Unlocking Nature’s Secret: How Your Nose Can Predict the Rain Before It Falls

Nothing quite says “Manchester” like the eternal dance with unpredictable weather — umbrellas paraded like fashion accessories yet often forgotten in the chaos of daily life. With the sun grinning down on us right now, it’s easy to forget that most of the year, darkness is the real headliner. But here’s a quirky thought: have you ever caught that peculiar, earthy whiff just before rain crashes the party? Apparently, some claim they can literally smell the rain coming — a notion that sparks enough debate to make you wonder if it’s psychic or just plain old science. So, is your nose lying to you, or do you possess a discounted superpower that even your skeptical friends doubt? Let’s unravel the mystery behind this irresistible pre-storm sniff, a scent so distinctive it even has a Greek name — petrichor. Ready to sniff out the truth? LEARN MORE.

With the sun shining the way it is, it’s easy to forget that we spend most of the year in darkness.

Living in Manchester, specifically, it’s considered irresponsible to not carry an umbrella with you, and many of us, myself included, are irresponsible.

But when the rain inevitably does arrive, that feeling you get just before it starts pouring down isn’t just all in your head.

The internet debate over people having the ability to smell rain

Over on X, people have complained about their mates not buying the fact they can smell rain.

“Just told a group of friends that a pop up storm was coming because I could smell it, and they looked at me like I was crazy,” one person fumed.

Many people reckon they can smell when rain is coming (Getty Stock Images)

“I can – and as much as I’d rather it didn’t rain, it is a delightful smell,” another said.

While someone else agreed: “And people looked at me like I was crazy when I said that it smelled like it was going to rain.”

Smelling the rain before it rains is a real thing

Can you smelllll when the rain is coming? (Getty Stock Images)

Now, believers say there’s often a distinct scent detected before a rainstorm.

And Australian scientists Isabel Joy Bear and Richard G. Thomas once referred to it as ‘petrichor’.

Petrichor is derived from the Greek language, as petros means stone (as in petrify), and ichor is the substance which supposedly flowed through the veins of the Greek Gods.

The term was coined in 1964, and it’s supposed to describe the earthy smell that arises when rain falls on dry soil.

What does the ability to smell rain actually feel like?

It rains a lot here (Getty Stock Images)

Those who can have the ability to smell rain before it drops have described it as a ‘unique feeling’.

“I’m one of those someones. I’m not sure quite what I’m smelling. And sometimes I smell a shower that misses me,” one person said on Quora.

“It is probably not ozone because I can smell rain even when it is not from a thunderstorm.

“One of my early memories is sitting on our screen porch while it was raining, enjoying the smell of the rain.

“We moved out of that house when I was 5 years old.”

“It’s easy to smell rain and ozone and that’s the smell associated with storms,” a second person, who lives in Florida, confessed.

“When a heavy storm is coming, you can smell the rain and the ozone and, you can feel the barometric pressure as it drops.”