A simile for evanescent rain, likened to an out of character and fast recalled error, like those social media messages you delete right after sending. 

As I sit in northern Italy, subject to its worst drought in 70 years, and with wildfires burning in many places in Europe, the lack of rain is acute.  Since we moved here in February, it has rained two or three times, briefly.  

… nothing is more quickly forgotten than a Roman wet day.  It vanishes like a quickly retrieved mistake – one which has been, anyway, out of character. 

Source: Elizabeth Bowen, A Time in Rome (London: Vintage Books, 2010), p. 145

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