I once worked with a a true "bushman". This older gentleman could tell you what the weather was going to be for the next six months by when a certain bird returned from the south, the colouring of a caterpillars back or the stars in the sky. Sadly, this man is no longer with us and I regret not learning more from him. Here is a few tidbits that I have picked up over the years - no guarantee of accuracy though!
Ring around the moon - Some nights, you may notice a faint ring around the moon. Count the stars visible in the ring, that is how many days till rain or snow. If there are no stars visible, you'll see rain in the next 24 hours. I find that this one is actually quite accurate. The ring has to do with the moisture in the air.
The underside of a leaf - If a tree's leaves are flipping over in the wind and showing their undersides, rain is coming soon.
Low flying swallows - If the barn swallows are flying low and fast, there is a storm coming. The change in air pressure is pushing the the flying insects down towards the ground and the swallows are feasting on them.
High clouds - The higher the clouds, the better the weather for the next day or so.
Pasture animals - If it starts to rain and the pasture animals stay out in it, the rain will be a long one. If they head for cover, the rain will be short.
The morning dew - a heavy dew in the morning predicts clear weather while the lack of dew predicts rain that day.
Winter and animals - There is lots of lore about the thickness of different animals coats and the severity of the coming winter. Not sure if I can vouch for any of that lore. I do find the best indicator of spring is when the horses and cows start to shed, spring is here for good.
Of course the return of the robin and the tundra swans to this area is a pretty good indicator of spring, but we've all seen them freezing their tails off in an April snowstorm too!
If you have any other interesting weather lore, please share!
Have you heard about predicting the first fall frost? I have been told that 6 months from the first thunderstorm of the spring is when you can expect the first frost in the fall. Last year it nearly worked. First thunderstorm of the spring was March 17, 2011, and we dipped to a low of 2 - 3 degrees (down here in the south) on the weekend of Sept 16-17!
ReplyDeleteI have heard that the first frost will be six weeks from when the cicada start to sing, though I have never found it very acurate. As for the first frost, we might be in trouble this year as we had a thunderstorm last week!
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