Why Can I Smell the Rain?
Because your nose can detect chemicals carried through the air before, during, and after rainfall.
Sometimes you can even smell a storm coming.
Your nose is apparently running its own weather service, and nobody thought to tell you.
Related Rabbit Holes
So What the Hell Am I Smelling?
You know that moment when you step outside, sniff the air, and announce, âIt's going to rainâ?
Turns out you might actually know what you're talking about.
Sometimes that sharp smell before a thunderstorm is ozone, a gas that can be carried toward the ground by storm winds. Other times, the wind is bringing you earthy smells from rain that's already falling somewhere else.
But that wonderful smell when rain hits dry ground? That's a different story.
Raindrops hit the soil, trap tiny air bubbles, and send microscopic droplets flying into the air. Those droplets can carry a compound called geosmin, produced by microorganisms living in the dirt.
And our noses are ridiculously good at detecting it.
So yes, you're smelling chemicals from the ground.
Now, in 1964, two Australian researchers decided this smell needed a proper name. They called it petrichor.
They combined the Greek words for stone and ichor, the mysterious substance that supposedly flowed through the veins of Greek gods.
Which raises a rather important question.
Why the hell do Greek gods have something other than blood?
Further Reading