Does Rain on June 1st Mean 15 More Rainy Days?

There is all kinds of folklore about weather. Just ask the folks at the Farmers' Almanac. Surely you've heard expressions like "April showers bring May flowers." Maybe you've heard this one too? "Rain before 7 means clear by 11?" Or the more depressing version of that one? "Rain after 7 means rain all day."

Well, yesterday (which happened to be June 1st), my friend Michelle shared some weather-related folklore with me that I had never ever heard before. As I was leaving her hair salon, I was complaining that it looked like it was about to rain. She said, "Well, if it rains on the first of the month, we'll have fifteen more days of rain this month."

I asked, "What?"

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She answered, "You've never heard that before?"

I said, "No."

She then let me know that's an old wives' and farmers' tale and she has some friends who swear by it.

Naturally, I decided to consult my go-to expert for weather-related questions. I sent my friend Ron Rhodes, a meteorologist from WEHT Eyewitness News, a message.  I asked him his thoughts about this particular folklore. Ron acknowledged that he had heard the saying before, but he's not really buying it.

He said, "I checked on it one month and it wasn't anywhere near fifteen days of rain." He also shared his forecast for the rest of this particular June because it did indeed rain on the 1st. He said, "It doesn't look like it works out this month either because it's going to be mainly dry this week and there's one less day in June. So . . ."

Here in the Tristate area, we experienced a bit of a drought this spring. We desperately needed rain and got a pretty good dose of it in May. And, yes! We got a little bit of rain on the morning of June 1st. I know my plants and hanging baskets enjoyed the heck out of it. But, I personally don't think we need fifteen more days of it and I sure as heck don't want it.

Thankfully, my personal weather expert- my buddy Ron- thinks the folklore is just that. It sounds like the idea of fifteen more days of rain this June is going to be a wash.