The particle sizes range from submicrometer- and micrometer-sized (created by condensation of plasma in the fireball), through 10–500 micrometers (surface material agitated by the blast wave and raised by the afterwinds), to millimeter and above (crater ejecta). The size of particles together with the altitude they are carried to, determines the length of their stay in the atmosphere, as larger particles are subject to dry precipitation. Smaller particles can be also scavenged by precipitation, either from the moisture condensing in the cloud itself or from the cloud intersecting with a rain cloud. The fallout carried down by rain is known as "rain-out" if scavenged during raincloud formation, "washout" if absorbed into already formed falling raindrops.