Good evening,
Pedantic though it may seem there's a difference between rain & showers, but in order to clarify matters further we should introduce a verb which makes that distinction too.
When I woke up this morning it was raining, except it wasn't rain it was a shower. Moments later it was dry with patches of blue sky. By the time I climbed into the car to drive to the station it was raining again, except (yes, you've guessed it) it wasn't rain etc. etc.
You'd be forgiven for thinking that as I write this I'm wearing a grubby Met Office anorak with a barometer sewn into the lining, but this is more about meaning than meteorology. Showers by their very nature are hit & miss & not long lived. Rain is more all encompassing & can hang around for a long time. This is a fairly black & white explanation for a phenomenon that has many grey areas, but I hope it is in some small way useful. Perhaps the verb we are looking for could be a fusion of shower & rain -shain for example- so that if it's shaining we can all take comfort in the knowledge that it won't last & that there's even a chance of a glimmer of brightness too.
So here goes; it'll shain tomorrow -possibly heavily- but by the second half of the week things look set to improve.
Sorted.
See you later,
Robin.
