The rain-wind induced vibration of stays is a phenomenon discovered recently and not well explained yet. As it is influenced by a wide range of physical parameters (cable size and shape, wind speed, direction and turbulence, rain intensity, material repellency and roughness, cable weight, damping and pre-strain), this peculiar phenomenon is difficult to reproduce in laboratory controlled conditions. A successful wind tunnel experimental campaign, in which some basic physical quantities were measured, allowed an extensive analysis as to identify the parameters of the rain-wind induced excitation. The unsteady pressure field and water thickness around a cable model were measured under rainy-excited conditions. The knowledge of those parameters provided helpful information about the air-flow around the cable and allowed to clarify the physical phenomenon which produces the excitation.