rain smell?

[slimjim]

What's that metallic-like smell that is in the air whenever it rains for the first time in ages?

[thekraut]

I think it's the smell you get when you mix very fine dust with water. because its very dusty at the end of a dry period, see?

[flirty41]

I've always known it to be 'ozone' - well that's what my Dad told me many years ago!

[Greedyfly]

Acid rain

[Susan123]

yep, flirty41, I do believe it's ozone

[thekraut]

and where should that ozone come from? we're not talking about thunderstorms, are we?

[Gef]

I'm afraid I can't answer this one but it's nothing to do with ozone (which is highly toxic) and nothing to do with acid rain.

[xyzzy@bok]

'Ozone and Dust', imo, ozone, so called, cos it isn't ozone actually, but that smell [ozone] comes when air mixes with dirty water, like at a river waterfall or seaside or when it rains on dust. Aha. :-)

[Ember]

Don't know what it is, but when I smell it, I think "Thank Goodness at least I don't have to trail up and down with the watering can today"

[drussila]

I agree with you P.Greenwood ,Im glad when it rains so I dont have to carry a watering can up and down the garden. I always thought it was something to do with the ozone as well.

[sherljim]

The Smell is called "petrichor" (PET-ri-kuhr) noun The pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell. [From petro- (rock), from Greek petros (stone) + ichor (the fluid that is supposed to flow in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology). Coined by researchers I.J. Bear and R.G. Thomas.] "Petrichor, the name for the smell of rain on dry ground, is from oils given off by vegetation, absorbed onto neighboring surfaces, and released into the air after a first rain." Matthew Bettelheim; Nature's Laboratory; Shasta Parent (Mt Shasta, California); Jan 2002. (Unashamedly plagiarized from another website - Wordsmith" - check it out!)