# Raining, but clear skies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raining-but-clear-skies/118285 "2002-07-10T19:12:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raining-but-clear-skies/118285/1 "2002-07-10T19:12:19Z")
Last evening my SO went out to do something, and he called for me to come outdoors. So I went out, and it was raining. he asked me if I noticed anything odd…I looked up into the sky and it was totally clear above us. The closest cloud was way off to the east, but drops were coming down. It wasn’t raining hard, but it was raining. We were not under any trees, and there was no wind whatsoever. What was happening? ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raining-but-clear-skies/118285/2 "2002-07-10T19:32:10Z")
My bad. My hang glider doesn’t have a porta-pottie. ---
**Author:** ![o0alter\_ego0o](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@o0alter\_ego0o](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/o0alter_ego0o)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raining-but-clear-skies/118285/3 "2002-07-10T19:39:53Z")
So thats where all of my carrier pigeons went! ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raining-but-clear-skies/118285/4 "2002-07-11T00:18:34Z")
I’ve had that happen to me too many times and it was _clearly_ rain, so I assume **NurseCarmen** and the carrier pigeons had nothing at all to do with it. It’s probably wind. Remember, wind runs in layers - the surface layer may be absolutely still, especially if there are lots of trees and other obstructions about, while three hundred feet up, it could be blowing at twenty miles per hour. For proof, stand on top of a tall building. Or fly up to around twenty thousand feet and try to go against the jet stream, whose winds can exceed two hundred miles per hour. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raining-but-clear-skies/118285/5 "2002-07-11T03:53:34Z")
When the rain has already left the cloud, but then the wind blows the cloud away so the sun “comes out” … while the rain keeps falling under where the cloud was. Late in the afternoon or early in the morning, when the sun is low near the horizon, and this sunny rain phenomenon occurs, look at the opposite side of the sky from the sun. These conditions are perfect for a rainbow to appear. The Orang Asli tribes of the Malaysian rain forest believe that if rain falls on you when the sun is shining, it’ll make you very sick. They wear garlands of certain plants to ward off the ill effects. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2002, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raining-but-clear-skies/118285/6 "2002-07-11T04:35:15Z")
The devil was beating his wife…🙂