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| Observing the moon and sky. |
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October rings around the moon.....
A detailed explanation is found here
If you see a ring of clouds around the moon, it's going to rain within a day. Details
A change in the moon brings on a change in the weather.
Ring around the moon, snow in 30 days. Thunder in winter, snow in 30 days"
The shape of the new moon gives an indication of the likely hood of rain. It can be either holding water or pouring it out. If it is lying on its back it will hold water, if lying face down the water can run out, similar to a dish. It is a general indicator for the month. Details.
From the cable TV weather channel. It does not say where this saying applies. "If you have a Blue Moon [2nd full moon) in November expect floods." This from a supporter in Kansas, USA. Can anyone add further information. |
| When the sky has a bluish black cast, it signals a dust storm approaching. More details. |
| In Tennessee greenish clouds are a sign of tornadoes or extremely strong winds. More details. |
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If all stars are out at night it will be a nice day tomorrow. |
Plant potatoes during a new moon. Several from this contributor
Clouds moving toward you, that have flat bottoms, means the weather will turn cooler. |
| Many New Zealand farmers refer to a longrange weather website called
the Home of Long Range Weather Forecasting. It is all about the effect of the moon on the weather. |
| Observing plants, birds, animals, fish, insects & humans. |
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I live in an outback town in Queensland Australia and have always been sensitive to impending rain, storms and weather changes.
I get pain all over my body when there may be rain, storms or weather changes within 3 days. My wife has the same affliction.
We have seen doctors about it in which they can not give an explanation only to say that we are probably barometrically sensitive. I have done some research on this only to find that some theories are that it is a left over inate warning signal that most animals on this earth have. Does anyone have the same affliction and have they found out anything that can ease the pain.
See the full text of this interesting email. |
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Blackbirds sitting together in rows on the telephone wires, means rain is coming. |
If the tree frogs sing for three nights in a row, there will not be any more snow that season.
Full text of the email
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| Cows lying down, good indication of rain. |
Flowers smell best just before the rain. |
If a rain shower produces bubbles in puddles, there will be rain the following day. A report.
The lower the leaves turn on a tree, meant severe rain and thunder, and the higher it went the less chance of it being too severe.
A full email and another confirmation.
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Before a tornado, the birds and bugs become very still "go into hiding" and it becomes "abnormally quiet". The wind also seems to become eerily calm, and the sky turns "greenish". More details. |
My father-in-law says that when flies are hanging around the doors and windows and trying to get into the house, it is a sign of rain.
He also talks about "rain crows" that he hears just before it rains. I don't know what kind of birds they are. Have you ever heard of rain crows? Details
This short email has now arrived -
"My grandmother referred to doves calling as rain crows".
Details
The Audabon bird book of North American birds list the American Yellow billed cuckoo, and in its description mentions it is sometimes called a rain crow. Details |
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I've noticed crows will begin to group (a murder) and call in one of their nine distinct 'voices' with the coming of heavy rain.
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Midgies or (small flies) biting in the evening, then rain to follow in the morning.
Its probably their last chance to feed before a period of rain. |
I remember as a child my mother use to say if you want to know if it's going to rain, look at the ant hills. She told me that before it rains the ants built up the hills around their tunnels to keep the water out. She also told me that if you observe closely you will be able to tell how long and how hard it's going to rain. So I began to watch the ants.
I noticed that sometimes the ants would start building way out around their tunnels, but they would not build very high. But then again other times they would start way out around their tunnels and build the hills very high. When they did this it rain for a longtime, the higher they built the harder it rained, and the wider they built the longer it
rained. Sometimes the ants would build their hills narrow but very high. When the hill is high but narrow we always got a hard but quick shower. When the hills were very wide but not very high we got drizzling rain sometimes for several days. When the hills were very wide and very high we got hard rains sometimes for several days.
I practice this weather forecasting using the ants in central New York State, located in the north eastern USA.
Preamble |
The wooly bear caterpillar is trusted in forecasting winter weather in North America.
First mentioned . .
More information . .
A test report
Woolly bear caterpillar research |
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A forecast for spring, based on dogwood trees in full bloom. Details. |
If the chickens stay out in the rain, the rain will be an all day rain,
but if they run into the chicken house, it will be a short shower. Details |
| I have had two questions about how to tell what the coming winter weather will be by cracking open the pit of the persimmon. Full draft of several emails.
At last an answer. June 2002. - A Persimmon fruit has many seeds inside. Upon cracking them open, you will find any one of the three pieces of "silverware" shapes.
- KNIFE: you'll slice through winter (mild)
- SPOON: you'll need to spoon out the snow (moderate)...
- FORK: you'll have to "dig in" (severe)...
so...whichever you find the most of, within the seeds, is the winter prediction.
Another contributor has this interpretation :-
- A spoon or shovel there will be lots of heavy, wet snow.
- A fork you can expect a mild winter with powdery, light snow.
- A knife-shaped kernel indicates bitter, icy winds.
Also, another winter prediction is a thick skin on fruit - hard winter to come, a thin skin on fruit is a mild winter to come.
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Spider webs in the grass in the morning it will not rain that day.
If there is a heavy dew, it will not rain. Details |
| It must be going to rain as my bones are aching. Details |
| Observing rain, dew, fog and rainbows. |
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During the rainy season
"If there's no dew on the grass in the morning, rain will be here within 24 hours."
That is the forecast now enjoy reading the background to it.
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| If it's foggy in the morning then it'll be a sunny day. |
| A thunder storm nearly always brings rain. This amazing photo of lightning was taken in Sydney, Australia on 27 December 1991. |
| Folklore regarding snow, all from the northern hemisphere. |
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There's three snows after the forsythia blooms.
When snowflakes are fine as corn meal, it does seem to snow a lot. More detail
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When we get an early snow, like October 21, it will snow 21 times that winter.
A test report.
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Some people have the ability to "smell" snow coming. Details.
A remark about smelling the snow coming - I think it's true; I have often experienced this myself along with a friend while skiing or hiking in winter; it will usually begin snowing within two hours.
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A prediction for the upcoming winter by the foraging of the animals. Details.
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| My theory is that feathery creatures receive messages from Mother Nature to consume my pyrocantha berries which would be under a heavy, constant snowfall in the bad years. Details.
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| Winter snow severity can be judged by the nut storing frantic-activity or lack thereof of the squirrels. I also look at how lush their tales are! This year (2001) the squirrels in my SE Massachusetts gardens are pretty darn lazy and skimpy-tailed. Details. |
| Ring around the moon, snow in 30 days. Thunder in winter, snow in 30 days. Details. |
| Big snow, little snow. Little snow, big snow. |
| Forecasting the Seasons |
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Most forecasting relates to forecasting the following days weather.
There are also many observations that attempt to forecast the coming seasons weather. They would appear to relate more to the farmer / shepherd than to the sailor or fisherman. The majority of the seasonal forecasting adages apply only to the northern hemisphere as the seasons in the southern hemisphere commence 6 months before (or after, which ever way you look at it).
See Christmas in Australia for an example of this divergence. |
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February fog means a frost in May. |
Ash Wednesday wind continues in Lent. |
A cold May gives full barns
and empty churchyards. |
Knee high by the fourth of July.
The contributor. |
Rain on Easter Sunday,
it will rain the next 7 Sundays. |
Fog in January makes a wet Spring. |
Thunder in February, freeze in May. Full details of tests.
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| Observing for a particular location. |
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Robin Knox-Johnston in his book Beyond Jules Verne, chapter 7, comments on going to 60° south latitude, which is well into the iceberg area. There is an old sailor's adage:
"Beyond 40° south there is no law.
Beyond 50° south there is no God."
He continues "They did not come up with anything for 'Beyond 60° south' - it was probably beyond imagination." |
From the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand where they get 200 inches of rain a year.
"If you look out the window and the mountains seem close,
it's a sure sign that rains not far away.
If you look out and you can't see the mountains,
it's already raining!" - Stan Northcroft.
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The lore from the South Island of New Zealand, and seeing the mountains if it's going to rain, or not seeing them if it is raining, is told in England about Manchester and the Pennines. I would think that the New Zealand version is likely based on a memory of Manchester by an early settler.
In Birmingham England, it is said that if you could smell the chocolate from Cadbury's factory it was going to rain. This must be fairly recent, as the factory was only built in about 1840. I suppose it was based on the wind being in a particular direction, or a heavy atmosphere holding the smell near the ground. Details
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