What Makes Rain? - Precipitation

In cold air way up in the sky, rain clouds will often form.   Rising warm air carries  water vapor high into the sky where it cools, forming water droplets around tiny bits of dust in the air.  Some vapor freezes into tiny ice crystals which attract cooled water drops.  The drops freeze to the ice crystals, forming larger crystals we call snowflakes.  When the snowflakes become heavy, they fall.  When the snowflakes meet warmer air on the way down, they melt into raindrops.  In tropical climates, cloud droplets combine together around dust or sea salt particles.  They bang together and grow in size until they're heavy enough to fall.

Experiment:

Be a Tropical Rain Maker!

Boil  water in a tea kettle.  Watch the steam come out and go into the air. (Evaporation)
Put ice in a metal pie pan.  Hold the pan over the steam and watch the drops form on the bottom of the pan. (Condensation)
As the drops grow in size, they will get heavy and start to fall. (Precipitation)