Petrichor

[Wayne Lomman]

After a recent run of hot weather, we finally have the relief of rain and with it that wonderful smell of rain on the dry earth known as petrichor. The term was first used back in the 1960s by a pair of Australian CSIRO scientists. Here it is strongly eucalypt in character. Does this phenomenon occur elsewhere and what does it smell like? Cheers

[Larry Frank]

Yes, there is a smell in the air after a dry spell and the rain. I think it is more noticeable after a light rain. It does not smell like eucalypt here but something else. Since it is cold with snow flurries here this morning, I can not tell. But when spring comes in a couple of months I will try to figure out what it smells like.

[Jerome Stanek]

We say it smells like worms

[michael langman]

My wife notices how much cleaner the air is after a good rain.

[Mike Ontko]

Petrichor - what a cool word. The forest in the Pacific Northwest (Mt Baker in Washington state is closest to me) gives off heady scent after a new rain, almost like a spice or cologne, combining cedar wood, the sap from the Douglas fir, moss and lichen, and natural decay of fallen trees and undergrowth. The alpine areas, just above the treeline are even better--I can get a dizzy nosebleed from inhaling so much when I'm out hiking.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

It does occur elsewhere Wayne and I would suggest the odor you smell is dependent on the local vegetation. I have smelled it in the high altitude deserts of Wyoming and Utah. To me, it smelled totally different. In Wyoming I smelled the refreshing smell of sage brush. In Utah, I smelled sage brush but mixed with other smells of pinion pines and other plants.

In the forests of Illinois and Indiana the smell was different. In the mountain forests of Idaho, I smelled refreshing fragrances of pines and firs.

[Wayne Lomman]

From all your descriptions, it's sounds like it is most associated with oily/resinous vegetation.

I started this thread after some discussion with my daughter (who is an author) about the origins and use of the word after said break in the hot dry weather. Is the word petrichor ever used outside Australia to anyone's knowledge? Cheers

[Mel Fulks]

It's in the online Oxford but not in my book Oxford. Your definition is given. So used in England ....and I'm guessing wherever rock climbers are impressing babes.

[Joe Bradshaw]

I love the smell of rain on hot asphaut in the summer.
Joe

[Yonak Hawkins]

The word was coined by Australian researchers and writers to describe a specific smell that is the result of plants and conditions indigenous to Australia so I would hazard that the peculiar odor and, therefore the word, are distinctly Australian. I, myself, had never heard the word until you posted it.

Judging by the way Wikipedia treats the word, however, directing phrases such as "the smell after rain" to the page, I suspect that someone there considers the word, petrichor, more broad in definition and usage.

[Wayne Lomman]

Yonak, you have hit the nail on the head. The discussion my daughter and I were having was whether the word specified an Australian smell or whether it was a generic concept. As a wordsmith, she is very interested in using words in both a correct and understandable way. Her research indicates that petrichor started out as a strictly Australian concept but has gradually morphed to have a more general meaning. Cheers

[Steve Peterson]

We say it smells like worms

That is a good description for the smell in semi-dry Northern California. It only occurs after the first light rain on top of dry ground.

[Chris Parks]

After a recent run of hot weather, we finally have the relief of rain and with it that wonderful smell of rain on the dry earth known as petrichor. The term was first used back in the 1960s by a pair of Australian CSIRO scientists. Here it is strongly eucalypt in character. Does this phenomenon occur elsewhere and what does it smell like? Cheers

It is a new word for me and I have never heard anyone in Oz use it at all.

[Jim Koepke]

Here in my little patch of the Pacific Northwest the most common smell after rain is a fungus odor, or as some would say moldy aroma.

jtk