A sunshower, or sun shower, is a meteorological phenomenon in which rain falls while the Sun is seen shining.[1] 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 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]
Names
Although the term "sunshower" is used in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK, it is rarely found in dictionaries.[2][3][4] The phenomenon has a wide range of sometimes remarkably similar folkloric names in cultures around the world.[5] 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][5]
The Americas
In Mexico, 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).[6]
In Argentina is referred as "The Monkey at the Wedding of Mirtha Legrand" (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, a sunshower is said to occur when "the devil is beating his wife."[7] A regional variation from Tennessee is "the devil is kissing his wife".[8]
In France, it is either "Le diable bat sa femme et marie sa fille"[14][15] "the devil beats his wife and marries his daughter", or "Le diable bat sa femme pour avoir des crêpes"[16] "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.[17]
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.[18]
A wide range of expressions are attested in 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 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), "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).[19]
In Russian, it is called грибной дождь (gribnoy dozhd'), "mushroom rain", as such conditions are traditionally believed to be favorable to growing mushrooms.[20] Also, it is called слепой дождь (slepoy dozhd'), "blind rain", because it doesn't see that it shouldn't be raining.[21]
Africa
In South Africa, it is often referred to as a "monkey's wedding".[22]
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 that an elephant or lion is giving birth.
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.
