Wild and Wacky Terms to Describe Heavy Rain

The heavy rain that has inundated much of the western U.S. in recent days has inspired an interesting barrage of words from meteorologists looking to add a little flair to their forecasts. The slang for "heavy rain" is largely regional in nature. While the monikers are all in good fun, the National Weather Service (NWS) actually maintains a glossary with more than 2,000 phrases, terms, and abbreviations for unique weather words. Here are some of the regionally distinct ways that different parts of the country refer to torrential rainfall.

Toad-strangler and Frog-strangler

Those in the South may be familiar with the term "toad-strangler." This moniker alludes to rain so heavy that it could drown a toad attempting to hop across the road. Toad-strangler comes from the southern U.S., a part of the nation where heavy rain is particularly common during the summer months. This type of rain generally comes on quickly, turning dirt paths into rivers in a matter of minutes.

Related to this is the term "frog-strangler." This slang also has origins in the South, primarily used along the Gulf Coast and the lower Mississippi Valley. The term is used to describe storms that are so powerful that they can drown local frogs. Like the toad-strangler, a frog-strangler can also turn a grassy area into a pond in an instant, quickly wiping out an amphibian population.

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