Can you smell rain?

[IndividualApplicant]

Just sat in the office and people were commenting on whether or not it has started raining yet as it has suddenly gone very dark here. I said that it hasn't but "I can smell it coming" and everyone looked at me like I was bonkers! Another female in the office agreed with me but no one else has any idea what we're talking about.

Anyone else able to smell when it's about to rain??

Yes, and snow.

I totally agree @Tarkan , especially the colours.

I could have written almost exactly this post! I agree with you that the smells have colours, too.

I wonder if this is a form of synaesthesia? I have another manifestation of it, too, in the for, of a visual calendar that I can bring up in front of me at will. It runs round me in a semicircle and my brain can ‘swipe’ it forwards or backwards in time. There are different colours for each day of the week, because to me, the days are different colours. The days look a bit like Monopoly cards, with their colour bar at the top and the things happening that day below. It makes it simple to see how many days there are before or since any event.

Yes
The smell of snow is even more noticeable imo.

I can smell both the snow and the rain before they start.

yes i can smell it. strange musty smell like the rain is cleaning the dry dirt away!

Yes I can smell when it’s going to rain, desperately jealous of PPs who can smell winter and smell the colour of it.

@Goldenthigh thanks for sharing the article, very interesting.

Yes. I thought everyone could!

Yep ! And i can ‘feel’ when its going to aswell

I can feel it, but I’m not sure exactly how. Smell might be a part of it.

I can tell snow is on the way by the change in the light. Dh pokes fun but I’m usually right.

Yes. It's the smell of dust in the air being wetted and then carried on the wind.

I used to be able to smell snow, a crisp metallic smell, until I got a very bad sinus infection and haven't been able to since.

Yes. I told dh once and he said it was the maddest thing he’d ever heard and wasn’t possible.

Yes, definitely. It's such a unique scent.

In the old days they’d have called us witches - I can smell rain before it starts sometimes

Yep. And if it's been hot/humid and going to rain I get a headache shortly before it starts too

I thought that was normal…. Until this thread!! I also smell seasons - they have distinct smells. I can tell when a storm is coming as I get a headache.

Yes. It smells a bit like moss or the ground in a wood.

I feel sensory heightened and excited before a thunderstorm.

My partner can sense snow is 10 mins away.

I also thought this was normal! Assumed everyone could smell rain coming....

Definitely the air smells different. I was born in a village on the edge of Salisbury Plain. We had hills on the horizon and we knew it would rain if the hill looked closer. I know it sounds mad, but it was invariably right. And if the birds start to sing at the wrong time it's going to rain.

Yup. And the colour of the air - there's a tinge of mustard yellow when a big storm is approaching.

Love the taste of autumn and winter, too. Sometimes autumn hits a little bit early, and occasionally it doesn't come at all, but it's a combination of light and taste and a bit of toast and sweet-salt whilst the sky seems bigger. Winter is more grapefruits at the back of the fridge with a large 'airspace' around me.

DP said I sounded like his grandma when I duly informed him on our second date that we'd probably need to sort transport back to avoid waiting for buses in the rain. And I apparently wrinkled my nose like a witch as I looked off into the distance.

You know you've found your people when you can smell incoming rain (not just the amazing petrichor), snow and the colour blue!

It's only blue though for me, different shades, do others smell different colours? Is it just because it's weather and the sky reflects blue light?

Thunderstorm headaches too, doesn't stop me wanting to go outside and stand in them especially in the pouring rain.

Almost always, any form of precipitation, in fact.

I have an idea that the composition of the air changes when the weather changes. It sort of makes sense

I smell winter's arrival but tell no one as I don't fancy padded wallpaper.

Oh wow that is pretty much how I see the year too!! I always thought I was a bit weird visualising it that way! But I don't 'see' smells as colours.

I do know when thunderstorm is coming, sounds change just beforehand, get a sort of 'echo-y' quality. Wonder if anyone else has noticed that?