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A sunshower, or sun shower, is a
meteorological phenomenon This glossary of meteorology is a list of terms and concepts relevant to meteorology and atmospheric science, their sub-disciplines, and related fields. A ...
in which
rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
falls while the Sun is seen shining. A sunshower is usually a result of winds associated with a rain storm sometimes miles away, blowing the airborne raindrops into an area where there are no clouds. Sometimes a sunshower is created when a single rain
shower A shower is a place in which a person bathes under a spray of typically warm or hot water. Indoors, there is a drain in the floor. Most showers are set up to have adjustable temperature, spray pressure and showerhead nozzle angle. The si ...
cloud passes overhead, and the Sun's angle keeps the
sunlight Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible spectrum, visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrare ...
from being obstructed by overhead clouds. Sunshower conditions often lead to the appearance of a
rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...
, if the sun is at a sufficiently low angle.


Names

Although the term "sunshower" is used in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
and the UK, it is rarely found in dictionaries. The phenomenon has a wide range of sometimes remarkably similar
folkloric Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes material ...
names in cultures around the world. A common theme is that of clever animals and
tricksters In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwise ...
like the
devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...
or
witches Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...
getting married, although many variations of this theme exist.


The Americas

*In
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, two phrases are common: In northern Mexico, it is said that "a doe is giving birth" (''está pariendo una venada''), whereas in southern Mexico, it is said that "two elders are getting married" (''se están casando los viejitos''). *In
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
is referred as "The Monkey at the Wedding of
Mirtha Legrand Rosa María Juana Martínez Suárez (born 23 February 1927), known by her stage name Mirtha Legrand (; from the French , "the great"), is an Argentine actress and television presenter. With an 80-year career, Legrand is one of the most recognize ...
" (''El Mono del Casamiento de Mirtha Legrand''), the phrase "A hag is getting married" (''Se casa una vieja'') is also common. *In the
Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...
, a sunshower is said to occur when "the devil is beating his wife." A regional variation from
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
is "the devil is kissing his wife". *
Ketchikan, Alaska Ketchikan ( ; ) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough on Revillagigedo Island of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic Landmark District. With a p ...
, is one of the most consistently rainy places on Earth, and has a meter in town to measure "Liquid Sunshine". This makes it an Alaskan Panhandle colloquialism.


Asia

*In
Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
it is called a "siyaar ke biyaah" ("jackals' wedding") with children singing about it. *In Garo, it is called "peru bia ka'enga", which means "fox's/jackal's marriage". *In several parts of
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, such as
Kantō region The is a geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...
,
Chūbu region The , Central region, or is a region in the middle of Honshū, Japan's main island. In a wide, classical definition, it encompasses nine prefectures (''ken''): Aichi, Fukui, Gifu, Ishikawa, Nagano, Niigata, Shizuoka, Toyama, and Ya ...
,
Kansai region The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropol ...
,
Chūgoku region The , also known as the region, is the westernmost region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It consists of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori and Yamaguchi. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 7,328,339 ...
,
Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...
, and
Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...
, sunshowers are called "
kitsune no yomeiri The is a term or metaphor for certain natural phenomena, or a folk belief regarding a supernatural event, in Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. The term "kitsune no yomeiri" can refer to several things: atmospheric ghost lights, in which it appears as i ...
" (狐の嫁入り, "the fox's wedding") *In
Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
, it is called "the day of the fox's marriage" (여우 시집가는 날) or "the day of the tiger's marriage"(호랑이 장가가는 날) *In
Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
region of India, in
Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...
, it is called "Kolhyache Lagna" (कोल्ह्याचे लग्न), which means "marriage of a fox". *In
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
, it is called "the fox's wedding" (). *In Oriya, it is called "the fox's wedding" (). *In some Pahari languages of Himachal Pradesh, they say
Takri The Tākri script (Takri (Chamba district, Chamba): ; Takri (Jammu Division, Jammu/Dogri script, Dogra): ; sometimes called Tankri ) is an abugida writing system of the Brahmic scripts, Brahmic family of scripts. It is derived from the Sharada ...
: 𑚌𑚮𑚛𑚖𑚯𑚣𑚭𑚫 𑚤𑚭 𑚠𑚶𑚣𑚭𑚩, ISO: gidaḍīyām̐ rā byāh, meaning "Female Foxes' Wedding". *In the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, it is said the
tikbalang The Tikbalang (/ˈtikbaˌlaŋ/) (also Tigbalang, Tigbalan, Tikbalan, Tigbolan, or Werehorse) is a creature of Philippine folklore said to lurk in the mountains and rainforests of the Philippines. It is a tall, bony humanoid (half-human and h ...
is marrying.


Europe

*In
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
,
Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
and
The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
: The traditional belief is that of "Duiveltjeskermis" or "Devil's fair". *In
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, it is either "" "the devil beats his wife and marries his daughter", or "" "the devil beats his wife to have crêpes", and both were inspired from
Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
's poem in
Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...
' ''
Praeparatio Evangelica ''Preparation for the Gospel'' (, ''Euangelikē proparaskeuē''), commonly known by its Latin title ''Praeparatio evangelica'', is a work of Christian apologetics written by Eusebius in the early part of the fourth century AD. It was begun about th ...
'', where
Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...
, angry with
Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...
, made her believe that he was marrying Daedale when in fact it was a wooden statue. Hera, jealous, provoked a heavy downpour on the wedding day but at the same time realised the trick. In order to redeem herself, she turned her cries into laughter, reconciled herself with Zeus, and happily took the lead of the wedding party, instituting the festival of Daedala in memory of the event. *In Galicia, the traditional belief is that the vixen or the fox is getting married: ''casa a raposa'' / ''casa o raposo''; sometimes the wolf and the vixen: ''Estanse casando o lobo coa raposa''. *In
Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
, the children's song ''It rains and the sun shines'' associates sunshowers with the mood of witches: on the sunny side, they are happy and comb their hair; on the rainy side, they are grieving. *A wide range of expressions are attested in
German-speaking countries The following is a list of the countries and territories where German is an official language (also known as the Germanosphere). It includes countries that have German as (one of) their nationwide official language(s), as well as dependent ter ...
, many of them historically, e.g. "There's a feast day in hell" ( Oldenburg), "marriage n hell (
East Frisia East Frisia () or East Friesland (; ; ; ) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisia (peninsula), East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia and to the ...
), "funfair n hell (
Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...
,
Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...
), the latter one attested already in 1630. Others are "They're baking in hell", "The devil is making pancakes" (Oldenburg), "
Frau Holle "Frau Holle" (; ; also known as "Mother Holle", "Mother Hulda" or "Old Mother Frost") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in '' Children's and Household Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 24). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 480. Frau Holle ...
hosts a funfair" (Lower Rhineland), "There's a marriage among the heathens/gypsies" (
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
), "The devil's dancing with his grandmother" ( Winsen district, Lower Saxony), "The devil is marrying" (
Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...
), "The devil is endowing his daughters" (
Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...
). Often, the phenomenon is interpreted as a struggle between rain and sunshine. "The devil is beating his wife/grandmother/mother-in-law" (
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
,
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, Lunenburg), "The deviless gets beaten" (
Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights, Eger is best known for Castle of Eger, its ...
country, Bohemia), "The devil is stabbing his wife with a sword" (
Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle (district), Celle in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller (Germany), Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about ...
, Lower Saxony), "The devil has hanged his mother" (
Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...
). The versions referring to the devil's wife (instead of grandmother etc.) are the older ones. Praetorius (''Blockes Berges Verrichtung'', Leipzig 1668) mentions „Der Teufel schlägt seine Mutter, daß sie öl gibt“ (The devil is beating his mother so she will give oil). In Schleswig-Holstein and Oldenburg, there is also: "The devil is bleaching his grandmother", as this usually involved repeated dampening of cloth in the sun – quite fitting for the weather phenomenon. Otherwise, idioms refer to witches. "The witches are dancing", "The old witch is making pancakes" (Schleswig-Holstein), "The witches are making butter" (
Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
), "The witches are being buried at the end of the world" (
North Frisia North Frisia (; ; ; ; ) is the northernmost portion of Frisia, located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, between the rivers Eider River, Eider and Vidå, Wiedau. It also includes the North Frisian Islands and Heligoland. The region is traditionally ...
). Although later on witches are often depicted as the devil's mistresses, not a single idiom about sunshowers shows them as such. Around the Baltic Sea, there are also references to sunshowers and "whore's children", i.e. illegitimate children: "Now a whore's child has been sired/baptised" (Mecklenburg). Similar expressions could be found in Finland. Furthermore, there are humorous versions like: "A lieutenant is paying his debts" (Rhineland), "A nobleman goes to heaven" (Lunenburg), "A tailor goes to heaven" (Schleswig-Holstein, Upper Saxony), "The devil gets a lawyer's soul" (Oldenburg). Completely different in origin are "The wolf has fever/bellyache" or "Now the wolves are pissing" (Mecklenburg). *In
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
, it is called , "mushroom rain", as such conditions are traditionally believed to be favorable to growing mushrooms. Also, it is called , "blind rain", because it doesn't see that it shouldn't be raining.


Africa

*In
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, it is often referred to as a "monkey's wedding". *In Afrikaans the idiom Jakkals trou met Wolf se vrou is used to refer to a sunshower. It translates to "Jackel marries Wolf's wife". *It's a common belief in
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
that an elephant or lion is giving birth.


See also

*
April shower In parts of the Northern Hemisphere, an April shower is rain during the month of April. One of the major causes of the often heavy downpours is the position of the jet stream. In early spring, the jet stream starts to move northwards, allowing ...


References


Further reading

* Blust, Robert (1998) ''The Fox's Wedding''. Manuscript, University of Hawaii. * Evgen'jeva, A. P., ed. (1985-) ''Slovar' russkogo jazyka v 4 tomakh'', 3rd edition. Moscow. * * * * Kuusi, Matti (1957) ''Regen bei Sonnenschein: Zur Weltgeschichte einer Redensart''. "Folklore Fellows Communications" n. 171, Helsinki 1957 (it appeared translated into Italian in the journal ''Quaderni di Semantica'' 13 (1992) and 14 (1993)). * Hoffmann-Krayer, E. (1930–31) ''Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens''. Berlin and Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter.


External links

* {{Commons-inline, Sun shower
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