If you want to predict extreme rainstorms, it’s vital you know how small processes, such as condensation, affect bigger systems. These small processes, however, are hard to study. To learn more about these microphysical processes, researchers performed statistical analysis on a global data set of rain drop size distributions. They revealed the rain drops fit into six groups. These groups are independent of location. That is, the drop size distributions revealed six main groups that are linked to cloud processes and types.