Some people claim they can spot severe weather before it arrives
Predicting weather outcomes is often a simple game. Whatever it says, it may change after five minutes, but some people believe they can detect it before it arrives.
Normally, you can smell the rain if it rains after a long period of sunshine, but now others say they can smell the rain before it arrives, while others have dismissed the idea entirely.
But with the help of scientific research, there's evidence that some people have the ability to smell rain before it arrives, known as a “petrichor.”
Petrichor is derived from the Greek – petros meaning stone (as in petrified), and ichor being the substance that flows in the veins of the Greek gods.
The smell is produced by a solid bacterium called geosmin, and even the ability to smell it is considered quite extraordinary, as it's more powerful than a shark's ability to detect blood.
You can usually smell this after a period of rain because when raindrops hit the ground, they flatten and trap a small amount of air, which then bubbles up and carries any other chemicals and microorganisms into the air.
Another chemical, “ozone,” also plays a role in the smell of rain, which is much sweeter than petrick and can sometimes indicate an approaching storm.
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