Weather words
What is petrichor?
Petrichor: the one thing about rain everyone agrees on.
The earthy smell of rain falling on dry ground.
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“First rain in weeks. That petrichor smell is everything.”
More about petrichor
Much of the smell comes from geosmin, made by bacteria in soil, which our noses pick up in tiny amounts. Raindrops hitting dry ground throw it into the air in fine droplets.
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Where the word comes from
Coined in 1964 by Australian scientists Isabel Bear and Richard Thomas, from the Greek petra (stone) and ichor (the fluid in the veins of the gods).
What I think of petrichor
Petrichor: the one thing about rain everyone agrees on.
Petrichor is rain’s perfume, which is ironic given everything else it does.
The smell of rain on dry ground has a name. The smell of wet socks does not.
Words people compare it with
- Drizzle: Very light rain made of tiny drops that seem to float more than fall.
- Sunshower: Rain falling while the sun is shining.
- Dew point: The temperature the air would have to cool to before its moisture condenses into dew.
- All weather words