Summer just began but in Southeast Texas it hasn’t been too different from many past days this spring. The rains, which have produced flooding both in the Sabine River basin and in the Houston area, have proceeded with a pretty good clip here in Beaumont, on the upper Texas coast. But over the last few days we have had typical summer weather.
So what is typical summer weather here in Cajun Texas? Well, it means waking up to 75-degree (F) mornings and watching the temperature and humidity climb for the remainder of daylight. Typical, likewise, brings around a 20-to-30 percent chance that showers or thunderstorms will pop up from the day’s heating.
Yesterday, we had an early evening thunderstorm. Today, so far, we had a good coating of rain. Then, when the rain let up, we had what some refer to as a “sun shower.”
Just as the name infers the sun shines while the rain continues to fall. Sun showers happen when wind from a rain storm pushes raindrops into an area with little or no clouds and during which the sun still shines.
This type of weather seems to happen quite a bit on the Gulf Coast, particularly in the northern, more humid places. Or maybe that is where I have noticed such instances more.
I have long known that sun showers produced some folk wisdom as to why such an event happens. Growing up, my Mom and Dad, who were both born in East Texas during World War I, would say “The Devil is beating his wife,” whenever it rained and the sun was shining. This was, according to legend, because Satan was mad that God created a beautiful day. I suppose that is a more “spousal abuse” explanation of “Ol’ Scratch’ kicking his dog. Of course, either type of abuse has a high level of intolerance these days. And it’s about time. But some of the explanations for sun showers in other parts of the world are sometimes just plain wacky, from a westerner’s point of view. Not to say abusive on some level or the other.
Check out a few of these sayings that you may find on Wikipedia regarding sun showers:
Poland: “A witch is making butter.”
Argentina: It is said an old woman is getting married. (Huh?)
Finland: Foxes are taking a bath.
Korea: A male tiger marries a fox. (And they live … No I don’t think so.)
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