The damp day is reflective of the mood in Ballina, the ancestral home of US President Joe Biden.
Following his announcement yesterday that he was withdrawing from the Presidential race, residents in Co Mayo have mixed views.
Some feel Mr Biden should have gone sooner, some think it's the right time now, but many have a feeling of sadness.
It’s just over a year since he gave an emotional speech to huge crowds outside St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina.
The former Mayor of Ballina, Ray Collins met Mr Biden last year and believes he was a great ambassador for Ireland.
"I feel sad for him, I feel sad for the country, and I feel sad for Ballina because he was a great ambassador for Ireland and for Ballina.
"I think he had Ireland at heart and naturally Ballina, he was glad to come home to the place of his ancestors.
"He was a Mayo man and an Irish man and he will be missed."
Mr Collins is concerned for the future of US and Irish business relations if a new president without any connection to Ireland is elected.
"We have a lot of American businesses in Ballina and I hope they’re not enticed back to America.
"I don’t have much faith in this new man (Donald Trump) that’s coming to be honest, if he’s elected.
"I would prefer to see Biden in office than anybody else at the moment."
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Despite Mr Collin’s support for President Biden, he has considered if he went sooner it would have put Kamala Harris in a better position in the presidential race.
"Politics in America is not like in Ireland, its multi million dollars and it’s a big country to canvass.
"I think as a woman she’ll have an uphill battle. We in Ireland have selected two women as presidents, but there - with a population of over 300 million - they have never elected a woman and that says a lot for America.
"We appreciate women more in Ireland seemingly than they do in America."
'A great leader sadly gone'
Local businessman Ernie Caffrey also met Mr Biden last year when he presented him with a brick from the fireplace of his ancestral home in Ballina.
Mr Caffrey said the decision was not unexpected and that it was an inevitable result of 'that’ debate that he would be "forced to step down".
"It’s probably in his own interest, but not for America. It's sad for the world, a great leader sadly gone."
The owners and staff at Heffernan’s Fine Food’s on Market Square in Ballina have fond memories of Mr Biden's visit.
He brought 19 family members including his brother and sister, children and grandchildren to dine at the establishment which is owned by Anthony Heffernan.
"He and his family arrived here for a meal, it was a tremendous spectacle with all the security and everything just like in the movies.
He was very pleasant and natural, he wanted to sit down with people," Mr Heffernan said.
He thinks it's better for the president to step aside now and hopes he has done enough to get Kamala Harris elected.
"I don’t think he was able for another four years, it’s a shame because he did mention us so often and he was very good to us.
"He will be missed I think."
With only weeks to go before President Biden leaves office, perhaps like Ballina it was a trip he didn’t want to leave too soon.
