weather-related superstition | USC Digital Folklore Archives

Pulled from audio recording:

“Informant:
Okay, I’m from California. I wonder if you’ve heard of this one—“June gloom.”

Pearson:
No, what’s that?

Informant:
It’s a thing on the California coast where, in June, there’s this weird period of overcast skies in the middle of summer. It happens every year. Growing up, people would always say “June gloom,” especially when planning beach trips. Like, we’d want to go, but then someone would say, “Oh no, June gloom.””

Analysis:

“June Gloom” refers to June in California where the skies are overcast and a haze or a Gloom lingers over the coast. In my mind it can be used literally and figuratively. Literally because it’s a real weather-related phenomenon and figuratively as a sort of saying. Someone could ask you to go somewhere to do something with them and you could reply “oh no I don’t wanna go. June Gloom”. It’s used as a way to describe a state of being almost. It reminds me of the idea of not wanting to go outside because it’s raining if that makes sense.

Age: 20

Date_of_performance: Told to me on February 14, 2025. A thing they’ve heard throughout their life

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student at USC

Primary Language: English

Residence: Somewhere in the Los Angeles area

AGE: 53

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 02/19/2025

LANGUAGE: English

NATIONALITY: American

OCCUPATION: Attorney

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: English

RESIDENCE: New York

INTERVIEW SUMMARY:

When asking my mother of any proverbs she grew up on she told the story of the Tiger’s Wedding Day. Whenever it was raining on a sunny day, her mother [my grandmother] would say “it’s tiger’s wedding day,” referencing the tale. While my mother does not remember the exact story of it, this is the basic premise of how the story goes:

The Tiger, the King of the Mountain, was getting married to the Fox. During the wedding ceremony, the Cloud fell in love with the Fox, causing it to weep.

This story comes directly from the translation of sun shower from Korean to English. In Korean, the term for sun showers is yeowoo bi (여우비), which directly translates to “fox rain” in English.

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

I think it’s interesting how our culture can weave into parts of the proverbs and phrases we use and pass down generations. Even though my mother didn’t remember the actual story itself, she remembered the phrase that her mother would say every time there was a sun shower. Storytelling is such a deep part of Korean culture (and especially culture as a whole), so there is no surprise that it shows up in the every day phrases my family uses.