I am happy to say that it is sunny outside my window as I write this, but there are thunderstorms in the forecast for today and the rest of the week. Thanks for participating in our Rainy Day Trivia Contest. Our winner (who answered 100% of the questions correctly!) is Alessandra Levine. The next time it rains Alessandra will not have to worry about staying dry because she will be under the protection of a "hands free" umbrella hat. Congratulations Alessandra!
The answers with a little insight and the results of how people responded is below.
Question 1: The umbrella was originally invented to protect people from the sun.
Give yourselves a pat on the back. Everyone answered that question correctly.
The basic umbrella was invented over four thousand years ago. Evidence of the umbrella has been seen in the ancient art and artifacts of Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and China. These ancient umbrellas or parasols, were first designed to provide shade from the sun. The Chinese were the first to waterproof their umbrellas for use as rain protection. They waxed and lacquered their paper parasols in order to use them for rain.
Question 2: There are four stages to the rain cycle: They are evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection.
Evaporation is when the sun heats up water in rivers or lakes or the ocean and turns it into vapor or steam. The water vapor or steam leaves the river, lake or ocean and goes into the air.
Condensation: Water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid, forming clouds. This is called condensation.
Precipitation occurs when so much water has condensed that the air cannot hold it anymore. The clouds get heavy and water falls back to the earth in the form of rain, hail, sleet or snow.
Collection: When water falls back to earth as precipitation, it may fall back in the oceans, lakes or rivers or it may end up on land. When it ends up on land, it will either soak into the earth and become part of the “ground water” that plants and animals use to drink or it may run over the soil and collect in the oceans, lakes or rivers where the cycle starts all over again.
Question 3: Rain that freezes before it hits the ground is called freezing rain.
Freezing rain is the name given to rain that falls when surface temperatures are below freezing. The raindrops become supercooled while passing through a sub-freezing layer of air, many hundred feet (or meters), just above the surface, and then freeze upon impact with any object they encounter. 
Question 4: The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world and covers territory on nine different nations. Those nine territories are: Brazil, Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, France (French Guiana), Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
Sixty percent of the Amazon Rainforest is in Brazil. Peru is the nest largest nation with 13% coverage. The remaining nations have smaller amounts.
Question 5: Which State is considered the wettest state in the United States?
Mount Waialeale in Hawaii is one of the wettest spots in the world averaging some 450 inches of rainfall annually, but travel only a few miles away and the amount of rainfall drops dramatically to 10 inches a year. So of the choices provided Louisiana is the wettest state receiving 60-64 inches of rainfall a year.
Question 6: During a flash flood 2 feet of water can float a large vehicle even a bus.
A flash flood is typically caused by sudden, excessive rainfall that sends a river, stream or other body of water rapidly out of its banks. Often this occurs in a short amount of time, only several hours or even less.
- 80% of flood deaths occur in vehicles, and most happen when drivers make a single, fatal mistake trying to navigate through flood waters.
- Just 6 inches of rapidly moving flood water can knock a person down.
- A mere 2 feet of water can float a large vehicle even a bus.
- One-third of flooded roads and bridges are so damaged by water that any vehicle trying to cross stands only a 50% chance of making it to the other side.
- The Big Thompson Canyon Flood killed 140 people in 1976. It proved a tragic illustration of a sobering statistic 95% of those killed in a flash flood try to outrun the waters along their path rather than climbing rocks or going uphill to higher grounds.
Question 7: What type of cloud is being referred to if "nimbo" appears at the begginning of a 
cloud name or if "nimbus" appears at the end of a cloud name? Its a rain cloud.
The conical Asian hat, sedge hat, rice hat, paddy hat or coolie hat is a simple style of conical hat originating in East and Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Japan and Korea. It is kept on the head by a cloth (often silk) chin strap; an internal band of the same material keeps the hat itself from resting on the wearer's head. This style of hat is used primarily as protection from the sun and rain. When made of straw or matting, it can be dipped in water and worn as an impromptu evaporative-cooling device.
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