t know if this happened at a high enough altitude, sometimes the virga are ice crystals that melt as they fall and reach closer to earth.

Layers of Sunset

Sometimes virga can trigger a microburst.  We had one of those here last summer that wiped out some power lines and left us without power for about 37 hours.

Virga over South Mountain

Virga is very common in desert and temperate climates, and in North America, it’s mainly seen in the Western US and Canadian prairies.

Enjoy!