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I can only find one mention of this on the board, by an anonymous poster:
Swithun (or Swithin) [...] (died c. 862) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working. According to tradition, the weather on his feast day (15 July) will continue for forty days.
...
Proverb
The name of Swithun is best-known today for a British weather lore proverb, which says that if it rains on Saint Swithun's day, 15 July, it will rain for 40 days.
St Swithun's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mare
A Buckinghamshire variation has
If on St Swithun's day it really pours
You're better off to stay indoors.
Swithun was initially buried out of doors, rather than in his cathedral, apparently at his own request. William of Malmesbury recorded that the bishop left instructions that his body should be buried outside the church, ubi et pedibus praetereuntium et stillicidiis ex alto rorantibus esset obnoxius [where it might be subject to the feet of passers-by and to the raindrops pouring from on high], which has been taken as indicating that the legend was already well-known in the 12th century.
In 971 it was decided by Jordan to move his body to a new indoor shrine, and one theory traces the origin of the legend to a heavy shower by which, on the day the move, the saint marked his displeasure towards those who were removing his remains. This story, however, lacks proof, and cannot be traced further back than the 17th or 18th century at most. Also, it is at variance with the 10th century writers, who all agreed that the move took place in accordance with the saint's desire expressed in a vision. James Raine suggested that the legend was derived from the tremendous downpour of rain that occurred, according to the Durham chroniclers, on Saint Swithun's Day, 1315.
More probable is John Earle's suggestion that the legend comes from a pagan or possibly prehistoric day of augury. In France, Saint Medard (8 June), Urban of Langres, and Saint Gervase and Saint Protais (19 June) are credited with an influence on the weather almost identical with that attributed to St Swithun in England. In Flanders, there is St Godelieve (6 July) and in Germany the Seven Sleepers' Day (27 June).
There is a scientific basis to the legend of St Swithun's day. Around the middle of July, the jet stream settles into a pattern which, in the majority of years, holds reasonably steady until the end of August. When the jet stream lies north of the Islands of Great Britain and Ireland then continental high pressure is able to move in; when it lies across or south of the Islands of Great Britain and Ireland, Arctic air and Atlantic weather systems predominate.[3]
Swithun is regarded as one of the saints to whom one should pray in the event of drought.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swithun
FWIW, it rained here yesterday, and it's raining again now!
Is there more to be said?
Wiki says:
Swithun (or Swithin) [...] (died c. 862) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working. According to tradition, the weather on his feast day (15 July) will continue for forty days.
...
Proverb
The name of Swithun is best-known today for a British weather lore proverb, which says that if it rains on Saint Swithun's day, 15 July, it will rain for 40 days.
St Swithun's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mare
A Buckinghamshire variation has
If on St Swithun's day it really pours
You're better off to stay indoors.
Swithun was initially buried out of doors, rather than in his cathedral, apparently at his own request. William of Malmesbury recorded that the bishop left instructions that his body should be buried outside the church, ubi et pedibus praetereuntium et stillicidiis ex alto rorantibus esset obnoxius [where it might be subject to the feet of passers-by and to the raindrops pouring from on high], which has been taken as indicating that the legend was already well-known in the 12th century.
In 971 it was decided by Jordan to move his body to a new indoor shrine, and one theory traces the origin of the legend to a heavy shower by which, on the day the move, the saint marked his displeasure towards those who were removing his remains. This story, however, lacks proof, and cannot be traced further back than the 17th or 18th century at most. Also, it is at variance with the 10th century writers, who all agreed that the move took place in accordance with the saint's desire expressed in a vision. James Raine suggested that the legend was derived from the tremendous downpour of rain that occurred, according to the Durham chroniclers, on Saint Swithun's Day, 1315.
More probable is John Earle's suggestion that the legend comes from a pagan or possibly prehistoric day of augury. In France, Saint Medard (8 June), Urban of Langres, and Saint Gervase and Saint Protais (19 June) are credited with an influence on the weather almost identical with that attributed to St Swithun in England. In Flanders, there is St Godelieve (6 July) and in Germany the Seven Sleepers' Day (27 June).
There is a scientific basis to the legend of St Swithun's day. Around the middle of July, the jet stream settles into a pattern which, in the majority of years, holds reasonably steady until the end of August. When the jet stream lies north of the Islands of Great Britain and Ireland then continental high pressure is able to move in; when it lies across or south of the Islands of Great Britain and Ireland, Arctic air and Atlantic weather systems predominate.[3]
Swithun is regarded as one of the saints to whom one should pray in the event of drought.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swithun
FWIW, it rained here yesterday, and it's raining again now!
