"Down-Home Meteorology"

I've collected a few so-called "weather signs" that I've heard for most of my life, and I'd like to share them with you. Some, or maybe all, may seem sort of amusing, and you may have heard a few yourselves. Some may not even apply to every part of the world. But the thing is, some of these "weather signs" seem to be somewhat reliable, if not just coincidental.

1. "If it thunders in February, it will frost in April." Corollary: The date of the supposed frost in April will occur close to the date that it thundered in February.

I think this is a bit of a stretch, but I mark my calendars anyway. I've noticed that it is somewhat reliable.

2. "If the sun sets in the clouds on Sunday, it will rain by Wednesday."

I really think this is a bit of a cop-out on the part of old timers because clouds are a good indicator of rain anyhow, aren't they? But I admit that I've caught myself looking to see whether the sun sets in clouds on Sunday...

3. Smoke hanging close to the ground is a good indicator of upcoming rain.

I believe this. I think it has something to do with the atmospheric pressure, but past that notion I get out of my depth very quickly. But I don't believe in it enough to go burn some wet leaves if I want to know if it might rain.

4. A clear night with very bright stars is an indication of a rain within a couple of days.

I know that it's hard to see the stars at night in the city, but I live sort-of in the country. I think that I've noticed this correlation, even though it does seem counter-intuitive to me. I don't know. I'm on the fence with this one.

5. "A ring around the moon means rain soon." Corollary: The number of stars within the halo indicate the number of days of rain.

I do believe this one, and I remember hearing a possible meteorological explanation for it. (But I don't recall the explanation.) I also remember a night where I saw a definite ring around the moon, but later the halo disappeared. (I was working night shift on that occasion.) Result? No rain. But the "number of stars" theory? I think that's a bit of a stretch.

6. "Rain before seven stops by eleven." (Note: This generally refers to seven and eleven A.M.)

I do believe in this observation, even though I realize that it appears to be a bit of a long shot. Why? I don't know. Coincidence maybe?

7. Hearing the southbound train means it will rain.

I'm sure this doesn't count if you're so unfortunate as to live within a couple of blocks of a railroad track. However, I do believe this because I live about six miles from the nearest railroad track, and it's unusual to hear the train--unless it's going to rain.


There are probably others, but I'm sure this is enough for now. (I do hope I haven't lost my audience at this point...)
Now, I'm sure that none of these are so accurate that they pose any sort of threat to the job security of meteorologists, but I think they're sort of fun. You may be familiar with some of them yourselves.
Anyhow, I hope you've enjoyed my bit of down-home meteorology.

Red sky at morning, sailor take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight.

This one contains a fair amount of truth.

<slaps head>

How on earth could I have forgotten that one?
That's one of my favorites!



Thanks for the reminder.


Also one I just remembered:

A white sky in daytime is a sign of rain.

(That's a pretty good forecaster.)


See? Who needs the Weather Channel?

Note: Edited quote for reasons of space.

I've heard some of these over the years,but the only ones which I've noticed do tend to be on the mark are numbers 3,5,and 6.

For #6,I think it should say "Storm before 7,end by 11",since many of the experiences I've had have been with heavy storms in the morning (usually while camping).A light rain or drizzle may continue well past 11,or may last all day...but the heavy storms usually blow over very quickly,since they usually have heavy winds associated with them.Slower moving storms will last far longer.

Also,the one that Incorrigible1 mentioned is well-known,and is quite true.

That could very well be, since storms around our parts (Southeast) tend to be short-lived anyway.
Weather signs must actually be laws since there seems to be loopholes to them somehow.

Cows lay down in the field before it rains.

Some trees turn their leaves over before it rains.

I know those from observation.

Crows roost on high tension wire before rain....seems dumb, yeah...but its there.....

That when it sprinkles its most likely going to rain

I know ants will usually add dirt near their colony entrance, making a mound before a big rain.

I have heard both of those. Old Wives Tales my mother likes to call them. But I have a variation on the second one. I have heard that when it is about to thunderstorm, you can see the lighter colored undersides of trees' leaves. I was told that the leaves are turned upside down by updrafts from the forming storm.

And for the record, I find that in most cases they are true. I have begun to rarely use the Weather Channel anymore. I just learn the weather patterns of an area and rely on my experience to predict the weather and make judgment calls.

And that's two more I forgot, doggone it.
Man, this aging thing is rough, I tell ya.



And how could I forget!

Tree frogs predict rain also.

I would imagine it must have taken an extremely long time-line to figureout the patterns, like say 10 years or so?

Probably so.
I suppose a lot of these observations originated amongst people who lived close to the land (or even the sea) in years past. Farmers, cowboys, sailors, fishermen. Accurate weather reporting is fairly recent, unless you count the Farmer's Almanac (which wasn't always that accurate.)

I think it's possible that some of these signs indicate a barometric change, which is one of the prime predictors of rain and storms. I also suspect that certain animals, like tree frogs or even cows, are sensitive to changes in barometric pressure. Not that they would understand what "barometric pressure" means, of course, but they can perceive when the change is occuring and react accordingly.

So I think many of these signs will always have some validity to them.

Interesting post someoldguy...Since we were kids, the favorite was the ring around the moon predicting rain. We still look for it as adults and 9 out of 10 times it happens. Good prediction for a beach day

I would say it is worth noting that this is dependant on where you live.... Should you be on the Southern tip of Chile, you are very unlikely to hear a South bound train for example...

I notice the majority are predicting rain. I guess if you reverse the proverb it could hold truth.

Here are a couple more for you...


If a cone closes in day, then expect rain that day.

If you wake up in Britain, expect rain.

Wasn't there something that had to do with crickets???

If you count the number of times a cricket chirps and add a certain number...er uhm...oh say 20? That it will give you the temperature of the weather?

Sorry this may not be a sign but thats what came to mind when reading this thread.

Tell you mother I lived next door to cows and the only time you would see them all lay down is before a rain. Trees can move their leaves and they react to sunlight so why wouldn't they react to rain.

How bout that old time myth, if you just wash and waxed your car or if its laundry day, guess what, it''ll rain.
Recently, someone posted a picture of thousands of frogs hopping crazy just prior to that quake in China. Guess they could tell sumthins up.

Hey, sometimes I'm not sure that's a myth!

I was going to wash my car today while I was out puttering in the lawn, but then I heard the weather forecast for my area: Good chance of rain tomorrow and Saturday!

Coincidence?
I think not!




(Not really.... )

When I was a little lad, i wanted to go out to play but it was raining and i wasn't allowed to by my mother.
My father said "Don't worry son this morning rain never lasts beyond noon"

I waited patiently, but 12 o'clock came and went and it was still raining.

When I said to my father "you said morning rain never lasted beyond noon but its nearly 1 and its still raining!" he said

"thats right lad - now its afternoon rain!"

When I lived elsewhere in the Uk there was a Scout Camping grounds nearby.

They had a weather forcasting rock that was quite accurate! A plaque on it explained its usage thus:

If the rock is dry and warm - its sunny
If the rock is wet - its raining
If the rock is Hard white and cold - its frosty
If the rock is Soft white and cold - its Snowy
If you cant see the rock - its foggy
If small things are moving past the rock - its Windy
If the rock is rocking - its very windy
If the rock is gone call the police!

There's another one that I'd forgotten. (I must find that memory-enhancement drug, but I forgot the name of it. )

"If the sky is white, rain by tonight." (Or something like that.)

I have seen those at Boy Scout camps. But I have also seen a rope barometer with some similar sayings. I also have a Swedish friend who has something like a piece of a branch hanging outside his window. He says it's a Swedish tradition that you can tell the weather from. He says it's never failed.

I am looking for pictures of both of them, but I can seem to find them. I'll edit later if I find them.

EDIT: I found the stick barometer. This website is saying that it's an Abenaki Indian tradition, but I'm sure my friend said it was a Swedish tradition, too.
http://www.time-weather.com/mainweatstic.html

Well, the sky was white in my area yesterday and the weather forecast had a 50 percent chance of rain, but it didn't rain at all. Hmpf...



I hope it's not "if the branch is wet, it's raining", "if it's moving, it's windy", etc.

I hope not either! But he told me that depending on whether or not the branch (approximately straight-ish) was pointing up or down foretells good or bad weather (I don't remember which way means what me and my bad memory). For the few times I was out at his house, it hasn't failed us.

Yes, there is.
I've forgotten the method but you can estimate the outside temperature by the number of chirps per minute that you hear.
I tried it years ago and was fascinated by the accuracy. (It was 56 outside and the "cricket estimate" was very close.)

Thanks for putting up those weather "signs" i really enjoyed reading those.Those are more accurate than the weather channel.We don't need them anymore i guess...eh?