# We just had the weirdest rain shower... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 3, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299 "2004-07-03T00:22:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Igor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Vlad\_Igor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Igor)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/1 "2004-07-03T00:22:48Z")
…a moderate to heavy rain, and the sun was out the whole time! A few caveats: 1. It was 8:00pm local time, so the sun is starting to set (i.e. it was low in the sky). 2. There were high clouds directly overhead, but not the lower, darker clouds usually associated with such rain showers. 3. The NWS forecast discussion did mention highly efficient rain formation, but geeze, almost out of the blue? 4. We have big trees with lots of leaves that obscure the horizon, so there may have been a rain cell I couldn’t see. But it was amazing to see sunlight and rain at the same time. There was a rainbow in the street, too. BTW, I saw my first funnel cloud/tornado six weeks ago, but this was crazier. Vlad/Igor [Skywarn](http://www.skywarn.org/) observer for NWS [LMK](http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lmk/) ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/2 "2004-07-03T02:45:40Z")
Doesn’t that mean the devil is beating his wife? ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/3 "2004-07-03T08:14:45Z")
It was like that here in Lexington too, around five p.m or so. Really looks odd doesn’t it? No rainbows though. At least none I could see from work with my lovely view of the loading dock. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/4 "2004-07-03T13:24:00Z")
We’ll all be having Golden Showers! What!? ---
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Igor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Vlad\_Igor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Igor)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/5 "2004-07-03T14:16:14Z")
Slick: That sounds vaguely familiar, but I don’t remember an associated folklore with what I saw. dwyr: I’m not surprised. We usually get the same weather, but you get it about 45 minutes after we do. NoClue: Um, I think I’ll put on my rubbers for that, thank you. 😃 Vlad/Igor ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/6 "2004-07-03T14:43:51Z")
That sort of thing happens here a lot. There’ll be one smallish cloud that’s raining, and the sun’ll be out. It’s sort of weird, but I kinda like it. ---
**Author:** ![Tiggrkitty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tiggrkitty/32/17966_2.png) [@Tiggrkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiggrkitty)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/7 "2004-07-03T16:06:02Z")
> [@SlickRoenick](#): > > Doesn’t that mean the devil is beating his wife? First thing I thought of was that saying when I read the OP. Glad someone else has heard it as well! My mom use to say that all the time. We get those types of showers a lot here. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/8 "2004-07-04T00:43:33Z")
I didn’t even know the devil had a wife… In Japan we call it a “Kitsune-no-yomeiri”, or “fox’s wedding.” It was depicted in Kurosawa’s _Yume_ (_Dreams_). ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Stilettos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Red\_Stilettos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Stilettos)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/9 "2004-07-04T01:54:52Z")
In addition to the devil beating his wife, my grandmother used to say that if you put a brick on the ground and your ear to the brick, you could hear satan’s wife screaming. Why I thought that I could hear _anything_ through a brick, I’ll never know. :wally ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/10 "2004-07-04T01:59:35Z")
I also heard that when it rains with the sun out, it will rain at the exact same time tomorrow. From what I have seen, this has been true. Or maybe I’m just going looney-tunes. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/11 "2004-07-04T02:04:59Z")
They happen a lot here in Florida. We call them sun showers. The weirdest rain I ever saw was when I was sitting at an intersection in the clear, watching it pour on cars at the same light across the street. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/12 "2004-07-04T02:11:01Z")
> [@Tiggrkitty](#): > > First thing I thought of was that saying when I read the OP. Glad someone else has heard it as well! My mom use to say that all the time. We get those types of showers a lot here. I’ve only just heard it recently, sometime back in May/June when we here in Maryland were getting rain several times a week. I believe my dad said it and i asked what it meant. So it’s still a new saying to me. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/13 "2004-07-04T02:35:20Z")
Did it rain toads? Well then, not all that weird now is it? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/14 "2004-07-04T05:09:29Z")
> [@Johnny Bravo](#): > > The weirdest rain I ever saw was when I was sitting at an intersection in the clear, watching it pour on cars at the same light across the street. I had a similar one. We stopped at bank to use the ATM and it was raining in the next parking lot, but was perfectly dry in the bank parking lot, and it stayed that way the entire time we were in the bank lot. The other weird rain I saw was way back when I was in jr. high school and walked to school. It was a perfectly dry if slightly overcast day, and I was plodding along not really paying attention to much. I heard girls shriek up ahead, and looked up to see a literal wall of water moving towards me. Wasn’t much I could do but let out a few choice words, and a moment later I was soaked to the bone. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/15 "2004-07-04T14:03:25Z")
Papa Tiger, having spent a number of years in Guam, calls that “Guaming.” But it’s only true Guaming if you can’t actually find the cloud the rain is coming from, but instead all you can see is lovely sunshine while rain is falling on your head. Apparently it happens there a lot. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-just-had-the-weirdest-rain-shower/253299/16 "2004-07-04T15:20:15Z")
Back in the '70s when I was a teenager, I was out picking vegetables in a field that was divided by train tracks. On our side, it was sunny and hot. Then we all saw the sky above the other side get all dark. It began to rain, with hail (!) on the one side of the field, while across the tracks, not a drop. That’s the strangest weather I’ve seen!