Does rain affect ballflight?

[JML22]

So its pissing rain out right now but i want to goto the range
will it affect distances to a decent degree?

[iacas]

So its pissing rain out right now but i want to goto the range

Yes. But if you're working on your swing, why worry about distances?

[JML22]

ya exactly that's why i'm gonna go but was just wondering is all

[Danny Noonan]

I'm not trying to bash the op, but certainly common sense would dictate to you the answer.

[Range King]

Temperature alone is influencing distances. Warm air is less dense than cold air, hence ball goes further.
So thousands of raindrops pounding the ball during flight will most certainly make a difference.

[montru]

Warm Humid air also slows the ball down I believe, I live here in SW Florida, when I go to AZ where the air is less humid but still warm I get about another 10% on my yardages.

[Chilli Dipper]

Humidity in the atmosphere creates thicker air. The increased density results in greater resistance on the ball in ball flight, ergo reduced carry.

[Paradox]

Warm Humid air also slows the ball down I believe, I live here in SW Florida, when I go to AZ where the air is less humid but still warm I get about another 10% on my yardages.

Humidity makes the air less dense because water vapor takes the place of heavier gases(nitrogen and oxygen). The difference between 90% humidity and 10% humidity is about 2 yards of distance loss in the dry air. Temperature and elevation will play much bigger factors in distance.

Your gain in distance from Florida to Arizona is due to the very drastic difference in elevation between the two states.

[montru]

Humidity makes the air less dense because water vapor takes the place of heavier gases(nitrogen and oxygen). However, the vapor also does slow the ball down..but not in any noticable amount. The difference between 90% humidity and 10% humidity is about 2 yards of distance loss. Temperature and elevation will play much bigger factors in distance.

I have had sooo many different answers to this, interesting!

[Paradox]

I have had sooo many different answers to this, interesting!

You can research that opinion of mine all ya want and it'll be the same every time. Its a long, drawn out answer as to why humid air is less dense than dry air but just remember, water vapor is a lighter gas than nitrogen and oxygen and thus, the air is less dense.

I edited my original post to note that the loss in distance actually occurs in the DRY AIR. As for the elevation, the air is always thinner(read: less dense) the higher you go. There are less and less of all the gases as you go higher and the less gases there are, the less dense the air.

[zeg]

In actual rain (or perhaps condensing fog), I think the main effect will be contact with liquid phase water, rather than the vapor, so I'd expect there to be a loss of distance. I'd think as humidity increases, first you'll see the effect Paradox describes, giving longer flight (probably lower trajectory because less dense air will give less lift), then when the liquid water enters the picture, the distance will begin to drop, until it's a torrential downpour and you're effectively hitting through water instead of air.

You'll probably also get less spin to begin with due to water on the ball and club, which will probably give you less lift and give you a lower ball flight.

[jamo]

Humidity makes the air less dense because water vapor takes the place of heavier gases(nitrogen and oxygen). The difference between 90% humidity and 10% humidity is about 2 yards of distance loss in the dry air. Temperature and elevation will play much bigger factors in distance.

This is correct. It's a common misconception that humid air is heavier.

[Fourputt]

So its pissing rain out right now but i want to goto the range

Um.... unless you are at a pretty high class range, what does it matter? You're hitting

range balls , which are only rarely going to be anything like what you use on the course, so trying to figure out how much rain will affect them seems mostly irrelevant to me. I've never found distance achieved on the range to translate well onto the course, where I play a real golf ball. In any event, if it's raining so hard that the ball is significantly affected, then you probably won't be out there long enough for it to matter. It would take a deluge for the air to be that saturated with raindrops. And as mentioned, high humidity increases distance. Too many factors involved to make any sort of really informative answer to your question.