Singing in the Rain

Forecasting the weather in Russia is a national sport. Especially in Moscow, where some locals are obsessed with the прогноз погоды (weather forecast). This trait was ridiculed and immortalized by writer Fazil Iskander in his early story Начало (Beginning), where he pokes fun at Muscovites’ “permanent, mysterious interest in weather” and cites the ubiquitous phrase, “Тише, погоду передают!” (“Hush, the weather forecast is coming on.”). It could be a classic phrase uttered by a babushka to her grandson (I heard it many times). And the grandson obeys. For when babushka knows the weather forecast, she will одеваться по погоде (dress according to the weather). In contrast, when one is одет не по погоде, you can подхватить простуду (catch cold). So it is essential to check out the погодные условия (weather conditions) beforehand.

The word погода is also often used figuratively. When someone is studying for exams, we say, “один лишний час погоды не делает” (“One extra hour won’t change the weather/won’t make a difference”). Or, when someone has political influence in a region (like Russia in the Caucasus, or say, the US in Latin America), we say that they делают погоду в этом регионе.

Of course, as anywhere in the world, in Russia the weather is always a perfect subject for small talk. When we talk about nothing, we say “поговорить о погоде и о моде” (“to talk of weather and fashion”). Actually, in the 19th century, when Russians “small-talked” about the weather, they would use the word in plural: погоды. Thus, a Chekhovian character might say, “Погоды-то нынче какие стоят” (“What beautiful weathers we are having”). Well-educated Russians still use this expression, which sounds poetic and stylish, although a bit archaic.

When the weather is really awful, we say “в такую погоду собаку на улицу не выгонишь” (“you wouldn’t drive a dog out into weather like this”). On a rainy day (в дождливый день), when the дождь льёт как из ведра (is pouring as if from a bucket), you sit at home to переждать непогоду (wait out the bad weather).

Incidentally, the English expression “save up for a rainy day” translates into Russian as: save up for a black day (на чёрный день).

When the weather improves, we use the beautiful, purely Russian verb распогодиться (to “weather up”). For example: На улице распогодилось (The weather outside has gotten nicer). Also take note of  the virtually untranslatable adjective погожий (weathery, nice). On a погожий день your mood is upbeat, although our beloved filmmaker Eldar Ryazanov would assert that any weather should be seen as good, as the song goes in his movie, Cлужебный роман (An Office Affair):

У природы нет плохой погоды, каждая погода благодать.

There’s no bad weather in nature,
all weather is good.

Another famous weathery citation is from a Larisa Dolina song:

Важней всего погода в доме,

Все остальное суета.

Есть только мы, а все что кроме

Легко исправить с помощью зонта.

The climate at home is most important,

Everything else is triviality.

There is only us, and anything else

Is easily fixed with an umbrella.

To tell the truth, I hate that song as much as I hate зонтики (umbrellas), which somehow I manage to lose as soon as I buy them. But I have to admit that Larisa Dolina has a point: the climate in my own house can turn rather stormy if I dare to change the channel before my wife can hear the прогноз погоды. After that rubicon is passed, I know that погода в нашем доме will be ясная и солнечная (bright and sunny). Even if outside it’s raining buckets.