What gives summer rain that distinct smell?

Question

What gives summer rain that distinct smell?

Answer 1

The dry ground I think

Answer 2

After it thunders the smell of ozone is in the air.  I think this is what you are referring to. Ozone is a gas found high in the atmosphere.  And after a thunderstorm we smell it.

Answer 3

I don't know, but that's my  favorite smell

Answer 4

The smell emnates from a chemical buried in the soil called 'geosmin'(literally,earth smell).

This smell is given off by a bacteria.This bacteria(called Actinomycetus) grow in soil when conditions are damp and warm.When the soil dries out(as in the case of summer),the bacteria produces the geosmin spores in the soil as a survival strategy.When the rain hits the soil during or after summer,it kicks up an aerosol of water ,soil and spores into the air,where they are easier to smell(just like an air freshner).Thus, we get this smell when there is rain.

Answer 5

Lightning converts oxygen to ozone, which is "that distinct

smell."

Answer 6

well the smell like the smell of flowers come from God...

i read inn some prayers..oh Jesus ..the beauty fragrance smell......all the ways lead to Rome says a proverb ..so all the ways of explining something leads to God..because God is called the Word..therefore the explanation

Answer 7

It seems there are many factors. Certainly ozone is one source of the pleasant smell. But the smell I most associate with rain occurs most strongly right after it begins raining, even when there is no thunderstorm.

It turns out this smell is probably due to the spores of a bacteria called Actinomycetes being kicked up into the air by the rain hitting dry soil. There are also oils from plants in the soil that react with the slightly acidic rain drop releasing pleasant aromas.