# April Showers. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693 "2017-03-21T16:05:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/1 "2017-03-21T16:05:30Z")
> [@](#): > > April showers, > Bring May flowers. So goes an old children’s rhyme. But why? January is the coldest, because it is in the middle of winter, naturally. March in the windiest, probably because the seasons are changing, and hot air meets the cold. But why is April the rainiest? What weather phenomenon accounts for this? :):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/2 "2017-03-21T16:11:10Z")
I don’t think April has to be the rainiest to "bring May flowers. It isn’t even close to the most precipitation in the [Seattle area.](http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/seattle/washington/united-states/uswa0395) ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/3 "2017-03-21T16:20:30Z")
It’s nursury rhyme, not a meteorological forecast. Where I live it mostly rains in March, April, May and June, but that wouldn’t make a very good rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/4 "2017-03-21T16:23:00Z")
I think the old children’s rhyme just has a nice meter to it. I have just checked a couple of cities off the top of my head (Washington, D.C.; Kansas City, Kan.; and Ann Arbor, Mich.) and none have April as having peak annual rainfall. The only rationale is that the flowers come in May, and showers rhymes with flowers, and April comes before May. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/5 "2017-03-21T16:37:11Z")
It may or may not be related to the nursery rhyme, but the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales begins with a similar idea. > [@](#): > > When that April with his showers soote [sweet] > The drought of March hath piercèd to the root > And bathèd every vein in such liquor > Of which virtúe engendered is the flower Obviously an old English nursery rhyme isn’t going to be referring to the weather in Seattle or Kansas City, etc. Perhaps the weather in England is more predictably rainy in April. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/6 "2017-03-21T16:40:44Z")
The rhyme is a variation on a writing from the 1500s. See [https://www.quora.com/Where-does-the-poem-that-states-April-showers-bring-May-flowers-come-from](https://www.quora.com/Where-does-the-poem-that-states-April-showers-bring-May-flowers-come-from). Mostly, these days, the rhyme is part of the riddle: If April showers bring may flowers, what do may flowers bring? The answer to which is: Pilgrims!or, alternatively: June bugs! ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/7 "2017-03-21T17:00:04Z")
Am’t of daylight… am’t of rain… air temps… ground temps… all cross paths very nicely in April, thank you very much… Plus some thaw = more water and soil freedom. So, April showers have pretty good bang for the buck… but not the most in sheer quantity. So, you’re January rains ain’t gonna bring the flowers next month, for example. . ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/8 "2017-03-21T17:07:52Z")
Per Wiki, it’s [because the path of the jet stream changes over the British Isles at that time.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_shower) However, [average monthly rainfall in London](http://www.holiday-weather.com/london/averages/) does not go up that much in April. May is rainier. The rhyme may not apply elsewhere. For example,[in New York April is less rainy than March or May.](http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate.php?location=USNY0996) ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/9 "2017-03-21T18:10:28Z")
There’s nothing in the nursery rhyme that indicates that April is the rainiest month, or that an abundance of rain is what is causing the mayflowers. It only states that rain encourages the flower growth. ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/10 "2017-03-21T19:37:42Z")
The “poem” is a reminder that there’s a bigger picture and the unpleasantness of rainy days in one month leads to the joy of days filled with flowers in the next. Good things can come from bad. Simple as that. If you think this poem is about meteorology, I’m afraid you’ve missed the point. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/11 "2017-03-21T20:08:26Z")
Where I am, April is in a dead heat with May, October, and November for the _least_ average rainfall, and July and August are the biggest months. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/12 "2017-03-21T20:23:40Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > It’s nursury rhyme, not a meteorological forecast. Next you’ll tell me Monday’s child is not fair of face. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/13 "2017-03-22T00:47:35Z")
Well … some of them are. So it’s sorta true! ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/14 "2017-03-22T01:11:44Z")
> [@Ella Fitzgerald](#): > > I never knew the charm of spring > I never met it face to face > I never new my heart could sing > I never missed a warm embrace > > 'Til April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom > Holiday tables under the trees > April in Paris, this is a feeling > That no one can ever reprise I’ve read the Ella Fitzgerald didn’t /actually/ think that April was a good time to vist Paris\* It just worked better than “Tull May in Paris”. \*The rain reduces gradually from March-May. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/15 "2017-03-22T02:29:41Z")
The idea may come from Thomas Tusser who in 1557 compiled a collection of writings he called [Five Hundred Good Points of Husbandry](https://www.archive.org/stream/fivehundredpoint08tussuoft/fivehundredpoint08tussuoft_djvu.txt). In it is this line: “Sweet April showers, Do spring May flowers.” I can barely read this book and I’m not sure if it’s because it’s in Ye Olde English or it’s full of typos from some sort of scanning to text process. The actual quote is “Sweete April showers, Doc spring Male flowers”. Here are the other months: A kindly good Janiueere, Freeseth pot by the feere. Feb, fill the dike Forgotten month past. March dust to be sold, Worth ransome of gold. Sweete April showers, Doc spring Male flowers Cold Maie and windie, Barne filleth vp finelie. Calme weather in June Come sets in time. Dry August and warme, Doth haruest no harme. September blowe soft, Till fruite be in loft. October good blast, To blowe the hoa; mast. Nouember take flaile. Let ship no more saile. O dirtie December For Christmas remember. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/16 "2017-03-22T02:35:00Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > The idea may come from Thomas Tusser who in 1557 compiled a collection of writings he called [Five Hundred Good Points of Husbandry](https://www.archive.org/stream/fivehundredpoint08tussuoft/fivehundredpoint08tussuoft_djvu.txt). In it is this line: > > “Sweet April showers, Do spring May flowers.” > > I can barely read this book and I’m not sure if it’s because it’s in Ye Olde English or it’s full of typos from some sort of scanning to text process. The actual quote is “Sweete April showers, Doc spring Male flowers”. Here are the other months: > > A kindly good Janiueere, > Freeseth pot by the feere. > > Feb, fill the dike Forgotten month past. > > March dust to be sold, > Worth ransome of gold. > > Sweete April showers, > Doc spring Male flowers > > Cold Maie and windie, > Barne filleth vp finelie. > > Calme weather in June > Come sets in time. > > Dry August and warme, > Doth haruest no harme. > > September blowe soft, > Till fruite be in loft. > > October good blast, > To blowe the hoa; mast. > > Nouember take flaile. > Let ship no more saile. > > O dirtie December > For Christmas remember. Nice to have the full poem. I did make mention of the origin in my post, but this at least gives us dirtie December. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/17 "2017-03-22T03:03:37Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Nice to have the full poem. I did make mention of the origin in my post, but this at least gives us dirtie December. 😃 D’oh, I didn’t even see that. It’s not really a poem though, although the way I posted it might appear that way. It’s a very confusing thing to read but the only relevant section is “Sweet April showers, Do spring May flowers.” I just went through the text and collected the other months to put some perspective on what he said about them too. I was mainly curious what he said about their weather and how accurate it was. Here are summaries of the months he mentioned weather in those little blurbs. April - showers that bring flowers in May May - cold and windy (really? May?) June - calm weather August - dry and warm September - gentle winds October - stronger winds November - bad wind or weather, unfit for sailing I don’t really understand May, but I’d say that’s probably a fair but very very simplified and general summary of the months. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/18 "2017-03-22T03:48:11Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > **“April showers bring May flowers.”** > > But why is April the rainiest? Who says it’s the rainiest? That rhyme sure doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![LightWithoutHeattttttttttttttt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@LightWithoutHeattttttttttttttt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LightWithoutHeattttttttttttttt)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/19 "2017-03-22T10:57:18Z")
I just checked my water spout. There were no spiders to be found, itsy-bitsy or otherwise. All of these nursery rhymes could be wrong! ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693/20 "2017-03-23T03:19:59Z")
Oh come on. You’re not going to try to tell me that there wasn’t any old woman who lived in a shoe, are you? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-showers/782693.md?page=2)