A sunset sunshower in the Mojave desert
A sunshower over Crater Mountain, Landers, California

A sunshower or sun shower is a meteorological phenomenon in which rain falls while the sun is shining.[1] A sunshower is usually the result of accompanying winds associated with a rain storm sometimes miles away, blowing the airborne raindrops into an area where there are no clouds, therefore causing a sunshower. Sometimes a sunshower is created when a single rain shower cloud passes overhead, and the Sun's angle keeps the sunlight from being obstructed by overhead clouds.

Sunshower conditions often lead to the appearance of a rainbow, if the sun is at a sufficiently low angle.[1] Although used in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK, the term "sunshower" is rarely found in dictionaries.[2] Additionally, the phenomenon has a wide range of sometimes remarkably similar folkloric names in cultures around the world.[3] A common theme is that of clever animals and tricksters like the devil or witches getting married, although many variations of this theme exist.[2][3]

Names

Virtually every language and culture has its own name, term, or phrase to describe a sunshower. For example, in Afrikaans and in Hindi, this phenomenon is described as Jakkals trou met wolf se vrou, meaning 'Jackal marries wolf's wife'.

Africa

  • In various African languages, leopards are getting married.
  • In Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, it is called "عرس الذيب – عرس الذئب (Ar's A'Dib)" or "the wolf's wedding" in Arabic and "tameɣra wuccen" (the jackal's wedding) in Tamaziɣt.
  • In Ethiopia and Eritrea, it is said that the hyena is giving birth.
  • In Kenya, hyenas or monkeys are marrying.
  • In Nigeria, when it rains and the sun is shining at the same time, people say that a Lion is giving/has given birth.
    • In Efik culture of the south eastern flank of Nigeria, it is believed that the lioness (or any of the wild cats) is giving birth behind the house.
  • In Rwanda they say "impyisi yarongoye" which means a hyaena is getting married.
  • 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.[2]
  • In Sudan, the donkey and monkey are getting married.
  • In Tanzania, they say "Simba anazaa" – literally "the lioness is giving birth".
  • In Zimbabwe, it is referred to as a "monkey's wedding".

The Americas

North America

  • In Cuba, "Se está casando la hija del diablo", i.e. "The Devil's daughter is getting married".
  • In El Salvador, it is said that the deer is giving birth.
  • In Haiti, it is said that the Devil is beating his wife for salty food. Devil is sometimes interchanged for a zombie.
  • In Jamaica, "The devil and his wife are fighting for a piece of hambone."
  • In Mexico, two phrases are common: in northern Mexico it is said that a doe is giving birth "Está pariendo una venada"; in southern Mexico it is said that two elders are getting married "Se están casando los viejitos."[4]
  • In Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, it is said that a witch is getting married.
  • In the Southern United States, a sunshower is said to occur when "the devil is beating his wife." A regional variation from Tennessee is "the devil is kissing his wife".[5]

South America

  • In Argentina and Uruguay, it is said that an old woman is getting married: "Llueve con sol, se casa una vieja". It is also used El mono del Casamiento de Mirtha Legrand, meaning 'The monkey at the wedding of Mirtha Legrand'.
  • In Brazil, "Casamento da raposa" (fox's wedding), "Sol e chuva, casamento de viúva", which is a rhyme that means "Sun and rain, widow's wedding/marriage" or "Chuva e sol, casamento do espanhol", which is a rhyme that means "Rain and Sun, Spanish man's wedding/marriage" (which is often used as a response to the first rhyme or vice versa).
  • In Guyana, it is known as "Sun-Rain".
  • In Paraguay, it is said that "El Diablo se está casando" or "The Devil's getting married".
  • In Trinidad and Tobago, it is called "Monkey Marriddin" or monkeys marrying.
  • In Venezuela, the word 'cachimba' refers to raining while sunny.

Asia

  • In Assamese, it is called "Khonra xiyaalor biya (খঁৰা শিয়ালৰ বিয়া)", meaning "the bob-tailed fox's wedding".
  • In Bangladesh and West Bengal, India: "খ্যাকশিয়ালের বিয়ে" "Khêkshialer biye" "Jackal's(or fox's) wedding"
  • In Bengali, it is called "the blind fox's wedding".
  • In Bihar's languages it is called a "siyaar ke biyaah" ("jackals' wedding")[6] with children singing about it.
  • In Garo, it is called "peru bia ka'enga", which means "fox's/jackal's marriage".[6]
  • In Gujarati, it is called "Naago varsaad", meaning "naked rain".
  • In Hebrew it is called a שמש משקרת (Shémesh meshakéret) – a lying sun.
  • In India and Burma, those who speak the Tangkhul language, refer to sunshowers as the 'wedding of a spirit to a human'.
  • In Indonesian, the phenomenon is the sign of someone who is rich and well known has died in the place where the sunshower happened, so the sky is showing its condolences.
  • In Iran it is known as ".گرگ داره میزاد" which means "wolf giving birth".
    • In the Mazandarani language, in north of Iran, it is also called "the jackal's wedding".
      • In the Behbahani language, in the south of Iran, it is said in this way: "ya shiri mezayeh", meaning "a lion is giving birth."
  • In Japan, it is known as "Kitsune no yomeiri" (狐の嫁入り), or "the fox's wedding."
  • In Kannada, it is called "Kaage Nari maduve" which means "Crow and fox marrying" (ಕಾಗೆ ನರಿ ಮದುವೆ)
  • In Kazakhstan, it is said that a poor man got rich, "Кедей адам байыды".
  • In Konkani, it is called "a monkey's wedding".
  • In Korea, one common term is "fox rain" (여우비), referring to a legend about a tiger marrying a fox, causing a cloud, who loved the fox, to weep behind the sun. For this reason, the day of a sunshower is also called 호랑이 장가가는 날 "tiger's wedding day".
  • In Kumaoni, it is called स्याव कुकुरे ब्या ISO: syāva kukurē byā which means "Fox & Dog's wedding".
  • In Lebanon, the saying is "the rats are having a wedding".
  • In Maharashtra region of India, in Marathi, it is called "Kolhyache Lagna",(कोल्ह्याचे लग्न) which means "marriage of a fox".[6]
  • In Malayalam, it is called "the fox's wedding" (കുറുക്കന്റെ കല്യാണം)[6]
  • In Maldives, it is also "The rain that falls when a noble infidel dies".
  • In Nepal (Nepali), it is called "a jackal's wedding" or "Gham-paani, gham-paani shyal ko bihe" which literally translates to "Sunshower, sunshower, a jackal's wedding". There are folksongs about sunshowers.
  • In Oriya, it is called "the fox's wedding" (ଖରା ହେଉଛି ମେଘ ହେଉଛି, ଶିଆଳ ପୁଅ ବାହା ହେଉଛି).[6]
  • In some Pahari Languages of Himachal Pradesh, they say Takri: 𑚌𑚮𑚛𑚖𑚯𑚣𑚭𑚫 𑚤𑚭 𑚠𑚶𑚣𑚭𑚩, ISO: gidaḍīyām̐ rā byāh, meaning "Female Foxes' Wedding".[6]
  • In Pashto, it is also called "Da gidarh wade" or "the jackal's wedding".
  • In the Philippines, it is said the tikbalang is marrying.[7]
  • In Punjab, it is also called "Kani gidri da viah"(one eye jackal's wedding) or "giddar gidri da viah"(jackals' wedding).
  • In Sri Lanka in the Sinhala, it is called "the fox's wedding" (අව්වයි වැස්සයි, නරියගෙ මගුලයි).
  • In Sundanese, it is called "hujan poyan" (ᮠᮥᮏᮔ᮪ ᮕᮧᮚᮔ᮪) which means "sunny rain", it is also called "hujan ngajuru maung" (ᮠᮥᮏᮔ᮪ ᮍᮏᮥᮛᮥ ᮙᮅᮀ) which literally translates to "the rain that gave birth to tigers" in Bantenese dialect.
  • In Rajasthani language(s), they say "Bhoot Bhootni Ra byaa" meaning "the wedding of 2 ghosts".
  • In Tamil, it is called "The fox and the crow are marrying" (காக்காவுக்கும் நரிக்கும் கல்யாணம்).
  • In Telugu, it is called "Yenda Vanalo, kukkala nakkala pelli" which means "Dogs and foxes marrying in the sunshowers" (ఎండా వానలో కుక్కల, నక్కల పెళ్ళి). It can also be called "Kaki Pelli", which means "crow's marriage".
  • In Thailand, it is said to happen when somebody passes away.
  • In Turkey, it is called "çakal yağmuru" which means jackal rain.
  • In Vietnamese, it is called "mua bong may" or "mưa bóng mây" (cloud shadow rain), Mưa Bóng Mây Thiếu Nhi Tác giả: Tô Đông Hải (Magimajo Pures 1980's, Phantomirage, Lovepatrina).

Europe

  • In Albania, when it rains and the sun shines, people say that a Romani wedding is taking place.
  • In Basque: "Azeri besta" ("Fox feast") or "Azeri ezteia" ("Fox's wedding"): as the sun is shining, the chickens stay outside, but as it is also raining, they remain still, paralyzed by the rain; the fox seizes that occasion to eat them.
  • In Belgium, Flanders and The Netherlands: the traditional belief is that of "Duiveltjeskermis" or "Devil's fair"[8]
  • In Bulgaria, there is a saying about a bear getting married.[2] In different parts of the country people say "Дяволът се жени.", referring to this phenomenon, which translates to "The Devil is getting married."
  • In Catalonia it is said that the witches are combing their hair: "Les bruixes es pentinen".
  • In Croatia, it is said that gypsies are marrying, "Cigani se žene".
  • In Estonian (vaeslapse pisarad), the phenomenon is described as "orphans' tears", where the sun is the grandmother drying those tears.
  • In Finland, it is called "Ketut kylpevät" or "foxes are taking bath"
  • In France, it is either "Le diable bat sa femme et marie sa fille"[9][10] "the devil beats his wife and marries his daughter", or "Le diable bat sa femme pour avoir des crêpes"[11] "the devil beats his wife to have crêpes" and both were inspired from Plutarch's poem in Eusebius' Praeparatio Evangelica where Zeus, angry with Hera, 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.[12]
  • In Galician, the traditional belief is that the vixen or the fox are getting married: casa a raposa / casa o raposo; sometimes the wolf and the vixen: Estanse casando o lobo coa raposa.[13]
  • A wide range of expressions are attested in the German-speaking countries, many of them historically, e.g. "There's a feast day in hell" (Oldenburg), "marriage [in hell]" (East Frisia), "funfair [in hell]" (Westphalia, Rhineland), the latter one attested already in 1630. Others are "They're baking in hell", "The devil is making pancakes" (Oldenburg), "Frau Holle hosts a funfair" (Lower Rhineland), "There's a marriage among the heathens/gypsies" (Switzerland), "The devil's dancing with his grandmother" (Winsen district, Lower Saxony), "The devil is marrying" (Schleswig-Holstein), "The devil is endowing his daughters" (Mecklenburg). Often, the phenomenon is interpreted as a struggle between rain and sunshine. "The devil is beating his wife/grandmother/mother-in-law" (Bavaria, Austria, Lunenburg), "The deviless gets beaten" (Eger country, Bohemia), "The devil is stabbing his wife with a sword" (Celle, Lower Saxony), "The devil has hanged his mother" (Moselle). 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's 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), "The witches are being buried at the end of the world" (North Frisia). 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).[14]
  • In Greece they say "ήλιος και βροχή, παντρεύονται οι φτωχοί. Ήλιος και φεγγάρι, παντρεύονται οι γάιδαροι," which means "Sun and rain, the poor are marrying. Sun and moon, the donkeys are marrying."
  • In Hungary, it is known as "veri az ördög a feleségét" which translates to "the devil is beating his wife".
  • In Italy they say "Piove e c'è il sole, la gatta fa l'amore" which means "It rains with the sun, the (female) cat is making love".
  • In Latvia, the saying is "Saule spīd, lietus līst, vecam vīram kažoks plīst" which means "The sun shines, the rain pours, an old man's coat is torn".
  • In Lithuanian and Russian, it is called грибной дождь (gribnoy dozhd'), "mushroom rain", as such conditions are traditionally believed to be favorable to growing mushrooms.[15] Also, it is called слепой дождь (slepoy dozhd'), "blind rain", because it doesn't see that it shouldn't be raining.[16]
  • In Macedonia, it is also said that gypsies are marrying, "Циганка се мажи", and also that a bear is getting married: "Мечка се жени/мажи".
  • In Malta it is known as "Twieled Tork" which translates to "A Turkish baby has been born".
  • In Poland it is said that a witch is making butter, "Deszczyk pada, słońce (or słonko) świeci baba jaga masło kleci".
  • In Serbia, It is said traditionally believed that angels are bathing, "Анђели се купају" (Anđeli se kupaju).
  • In Sweden it is called "vitterväder".
  • In Ukraine, it is called "грибний дощ (hrybnyj doshch)" or "the mushroom rain".
  • In parts of the United Kingdom, traditional belief is that it is "a monkey's birthday".

Oceania

  • In Hawaii, it is known as "ghost rain" or "liquid sunshine".

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Symonds, Steve (2004). "Weather Terms - Wild Weather". ABC North Coast. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Quinion, Michael (2001). "Monkey's Wedding". World Wide Words. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
  3. 1 2 Vaux, Bert (1998). "Sunshower summary". linguistlist.org. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
  4. ↑ Chihuahua, Nelson Solorio | El Heraldo de. "¿Por qué se dice que cuando llueve con sol está pariendo una venada?". El Heraldo de Chihuahua | Noticias Locales, Policiacas, de México, Chihuahua y el Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  5. ↑ "Sunshowers: When The Devil Beats His Wife". Appalachian Magazine. 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cauhāna, Mañjuśrī (2007). Jāpānī loka kathāoṃ meṃ Pañcatantra (in Hindi). Anubhava Prakāśana. ISBN 978-81-89133-72-6.
  7. ↑ "Rare sunshower phenomenon". CNN iReport. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  8. ↑ "kermis in de hel - de betekenis volgens Woordenboek van Populair Taalgebruik". www.ensie.nl. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  9. ↑ "Le diable bat sa femme et marie sa fille : Origine et signification du proverbe le diable bat sa femme et marie sa fille".
  10. ↑ Émile Littré, « Diable » [archive]], Dictionnaire de la langue française, 1872-1877, on artflx.uchicago.edu in French.
  11. ↑ FR https://www.phrases.com/FR/phrase/le-diable-bat-sa-femme-pour-avoir-des-cr%C3%AApes_40679
  12. ↑ Eusebius of Caesarea: Praeparatio Evangelica (Preparation for the Gospel). Tr. E.H. Gifford (1903) -- Book 3 Chap. 1
  13. ↑ Ferro Ruibal, Xesús (2007). "Cando chove e dá o sol... ¿Un fraseoloxismo internacional poliédrico?" (PDF). Cadernos de Fraseoloxía Galega (in Galician). Centro Ramón Piñeiro para a Investigación en Humanidades (9): 67–94.
  14. ↑ "Kirmes". Redewendungen : Wörterbuch der deutschen Idiomatik (in German) (4th ed.). Berlin, Mannheim, Zürich: Duden. 2013. ISBN 9783411023929.
  15. ↑ "A year of words". Waywordradio.org. 15 November 2008.
  16. ↑ "Слепой дождь". dic.academic.ru (in Russian).

Further reading

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