A downpour is a sudden, heavy rainfall that comes down hard and fast, like someone dumping giant buckets of water from the sky. When a downpour hits, you can barely see across the street, and anyone caught outside gets soaked within seconds.

Unlike a gentle rain shower or steady drizzle, a downpour means business. The rain pounds on rooftops, overwhelms gutters, and creates instant puddles everywhere. Windshield wipers on cars can barely keep up. If you're walking to school when a downpour starts, you'll arrive drenched, even if you run.

Downpours usually don't last very long, sometimes just ten or fifteen minutes, though they can feel much longer if you're stuck waiting for them to pass. They often happen during summer thunderstorms, when warm, moisture-filled air suddenly releases all its water at once. After a downpour ends, the sun might come right back out, leaving behind fresh puddles and that clean smell of rain-washed air.

People sometimes use downpour metaphorically to describe anything that comes in an overwhelming rush, like a downpour of questions from curious students or a downpour of complaints about a new cafeteria rule.