The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word RAINFALL
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
R
A
I
N
F
A
L
L
More clues leading to the result RAINFALL
- Drops out of academy during a New York October?
- Artist in decline — could depression cause this?
- Number of cats and dogs?
- Drops artist during US season
- Water dropping in river with own Scottish season
- Drops not out, with Nadal covering lines
- At home, slip by artist in shower
- Feature of climate has artist getting home before autumn
- Precipitation‘s unendingly cold during autumn
- Weather that sees artist in decline
Buddy explains!

The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does RAINFALL mean?
RAINFALL noun- The amount of rain that falls on a single occasion
- The occurrence of liquid precipitation, the fall of rain.