Water Cycle

Water keeps moving

From water to air, through clouds and rain, and back across or beneath the land. Choose a journey to look closer.

Open water58%

Water vapor8%

Clouds12%

On land8%

Underground14%

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Wisps and dots reveal water’s paths. Vapor is invisible; groundwater fills tiny spaces in soil and rock. Journeys and timing are simplified.

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Water Cycle

Follow water from a lake or ocean to the clouds and back through rain, rivers, and the ground. Experiment with warmth and rainfall.

An open shoreline and wooded hillside beneath a rain cloud, with water paths visible in a soil cutaway.

Enable JavaScript in a browser with WebGL 2 to run this interactive simulation.

Water moves between the ground, lakes, oceans, and sky. The same water can make many journeys!

Warmth helps water evaporate into an invisible gas called water vapor. When moist air cools, tiny drops can form clouds.
Drops in clouds can join and fall as rain. Some water flows downhill; some soaks into the ground and moves through spaces in soil and rock.
The wisps and dots show water moving, even where it would be invisible. The open side of the land lets you see water underground. The total amount of water stays the same in this model.

Try this: Open Experiment, choose Heat wave and press Apply. Watch how the amounts of water in the ground, open water and sky change.