gully washer
Intense flooding rain
A gully washer is a sudden, heavy rainstorm—the kind that sends torrents of water rushing through ditches and gullies.
The term is informal and predominantly American, especially in rural and Southern speech: We got caught in a real gully washer on the way home.
It emphasizes intensity rather than duration.
- cloudburstSudden heavy localized rainfall
- downpourIntense precipitation event
- heavy rainIntense sustained precipitation
- rainfallWater falling from clouds
- raining cats and dogsExtremely heavy precipitation
flash flood · flash flooding · rainstorm · deluge · torrential rain · torrent · cascade · rain bomb · precipitation · erosion · runoff · storm drain · drainage · thunderstorm · puddle-jumper · bucketfuls · monsoon · arroyos
- downpoursdownpour, torrential rain, heavy rain, pouring rain, cloudburst