Friday 4 March 2022

Mizzle and dimpsey weather

Today the weather has been mizzle the whole day. A mixture of mist and a very fine drizzle. No breeze and overcast, without any sight of the sky. I am not sure where or when I first came across the term mizzle but I decided to look it up. The Weather Online site describes today's weather here perfectly and also explains the Anglo-Saxon origins of the word:-

"Mizzle is a term used in Devon and Cornwall [I'm not sure if it is confined to the south west] for a combination of fine drenching drizzle or extremely fine rain and thick, heavy saturating mist or fog. While floating or falling the visible particles of coarse, watery vapor might approach the form of light rain. Mizzle is especially thick in upland areas, like its Scottish Highlands counterpart Scotch Mist, and it is particularly associated with a moist tropical maritime airstream.

The word itself derived from the Frisian mizzelen meaning - what a surprise - drizzle. However, a day with mizzle is usually characterised by dull and depressing weather and some sort of permanent twilight, or 'dimpsey' as another good old west country word puts it".

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