Micro-Season: “Heavy Rain Showers” (2023)

Aug 02 to Aug 06 is the micro-season “Heavy Rain Showers”.  This is the third micro-season of the season of Major Heat.  All the micro-seasons within Major Heat are:

• The First Paulownia Fruit Ripen (Jul. 22 –  Jul. 27)
• Damp Earth Humid Heat (Jul 28 – Aug 01)
• Heavy Rain Showers  (Aug 02 – Aug 06)

These seasons were established in 1685 by Japanese astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai. While they are specific to Japan, you can use these seasons as a starting point for exploring the natural world.

To celebrate this season, we will talk about heavy rain and read haiku by Basho, Issa, Shiki, and Kerouac.

---

The Rainy Seasons

In Japan, there are actually two rainy seasons.  The first is the regular rainy season that runs from early June to mid-July.  During this season, the rain is predictable and rarely lasts a full day.⁽¹⁾

The second rainy season is the typhoon season which can stretch from May to October, with August and September being peak season.  During a typhoon, there is usually one or two days of concentrated rainfall.^(1,2)

Measuring Rainfall

Scientists measure rainfall on a scale from “light” to “violent”.  The scale is based on the rate of precipitation per hour.

• Light rain falls at a rate of between a trace to 2.5 millimeters (0.098 in) per hour
• Moderate rain falls between 2.6 millimeters (0.10 in) to 7.6 millimeters (.30 in) per hour.
• Heavy rain falls at a rate greater than 7.6 millimeters  (0.30 in) per hour
• Violent rain falls at a rate greater than 50 millimeters (2.0 in) per hour

If it rains heavily all day, it could amount to about 7 inches (182 millimeters) of rain. To put that into perspective, in Boston, MA, there has only been one day with over 7 inches of rain since 1937.⁽³⁾ Even in a rainy place like the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in Costa Rica, they only get around 0.37 inches of rain per day in their rainiest month of September.⁽⁴⁾

Heavy Rain and Flooding

In July of 2023, many places in Vermont were already recording higher-than-average rainfall. Then, on July 9th and July 10th, 2023, the Northeast was hit with a slow-moving rain event, which dropped somewhere between 3 to 10 inches of rain, depending on your location. The heavy rain quickly brought many rivers to “major flood” status and turned them into “torrents of floodwater”.⁽⁵⁾ These floodwaters took out roads and bridges, flooded towns, and displaced hundreds of people. Governor Phil Scott called this event “historic and catastrophic.”⁽⁵⁾ As of August 4, 2023, the recovery efforts are ongoing.^(5,6)

Heavy Rain and Climate Change

If you feel like there are more frequent and intense weather events, you are right. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that “climate change can affect the intensity and frequency of precipitation.”⁽⁷⁾  This is because warm air can hold more moisture than cooler air, and warmer oceans evaporate more water into the air than cooler oceans.  Both warmer oceans and warmer air are indicators of climate change.

The EPA continues by stating that this is a problem because when the “more moisture-laden air moves over land or converges into a storm system, it can produce more intense precipitation.”⁽⁷⁾ The more intense precipitation results in heavier rain and heavier snow.  

The EPA projects that “extreme weather events such as heat waves and large storms are likely to become more frequent or intense”⁽⁸⁾ with ongoing climate changes.

---

Seasonal Haiku

“Heavy rain” is not specifically listed as a kigo. However, the “rainy season” is a summer kigo. Dr. Gabi Greves says of this season, “The rainy season is part and parcel of a farmer’s life in Japan, some haiku masters even consider it a season in itself.”

When looking at The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words as selected by Kenkichi Yamamoto, we also find “evening downpour” as relevant summer kigo.  In A Dictionary of Haiku by Jane Reichhold, “downpour”, “rains”,  and “storm” are other possible kigo.

Now with all this in mind, let’s read some haiku.

---

Basho

rainy season
sea glow lights held up
by the night watchman 
(translated by Jane Reichhold) 

rainy season ... 
the greenness of spikemoss
how long will it last? 
(translated by Gabi Greve)

long seasonal rain - 
I’ll go and see the floating nest
of a grebe 
(translated by Makoto Ueda) 

Issa

rainy season--
a crab strolls into
the big sitting room
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

speaking truth
the rainy season's crack
of thunder
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

half asleep--
is that rainy season rain
again today?
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

Shiki

Summer sky
clear after rain -
ants on parade
(translated by Lucien Stryk)

Kerouac

Useless! useless!
    —heavy rain driving 
Into the sea

Haiku Invitation

This week’s haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu that references the heavy summer rains.

Share your haiku in the comments below, or post on your own page and link back to this post. I can’t wait to read what you write!  

---

Let’s Spread the Joy of Haiku!

Buy a haiku book for the Woodbury Community Library (Woodbury, VT) and help them spread the joy of haiku! Follow this link to see the wish list and how you can help.

Thank you for your support!

You can also support our work by donating at “Buy Me a Coffee” or shopping at our bookstore.

Resources:

1. “Rainy Season in Japan (2023/2024)”;  Asia Highlights
2. “Typhoons in Japan”; Japan-Guide.com
3. “Boston Precipitation”; CurrentResults.com
4. “Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica weather in July”; Wanderlog.com
5. Jones, J. and Gamio, L: “See How Much Rain Fell in the Northeast”. New York Times
6. St. Angelo, L. “Some Vermont towns already received triple or quadruple normal rainfall for July”. Burlington Free Press
7. “Climate Change Indicators: Heavy Precipitation”; EPA.gov
8. “Climate Change Indicators: Weather and Climate”; EPA.gov
9. “Rainy season (tsuyu)”; World Kigo Database.

Basho’s haiku was retrieved from Matsuo Bashō’s haiku poems in romanized Japanese with English translations. Issa’s haiku was retrieved from David G. Lanoue’s HaikuGuy.com.  Jack Kerouac’s haiku were retrieved from Book of Haikus.  Shiki’s haiku was retrieved from Terebess Asia Online.