Author Topic: Sunshowers  (Read 115 times)

Offline Nichi

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Sunshowers
« on: January 05, 2012, 07:00:03 AM »
From Wiki:

A sunshower or sun shower is a meteorological phenomenon in which rain falls while the sun is shining. These conditions often lead to the appearance of a rainbow, if the sun is at a low enough angle. Although used in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and parts of Britain, the term "sunshower" is rarely found in dictionaries. Additionally, the phenomenon has a wide range of sometimes remarkably similar folkloric names in cultures around the world. A common theme is that of trickster animals, or the devil, getting married, although many variations of parts of this theme exist.

Meteorology

The nature of cumuluform clouds is such that the sun can often be seen while they are producing rain. If a sunshower occurs when the sun is low in the sky (specifically, any time the sun is at less than a 42° angle), a rainbow can occur.

Anecdotally, a sunshower is said to be a sign that rain will occur again soon, specifically that it will rain the next day.

Folkloric names

Animals

    In South African English, a sunshower is referred to as a "monkey’s wedding", a loan translation of the Zulu umshado wezinkawu, a wedding for monkeys. In Afrikaans, it is referred to as jakkalstrou, jackals wedding, or also Jakkals trou met wolf se vrou as dit reën en die son skyn flou, meaning: "Jackal marries Wolf's wife when it rains and the sun shines faintly."
    In Hindi, it is also called "the foxes wedding".
    In Konkani, it is called "a monkey's wedding".
    In Sinhala, it is called "the foxes wedding".
    In Bengali, it is called "a devil's wedding".
    In Brazil, people say "Rain and sun (chuva e sol), Snail's (caracol) wedding", "Sun and rain (sol e chuva), Widow's (viúva) marriage", or "Casamento da Raposa" (Fox's Wedding).
    In Arabic, the term is "the rats are getting married".
    In Korea, a male tiger gets married to a fox.
    In Eritrea, the traditional belief is that the hyena is giving birth.
    In various African languages, leopards are getting married.
    In Kenya, hyenas are getting married.
    One animal, the fox, crops up all over the world, from Kerala to Japan (Japan also refers to it as 'Kitsune (the fox) takes a bride') to Armenia; there’s even an English dialect term, "the foxes’ wedding", known from the south west of England. In Calabria, Italy, it is said: "When it rains with sun, the foxes are getting married.” In Finland, it is said "the foxes take their bath".
    In Bulgaria, there is a saying about the bear marrying.
    In Tamil Nadu, South India, the Tamil speaking people say that the fox and the crow/raven are getting married.
    In Mazandarani language, in north of Iran, it is also called "the jackal’s wedding".
    In parts of the United Kingdom, it is referred to as "a monkey's birthday".
    In Pashto, it is also called "Da gidarh wade" or "the jackal's wedding".
    In Hawaii, it is known as "Ghost Rain".
    In El Salvador, the traditional belief is that the deer is giving birth.

Devils

In the United States, particularly the South, a sunshower is said to show that "the devil is beating his wife"; a regional variant from Tennessee is "the devil is kissing his wife".[4][5] In Canada, it's typically related to the devil beating his wife, then marrying numerous offspring; it is also said that he slaughters and rapes cattle, and then dances, which leads to rain.

In French, the phrase is "Le diable bat sa femme et marie sa fille" (i.e., "the devil is beating his wife and marrying his daughter"). In German, the variation is "Wenn's regnet und die Sonne scheint, so schlägt der Teufel seine Großmutter: er lacht und sie weint" (i.e., "When it's raining and the sun shines, the devil is beating his grandmother: he laughs and she cries"). The Hungarian "Az Ördög veri a feleségét" and the Piedmontese "Al diau al bat la fumna" also both translate as "the devil is beating his wife". The lower Caribbean variant is "The devil and his wife are fighting for a bone". The Brugarian variant is: "The devil has thrown over his wife for a fox." In the Netherlands people say "Het is kermis in de hel" (i.e., "There is a funfair in hell").

Witches

In Polish, the saying is that "when the sun is shining and the rain is raining, the witch is making butter". In Spain and the Dominican Republic, it is said a witch is getting married.

In dialects of north-eastern Italy (Veneto), a variation concerns "witches" and "combing": piova e sole, le strighe se pètena ("rain and sun, the witches are combing their hair"), piova e sole, la striga se fa le coe ("rain and sun, the witch is plaiting her hair"). A further variation is found in Catalan folklore, in a song: plou i fa sol, les bruixes es pentinen, plou i fa sol, les bruixes porten dol ("it rains and sun is shining, witches comb their hair, it rains and sun is shining, the witches are mourning").

Other variations

For Filipinos, "elves are getting married", or "tikbalang" (half-horse, half-men) and a "kapre" are getting married, while in Greece it is the poor.

In Lithuanian and Estonian (vaeslapse pisarad), the phenomenon is described as "orphans' tears", where the sun is the grandmother drying those tears. In Russian, it is called грибной дождь (gribnoy dozhd'), "mushroom rain", as such conditions are considered favorable to growing mushrooms. It is also often referred to as слепой дождь (slepoy dozhd'}, which literally translates as "blind rain".

In Brazil a common rhyme is "Sol e chuva, casamento de viúva. Chuva e sol, casamento de espanhol", meaning: "Sun and rain, a widow's marriage. Rain and sun, a Spanish man's marriage."
« Last Edit: January 05, 2012, 07:33:42 AM by Nichi »
Not here, not there, but everywhere - always right before your eyes.
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Offline Nichi

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Re: Sunshowers
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2012, 07:27:37 AM »

Fox Bridal Procession by Nishiyama Hoen

British Museum's curator-comment:
"A fanciful depiction of the "fox's bridal procession" referred to in the popular phrase 'kitsune no yome-iri', used of a sudden shower from a clear sky. The procession of foxes winds lengthily from the upper to the lower part of the picture. A half-moon hangs in the sky, and the procession advances through an open countryside full of Japanese pampas, 'ominaeshi' (a plant with yellow flowers), Chinese bellflowers, and other autumn flowers and grasses. The foxes all wear formal 'kamishimo', with swords at their sides, and carry paper lanterns. One of them, at the head of procession, is adjusting the flame of his lantern, and around the middle of the procession is visible a palanquin, presumably carrying the bride.

Nishiyama Hoen, a native of Osaka, studied with Keibun, producing many pictures of human figures, flowers-and-birds, and animals in motion.
Not here, not there, but everywhere - always right before your eyes.
~Hsin Hsin Ming

Offline Michael

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Re: Sunshowers
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2012, 02:35:50 PM »
I can understand how people get spooked. The first sunshower I recall is still strongly etched in my mind - I was about 6 years old. There is always something magical about it, but have never felt any desire to connect it with the devil. I can understand the fox, as there is something trickster about it.

Offline Nichi

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Re: Sunshowers
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2012, 03:24:42 PM »
I can understand how people get spooked. The first sunshower I recall is still strongly etched in my mind - I was about 6 years old. There is always something magical about it, but have never felt any desire to connect it with the devil. I can understand the fox, as there is something trickster about it.

I'm with you on the trickster!
When they happen here in the Mid-Atlantic, they are usually followed by extreme humidity.

Have seen other oddities in the past few years here: thunder during a snowstorm, and sunshine during snow. All of that is well and good - I'd rather not experience birds or other animals coming down from the skies, though.
Not here, not there, but everywhere - always right before your eyes.
~Hsin Hsin Ming

 

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