Some scientists believe our weekday polluting patterns may contribute to clearer, sunny summer weekends.

These experts have been testing the theory that work-related habits such as vehicle and factory pollution - which are at their peak during the week - have immediate impact on weather conditions and may be at leat partially responsible for rainy, stormy weather. The study, funded by NASA and published in this week's Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, suggests pollution begins to taper off as the weekend approaches, and storms during the work week essentially act like a toilet, sucking away the smog and other crap floating around the air. The end result is clear conditions for you to enjoy once you've left the office come Friday afternoon.

There's a more technical explanation available if you hit the jump to read the full article. I'm not adept with the scientific descriptions. All I picked up on were the words "summer," "weekend," and "sunny," and suddently my imagination whisked me away to a day where the sun was warming my face as I sat on my patio on Saturday morning with my beloved cup of coffee in one hand and the weekend newspaper in the other. Now I'm back to reality where the snow is still piled a few feet high, I can see my breath when I step outside and I'm fully cognizant that we're only two days into February. But if nothing else, the article gave me hope that those warm days aren't too far off.

» Reuters