How does the influence of wind on the fall speed of raindrops change with altitude?

Rainfall is a vital component of the hydrological cycle, characterized by its variability. Research shows that factors such as wind influence the raindrop fall speed ( v f ), forcing deviations from theoretical estimates ( v t ). This study examines rainfall measurements collected using PWS100 disdrometers from 2015 to 2019 at two locations in Mexico (one near the Pacific coast and another in Central Mexico), focusing on how horizontal wind intensity ( w , measured with a WindSonic4 anemometer) affects v f for raindrops with diameters ( D ) between 0.8 and 6 mm. Coastal data includes measurements collected during the passage of tropical cyclones over the sampling area. The data comparison between PWS100 and rain gauges when w > 10 m s −1 exhibits significant biases, underscoring instrumental limitations by wind distortion. Findings indicate that average v f decreases compared to v t as wind intensity increases, but these differences are not statistically significant. The statistical and post-hoc outcomes for the v f standard deviation, used as a proxy of v f dispersion, demonstrate that w significantly affects v f , with the effect growing stronger as w intensity increases. Further, the w effect also varies with raindrop size. Small raindrops ( D < 1 mm) show both super-terminal and sub-terminal behavior, whereas mid-sized and large drops ( D > 1 mm) predominantly exhibit sub-terminal behavior. At coastal sites, the wind impact is more pronounced due to the higher air density and the greater wind energy pushing over the raindrops. These outcomes support the need for further research to incorporate wind effects into numerical modeling and remote sensing instrumentation. • Wind effect on raindrop fall speed increases with its intensity and air density. • Wind impact on hydrometeor falling speed is larger at low altitudes. • Wind intensities larger than 10 m s −1 produce PWS100 fails on rain quantification.