Mesoscale rainbands (5–50 km in average width and hundreds of kilometers in length) have been found in eleven extratropical cyclones. Six types of rainbands have been identified (warm frontal, warm sector, cold frontal–wide, cold frontal–narrow, wave-like, post-frontal). Comparison with extratropical cyclone data from various parts of the world indicates that these rainband types occur rather generally in midlatitude cyclones. The rainbands examined in this study contained small-scale areas of especially concentrated rainfall. These small-scale elements were 10–500 km2 in area, occurred in concentrations of 1–3 per 1000 km2, and moved with the wind between 850 and 700 mb.