Should You Walk or Run in the Rain? - Golden Gate Weather Services

Should You Walk or Run in the Rain?

With the recent rains I have been re-asked the eternal question: "Should I Walk or Run in the Rain?" This is a classic question that meteorologists get asked and upon which we have probably spent way too much time. So, does a person make impact with more droplets as they run faster even though they are exposed for a shorter period of time? Or do more drops hit the front of a running person than on their head and shoulders when they run instead of walk?

There have even been a number of studies to "scientifically'' calculate whether it's better to run or walk to shelter. One of the simpler studies had people wear a piece of cardboard over their heads and in front of them as they walked or ran through the rain and then the number of drops that marked the cardboard were counted. A more detailed effort from the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina had their experimental subjects wear identical moisture absorbing clothing as they walked 100 yards at 3 mph and then ran the same course at 9 mph. Their clothing was then weighed to find out how much water was absorbed. They found that speed helps ... the person who ran the course absorbed 40 percent less water than the walker!

And of course someone, again with way too much time on their hands, has put up a website to calculate how wet you would get based upon your size, speed and the rate of rainfall. See http://www.dctech.com/physics/notes/0006.php and http://www.dctech.com/physics/notes/0005.php.

Stay dry!

Jan Null, CCM
Golden Gate Weather Services
http://ggweather.com

Jan Null

Jan Null has been a meteorologist in the San Francisco Bay Area for 50 years and is frequently seen on television and heard on the radio when weather is in the news. Twenty-six years ago he founded a consulting firm, Golden Gate Weather Services, after a 24-year career with the National Weather Service. Mr. Null is a Bay Area native, having grown up in Oakland and lived in the East Bay until 2006 when he moved to Saratoga. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Science from UC Davis in 1974 and his Master’s from San Jose State in 1992. Jan joined the National Weather Service in 1974 at the Weather Service Forecast Office in Redwood City. He worked as an operational forecaster throughout his career, including 13 years as Lead Forecaster. During his tenure at the NWS he also served as Meteorologist-in-Charge at the Center Weather Service Unit at the FAA’s Air Traffic Control Center in Fremont. He also did extensive research into the relationship between El Niño, La Niña and California rainfall and throughout his career he was a frequent media spokesperson for the agency. Jan has also been an Adjunct Professor and Lecturer at San Francisco and San Jose State Universities where he taught one evening a week for nearly 30 years. In 1998, Jan founded Golden Gate Weather Services, a consulting firm that specializes in forensic meteorology. He frequently serves as an expert witness in litigation where the weather is a factor. This often involves reconstructing past weather events or as his wife refers to it: “CSI Weather”. Mr. Null is also an internationally recognized expert of the sad topic of the heatstroke deaths of children in vehicles. After the death of a child left a vehicle in San Jose in 2001 he did a comprehensive study of vehicle temperatures that was ultimately published in Pediatrics in 2005. Since that time he has spoken at numerous national conferences and worked with a wide variety of child safety advocacy groups and agencies to raise awareness about the dozens of children who die from hyperthermia in hot vehicles each year. This data continues to be updated at NOHeatstroke.org. In his spare time he is a serious amateur photographer, specializing in wildlife and landscapes. Jan is married to Susan Hollis, a lifelong Saratoga resident and Realtor. He has two adult children in the Bay Area and the world’s most adorable 9-year old granddaughter and 4-year grandson.

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