How much rain is a lot? (In mm)

Question

In a given day if it says there will be 1mm of rain, or 10mm, or 300mm… How much is a lot? What does 1mm feel like? How much is a moderate amount of rain? How much is a heavy rainy day? How much is likely to cause floods in most places?

Please give me the simplified answer like I’m actually 5.

In: Planetary Science

Answer 1

In 24 hours:

1mm of rain -> barely noticeable
10mm of rain -> light rain, either a decent short rain shower or a drizzle most of the day
80mm of rain -> heavy rain, probably raining most of the day. flooding possible, especially in areas not used to so much rain.
300mm of rain -> get a boat, major flooding, likely dangerous.
800mm of rain -> roughly the yearly equivalent of rain in many temperate countries. This much in a single day would be massive, catastrophic and deadly flooding pretty much anywhere.