Precipitation is water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail.

It is the primary connection in the water cycle that provides for the delivery of atmospheric water
to the Earth. Most precipitation falls as rain.

Precipitation forms when cloud droplets (or ice particles) in clouds grow and combine to become
so large that their fall speed exceeds the updraft speed in the cloud, and they then fall out of the
cloud. If these large water drops or ice particles do not re-evaporate as they fall farther below the
cloud, they reach the ground as precipitation.