Listening practice: The rivers in the sky that bring rain

Imagine a river that has no banks, no fish, and no visible surface. It does not flow along the ground. It moves through the lower atmosphere as a long band of water vapor, pushed by strong winds over the ocean. According to NOAA NESDIS, an atmospheric river can be about two hundred fifty to three hundred seventy five miles wide, and more than one thousand miles long. That is why weather scientists sometimes call it a river in the sky. You cannot stand beside it, but when it reaches mountains or cooler air, you may hear it on the roof as rain.