This spring on the east coast of the US, it feels like we’ve lost touch with the sun. In Washington, DC, 14 of the first 17 days of May were rainy. 1[■]. It means that for me, Mary has been one of the months l’ve felt the sleepiest. The dull weather can hit almost all of our senses in a way that gives a sign to us it is time for a sleep.
First, there’s what we see-or rather, what we don’t. 2[■] When it’s raining and skies are cloudy, we miss out our body’s internal alarm clock. As Naomi, a scientist from Central on Queensland University said, when you don’t see the sunlight first thing in the morning, your body never gets the signal that it needs to shift into daytime mode.
3[■] Plants produce oils during dry periods, possibly to stop seeds from developing. When it rains, the water brings out the oils and they mix with a chemical to create a “musky” smell. 4[■]. Additionally, after a thunderstorm there’s a chance you may smell ozone(臭氧), which is generated when lightning interacts with the air. Some compare its smell to that of clean bed sheets.
Rain sounds are also comforting. The rhythmic pattern of rain hitting a roof, umbrella, or the ground below is called “pink noise.” Pink noise is a category of background noise that has all of the frequencies that human can hear and has lower volumes at higher frequencies. According to some research, it may improve our quality of sleep by decreasing our brain activity. 5[■]
The difficulty in waking up, the fresh, earthy scents, and the peace of the rain tapping on windows are enough to make anyone want to go back to bed for the day. Sadly, none of this evidence is enough to justify doing so; but it can at least explain why you may feel a little sleepy on these cloudy days.