eli5 When we have a dry season, where is that missing water?

Question

If an area that usually gets a lot of rain during the rainy season is getting less and less rain each year, where is that water going? Is it landing somewhere else or is it evaporating into the atmosphere permanently?

In: 3

Answer 1

In the ocean, mainly. Not in the atmosphere: if all the precipitable water in the atmosphere were to rain out it’d be a layer just a few centimeters thick.