Weather Proverbs

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Weather Proverbs
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People have been forecasting the weather for
centuries.

• They once looked to plants and animals for hints
  about what the weather would do. For example,
  before it rained, some people often observed that
  ants moved to higher ground, cows lay down, pine
  cones opened up, frogs croaked more frequently,
  and sheep's' wool uncurled. Over the years,
  people began to notice other natural clues to
  upcoming weather, and several weather "sayings"
  grew up over the years.

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A Grain of Salt

• When looking at weather proverbs, keep this in
  mind They are usually based on someones
  observations and not on scientific studies.
  Because climates and weather patterns differ
  throughout the world, a weather proverb based on
  observations in one location may not be valid in
  another location. Some proverbs arose simply from
  coincidence, not weather patterns, and therefore
  may seldom hold true. But under certain
  circumstances, some proverbs do hold up to
  science. Here are some that, under the right
  circumstances, have proven valid.

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Red Sky at night, sailor's delight.  Red sky in
the morning, sailor take warning."

• This one has been around a long time. In fact,
  compare it with this Biblical passage from
  Matthew 161-3 "When evening comes, you say,
  'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,'
  and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy for
  the sky is red and overcast."
• When the western sky is especially clear, there
  is often a red sunset. That's because as the sun
  sets, its light shines through much more of the
  lower atmosphere, which contains dust, salt,
  smoke and pollution. These particles scatter away
  some of the shorter wavelengths of light (the
  violets and blues), leaving only the longer
  wavelengths (the oranges and reds.) If an area of
  high air pressure is present, the air sinks. This
  sinking air holds air contaminants near the
  earth, making the sunset even redder than usual.
  This would be the red sky at night.
• In the middle latitudes of the northern
  hemisphere, weather systems most often approach
  from the west. Since high pressure generally
  brings fair weather, this type of red sky at
  sunset would indicate that clear weather is
  approaching, which would "delight" a sailor. If
  the sky is red in the eastern morning sky for the
  same reasons as above, then the high pressure
  region has most likely already passed from west
  to the east, and an area of low pressure may
  follow. Low pressure usually brings clouds, rain
  or storms, a warning for sailors.

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Mare's tails and mackerel scales make tall ships
take in their sails.

• Mares tails refers to cirrus clouds and a
  mackerel sky refers to cirrocumulus clouds, which
  often precede an approaching warm front, which
  will eventually bring veering winds (changing
  from northeast and east over to southwest and
  west) and precipitation.
• This may necessitate changing the sails to
  accommodate the new wind direction and speed.

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Clear moon, frost soon.

• If the atmosphere is clear, the surface of the
  earth will cool rapidly as heat is radiated away
  at night. There is no "blanket" of clouds to keep
  the heat that the ground absorbed during the day
  from radiating back up into space.  If the
  temperature is low enough on these clear nights
  and there's no wind, frost may form.

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A year of snow, a year of plenty.

• A continuous covering of snow on farmland and
  orchards delays the blossoming of fruit trees
  until the season of killing frosts is over. It
  also prevents the alternate thawing and freezing
  which destroys wheat and other winter grains.
• OR
• In some areas, melting winter snow supplies the
  runoff for streams during spring and summer.
  Plenty of snow means plenty of irrigation water.

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Halo around the sun or moon, rain or snow soon.

• The halo around the sun or moon is a layer of
  cirrus clouds made of ice crystals. These ice
  crystals act as tiny prisms, forming a white or
  sometimes colorful halo around the sun or moon. 
  This cirro-stratus cloud often indicates an
  approaching warm front and an associated area of
  low pressure. Rain or snow will not always
  follow, but there is a higher probability of it
  after a halo is seen, and the brighter the
  circle, the greater the probability.

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When the stars begin to huddle, the earth will
soon become a puddle.

• When clouds increase, whole areas of stars may be
  hidden by clouds with groups of stars, still in
  the clear spots of sky, seem to huddle together.
  The clouds are increasing, so the chance of rain
  is increasing too.

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Rainbow in the morning gives you fair warning.

• In the morning, the sun is in the east. If there
  is a shower, its rainbow is in the west. As the
  weather in the mid-latitudes of the northern
  hemisphere moves mostly from west to east, the
  morning rainbow indicates that rain is moving
  from the west toward the observer.

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Animals are sensitive to changes that humans
can't detect.

• Swallows flying low may indicate the air pressure
  is dropping.
• Dry air and static electricity may increase the
  grooming activities of cats.
• The calls of some birds, including crows and
  geese, have been known to be more frequent with
  falling pressure.
• Deer and elk sometimes react to wind and air
  pressure by coming down from mountains and
  seeking shelter.
• Many species from rabbits fish may feed more
  before a storm so they can seek shelter.
• Cicadas can't vibrate their wings when the
  humidity is high, so may be silent when rain is
  approaching.
• Flying insects are more active when air pressure
  drops and stay closer to the ground, so they seem
  to swarm before a storm.

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The Cricket Thermometer

• The chirping of a cricket has been shown to
  provide a close indication of air temperature. By
  counting the number of cricket chirps in a
  14-second period and adding 40, the total will
  equal the air temperature to within one degree
  75 of the time.

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People and plants can sometimes detect
atmospheric conditions.

• Some flowers close up as the humidity rises so
  rain doesn't wash away their pollen.
• The leaves of some trees curl just before a
  storm.
• The higher the humidity, the better sound
  travels. Some English people gauged the chances
  of rain by the clarity with which they heard
  church bells sound.
• A drop in barometric pressure often affects
  people with joint diseases, bad teeth, recently
  healed broken bones, or corns and bunions,
  bringing pain or pressure to those areas of the
  body.

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A final note

• Most of these natural forecasting methods are for
  the short range. Most long-range proverbs have no
  meteorological basis, including the legend of the
  ground hog.

The End!