Why Does Rain Make You Sleepy?
While there’s no definitive scientific research which tells us that rain and feeling tired are related, there’s some evidence that rainy weather can hit almost all of our senses in a way that tells us it’s time for some shuteye.
1. Sunlight triggers our bodies to stop producing the melatonin, which makes us sleepy at night. When it’s raining and skies are overcast, we miss out on our body’s internal alarm clock.
2. The earthy smell of rain can be as well. Plants secrete oils during dry periods, possibly to stop seeds from developing when there aren’t enough resources for them to thrive. When it rains, the water brings out the accumulated oils and they mix with a chemical called geosemin.
3. After a thunderstorm there’s a chance you may smell ozone, a molecule made of three oxygen atoms. It’s generated when lightning interacts with the air, breaking up and recombining oxygen molecules with two atoms into chains of three instead. Some compare its odour to the pungent to clean bedsheets.
The difficulty in waking up, the fresh, earthy scents, and the tranquillity of the rain tapping on windows are enough to make anyone want to retreat to bed for the day. Although none of this evidence is enough to justify retreating to bed early, it at least explains why you may feel a little lethargic on these overcast days.