Stupid question - does it rain more near power stations??!

[MinnieBar]

I feel the answer should be obvious either way... Presumably the smoke coming out of the stacks is water vapour, which then becomes cloud, which then (somewhere down the line) ... rains?

Please put me out of my misery!

It is an interesting question. I'd I would expect the moisture from power stations to mix into the atmosphere pretty well but perhaps it could under some circumstances produce or at least exacerbate rain. I googled how high the plumes go and I found a couple of suggestions of 1200m. Nimbostratus which I think are the lowest proper rain producing clouds tend to have a base around 2000m (or above). So not too dissimilar heights really.

There is a interesting well known effect in winter when the plume from power stations condenses into snow like particles. That is pretty cool :)

So? if there was a strong enough wind pushing the plumes higher (would that happen?) then they could contribute to rain??

We live about 12 miles from a power station and on some days it's looked like the plumes are joining the clouds, but I realise that could just be perspective.

Thanks!

most winds are generally horizontal, what you are talking about is turbulance which can be caused in storms or perhaps on days that are still with strong sunshine which causes strong thermals. In a thunderstorm the contribution would be negligible, in the case of thermals I honestly dont have a feel for the answer!

Although the data suggested 1200m for powerstation plume height, it is worth noting that was for particular power stations and there may be a good degree of variation in that.

Very interesting to think about :)