Where does rain come from? It comes from the water on Earth. The water cycle is the path that all water follows as it moves around Earth. The cycle never ends. It connects all the water on the planet.

Most of Earth's water is in the ocean. About 96.5 percent of it is there, as of November 2026. Some water is in the air, on the land and underground. Some is solid ice, in glaciers and at the North and South Poles.

The sun starts the trip. Its heat makes water evaporate. Evaporation is when liquid water turns into water vapor, a gas. It happens over oceans, lakes, rivers and even puddles. Heat gives the water the energy it needs.

Plants help too. Trees and other plants send water vapor into the air. This is called transpiration. Nearly 90 percent of the moisture in the air comes from oceans, seas, lakes and rivers. Most of the rest comes from plants.

Air gets cooler as it rises. When water vapor cools, it turns back into liquid water. This is called condensation. The tiny drops gather into clouds. Each drop needs a speck of dust, salt or smoke to cling to.

Cloud droplets grow as more water vapor condenses onto them. Rain falls when the drops get too heavy to stay in the cloud. Falling ice crystals may land as snow. Or they may melt on the way down and land as rain.

Rain and snow are called precipitation. It is the main way water in the air gets back to the ground. Hail is precipitation too. It grows in thunderstorm clouds when liquid water drops freeze onto it.

Then the water keeps moving. Some runs off the land into rivers and lakes. Some seeps into the soil and becomes groundwater. Rivers, streams and groundwater carry water back to the ocean. When snow and ice melt, that water flows on too.

Here is a fact to remember. Salt does not evaporate with the water. It is left behind when seawater evaporates. The water that rises goes up, forms clouds and falls again. The water cycle is an endless process that connects all the water on Earth.

Words to know

• evaporate: turn to gas
• condensation: gas turning liquid
• precipitation: falling rain
• transpiration: plants releasing water

The short version

Rain comes from water on Earth that the sun's heat turns into water vapor. The vapor rises, cools and condenses into cloud drops. When the drops get too heavy, they fall as rain or snow. The water then runs back toward the ocean, and the cycle starts again.

Quick facts

• About 96.5 percent of Earth's water is in the oceans, as of November 2026.
• Evaporation is when liquid water turns into water vapor, a gas.
• Nearly 90 percent of the moisture in the air comes from oceans, seas, lakes and rivers.
• Cloud droplets form around tiny specks of dust, salt or smoke.
• Salt does not evaporate with the water. It is left behind when seawater evaporates.