rain shadows usually occur on the leeward side of the mountain ranges.
The windward side of a mountain is typically wetter and receives more rainfall due to the moist air being forced to rise and cool, causing precipitation. In contrast, the leeward side experiences a rain shadow effect, receiving much less rainfall as the air descends and warms, leading to drier conditions.
The windward side of a mountain receives more rainfall due to moist air being forced to rise and cool, leading to precipitation. In contrast, the leeward side, also known as the rain shadow side, receives less rainfall because the descending air is warmed and unable to hold as much moisture, resulting in drier conditions.
The windward side of a mountain receives more rainfall because as moist air rises up the mountain slope, it cools and condenses, leading to precipitation. In contrast, the leeward side, also known as the rain shadow side, receives significantly less rainfall as the air has already released much of its moisture on the windward side and descends, causing warming and drying.
You may refer to the following link, which is self explanatory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_shadow Answered on 26/06/2009 by: Jeril
On the leeward side of an island, you would typically expect to see less rainfall due to the rain shadow effect. As moist air is forced to rise over the high terrain, it cools and releases precipitation on the windward side, leaving drier air to descend and warm on the leeward side, resulting in less rainfall.
The area in which the least amount of precipitation would occur is on the leeward side of a mountain range in the interior of a continent. La Nina requires temperatures in the eastern Pacific to be below normal.
The northern mountain barrier influences the rainfall pattern in Pakistan by intercepting monsoon (rain-bearing) winds from the south. Melting snow from the mountains also feeds rivers, including the Indus, which emerge from the east-west aligned ranges to flow southward
You would typically expect to find the least precipitation on the leeward side, which is the side opposite to the direction of the wind. In this case, it would be the northern slope of the mountain. As the air rises over the mountain, it cools and releases moisture on the windward side, leaving less moisture to fall on the leeward side. This phenomenon is known as the rain shadow effect.
Mountains have two effects on precipitation. These are the rain shadow effect and the orographic effect. These both cause the type and amount of precipitation to change because the air is forced higher up.
Rain shadows can affect the distribution and characteristics of biomes. When mountains block the movement of moist air, a rain shadow is created on the leeward side of the mountain, resulting in drier conditions. This can lead to the formation of different biomes, such as deserts or grasslands, depending on the amount of rainfall received.
The Coromandel coast lies on the rain shadow or leeward side of the western ghats while Malabar coast lies on windward side of western ghats.
Air has a certain amount of moisture in it, called humidity. Fog or precipitation result when the air accumulates too much moisture to hold ... the amount of moisture air can hold varies based on air pressure which itself varies. Storms can lower air pressure, but are a bit dynamic and chaotic ... air pressure is naturally lower the higher in altitude you are, though; air is thickest at lower elevations. The air becomes too thin at altitude to hold onto the moisture, so it 'piles up' against mountain ranges and tends to dump whilst the wind continues across the mountains. Then devoid of the moisture it dumped, it tends to create a "rain shadow" on the far side of the mountain range as the air re-thickens when it lowers in altitude on the far side of the mountain range without the moisture it lost on the windward side of the mountains. Thus, you often have a lush, green side of mountains as the mountains cause the atmosphere to dump its moisture, and a desert on the far side as the air regains pressure but is devoid of moisture.