According to the forecast, it looks like a pretty damp week in the way. Showers or rain pretty much all then way through. But can you smell it?
A lot of people say they can smell rain. Science in general agrees, although it is apparently easier to smell summer rain on the way.
Before a lightening storm, we might pick up the sweetish smell of ozone. Then there are other damp smells we might get from various plants and even from the soil itself. Not all of the odors are pleasant, but there generally is a pre-rain sort of smell you might notice.
There are even theories that some of these pre-rain smells can trigger things in some fish and animals, like spawning activity. Possibly because if it’s raining, it’s not snowing anymore. But some people claim even to smell snow on the way.
In some cases, it’s the dampness of a coming storm that can produce the smell, but there does seem to be a different smell in the air before a rain. And apparently, there are plants that will release certain chemicals ahead or a rain storm, but particularly if there has been a fairly long period of drought. I guess they get a bit excited about the idea of rain.
With spring getting underway, I was thinking maybe it was just a damp smell that went with things starting to thaw out. But there are apparently a number of different odors that can pop up just before rain happens. Although with an entire week of showers and rain in the forecast, we should have been smelling this coming for a few weeks.
Maybe I’m just not paying enough attention.