A
rainband is a
cloud and
precipitation structure associated with an area of rainfall which is significantly elongated. Rainbands can be
stratiform or
convective, and are generated by differences in temperature. When noted on
weather radar imagery, this precipitation elongation is referred to as banded structure. Rainbands within tropical cyclones are curved in orientation. Tropical cyclone rainbands contain showers and thunderstorms that, together with the eyewall and the eye, constitute a
hurricane or tropical storm. The extent of rainbands around a tropical cyclone can help determine the cyclone's intensity.
