The actual saying hails from way back in 1886 and goes like this: “March winds and April showers bring May flowers and June bugs.” But April isn’t always a rainy month across the United States and flowers begin blooming a lot sooner than May in parts of our South.
So where did this saying come from and why is it so prevalent? It turns out, the saying originates in the United Kingdom where it can be pretty soggy in the spring. The saying even has roots from a poem written way back in 1610!
Showers, torrents, scattered, drenching… all words to describe the kind of rain that can fall around us. Rain can come down hard or be a gentle mist that provides a good backdrop to the nature photographer.
No matter which way you view it, rainfall is a key component of returning water to the ground under our feet with a little bit of added ambience albeit an atmosphere included. How many of us like a rainy day? Like the Carpenters’ song says: “…rainy days and Mondays always get me down.” There are folks who enjoy a nice rainy day… maybe because it gives us a chance to do indoor chores that you’ve been putting off!
Rain water, also called precipitation, is a natural feature of the Earth’s weather system. Air currents in the atmosphere bring evaporated water from the ocean and the Earth’s surface up into the sky. The evaporated liquid condenses in the cold air, forming moisture-filled rain clouds.
The most well-known and most important effect of rain is to provide you with water to drink. According to the United States Geological Survey, rain water seeps into the ground in a process called infiltration. Some of the water seeps deep beneath the top layers of soil where it fills up the space between subsurface rocks—it becomes groundwater, also called the water table. Less than 2 percent of the Earth’s water is groundwater, but it provides 30 percent of our fresh water. Without this continued replenishment of the water table, potable water would become scarce.
According to the National Climatic Data Center, the wettest place in the world with the highest average amount of yearly rainfall is Lloro, Colombia with a whopping 523.6 inches! The highest-ranked American location is Mt. Waialeale, Hawaii with an average of 460 inches per year. The driest location in the world is also in South America and is Arica, Chile with an average annual rainfall of just 0.03 inches.
Pennsylvania receives an average of 41 inches of rainfall every year. Floods are more common in our Commonwealth in the months of March and April than other months of the year due to the amount of rainfall received during this time.
According to data from SEDCO, Schuylkill County receives 40 inches of rain annually on average (annual snowfall is average of 51 inches as a comparison). Tamaqua area is our wettest spot with 52 inches per year. Schuylkill Haven and Lake Wynonah report an average rainfall of 48 inches per year. Penn State Climate Data lists Joliett in their state records. The community received a record 13.39 inches on one December day in 1996!
The teardrop shape of a raindrop has been accepted as fact for generations and has even inspired songwriters over the years from Dee Clark to James Blunt. NASA, however, has discovered that in reality raindrops are shaped rather like the prosaic top of a hamburger bun, round at the top and flat at the bottom.
Initially the moisture forms into a small globe as the molecules bind together. As the rain falls it initially maintains its ball-like shape. As the raindrop gets heavier it forms into the shape of a hamburger bun. But as it drops to Earth pressure from below pushes up against the drop distorting its shape until it resembles the bun or perhaps a kidney bean. The distortion continues as it falls, bigger ones—which are about three-sixteenths of an inch—eventually resemble parachutes, before breaking into smaller drops.
Rain can also contain Vitamin B12. You read that right and this is one of those facts that gets bandied about the Internet like an erratic little fish in a fish bowl.
It is said that many microorganisms that occur naturally in nature can produce Vitamin B12. Rain water is not pure water and as rainwater falls through the air and washes down rooftops, microorganisms can get caught up inside it. And these organisms can produce Vitamin B12 as a metabolic byproduct. So, rain does not inherently contain Vitamin B12. However, there are circumstances whereby it can contain Vitamin B12.
Rain can be fun too. How many of us recall splashing around in a puddle? Or, watched a dog shake off the effects of being rained upon?
Feel alive this spring and stand outside in a gentle rainfall and experience both its wet and cooling qualities!
Image: Canva
About the Author: “Porcupine Pat” McKinney is a part-time environmental education coordinator for the Schuylkill Conservation District and provides programming for people of all ages with a special emphasis on schools, nature center development and public programming.
“Porcupine Pat” is originally from Marion, Ohio and holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree with Distinction in Natural Resources with an emphasis on Environmental Interpretation from The Ohio State University.
He is a recipient of the prestigious Sandy Cochran Award for Excellence in Natural Resources Education from the Pennsylvania Forestry Association in 2005, the 2007 Schuylkill Pride Award, the 2010 Schuylkill Outdoors Personality of the Year and a recipient of the 2013 PA Association of Environmental Educators “Outstanding Environmental Educator Award.”
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