Weather sayings and old wives tales

We tend to concentrate on high-tech weather monitoring and forecasting techniques in here…because we all like computers! However, I’m sure there are many weather sayings or ‘old wives tales’ from around that world that might give us a more accurate forecast than all our high-tech attempts! I don’t know what others think, but I’d find it interesting to hear some of the sayings that come from your area and I think this is the board to hold them in. I’ll suggest that we use a new topic for each saying to allow people to comment on whether they have anything similar from their area and/or how accurate it appears to be.

not a weather saying but more an obsevation that I know to be true! on our canal system if the water begins to smell dank or fetid its going to rain within six hours, when told this by an old timer many years ago i was a little sceptical but sure as eggs are eggs it works every time! krac2 :slight_smile:

The farmers interpretation of a barometer comes in a rhyme, Long Fortold Long to Last Short Notice Soon Past “the poor mans weather glass” is the Scartlet pimpernel! long ago countryfolk noticed (which has since been verified) that this little flower is sensitive to changes in the air ,opening when it is dry but closing when it accumulates moisture, presently to be discharged as rain. And for those of us who live by the sea, Seagull,Seagull sit on the sand, its never fine weather when your on the land. krac2 :lol:

Not sure if this an old wives tale. When I worked for my uncle building houses he used water puddles to determine if we went home or kept working when it started to rain. If bubbles formed in the puddles and floated for a little while we went home. If no bubbles formed or they burst immediately we kept working as he said the rain would pass. I can’t remember now if it was accurate but that’s how he decided.

–Dave

Heard when I was young to some countryside people: "If you want to know what the temperature is (

I couple of old wives tales that I’ve grown up with:

1, When the wind blows the tree leaves such that they turn over there is a storm aproaching

2, When the cows are laying down in the field it will likely rain. I assume that if half the cows are laying down and half standing there is a 50% chance of rain BUT nobody has officially clearified this point for me.

3, Of courses there is always the ring around the moon that predicts snow but that is more sicience than old wifes tale.

Hanging my head in shame I race sailboats and I’m sure my crew would never forgive me if I didn’t recite the good ol’

“Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.
Red sky at night, sailors delight.”

Actually you stole my one. We have a slightly different version:
Red sky at night, shepherds delight
red sky in the morning shepherds warning

No doubt reflecting the “agriculture” background of our country :slight_smile:

I read somewhere that this is actually true for us in NZ - since:
In the morning, the sun rises in the East, and the prevailing weather comes from the west, so if there is cloud about that the early morning sun reflects off, it is likely to move closer during the day.

In the evening the sun sets in the west. If the sun is reflecting off clouds, then they will be off towards the east, and likely to move further away overnight.

I 've seen this happen.
when the leaves on a tree curl or show the underside it is going to rain

From a fishing mate…

“Mackerel scales, lower the sails.”

Mackerel scales is referring to the look of the clouds, it is going to get windy.

One I know that is more for long-range forecasting is that depending how high up rooks nest in trees shows how good a summer its going to be. The higher up, the better the weather will be!
I’m pretty sure the one about cows and rain has been shown to be a load of nonsense though!

With regards to the cows, I believe it to be true as it keeps that patch of grass fry for them!

Heres another reason

Question: Why do cows sit on the ground when it’s about to rain?

Answer:
The only explanation I can think of is that cows know that the rain will
make the air cooler, and hence themselves cooler, and sit on the
ground to absorb it’s heat. They can also preserve their
own heat by laying on the ground, or standing in groups together
as horses do.
wildman jackson

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather/a/is-it-true-that-cows-lie-down-when-its-about-to-rain

I think that for the amount of time that cows lie down during a day, the chances are that it will rain at some point when they are sat down. All coincidental i would say. Interestingly enough, it has been noted that cows and sheep do tend to face the same direction when it does rain.

Another old wives tale i remember is that if swifts and swallows are flying low at dusk before they go home to roost, its a sign of bad weather to come. The opposite is true if they’re flying high. I think it has something to do with the flies they catch.

Came across this rather interesting topic and i’ve heard some of them before, in norwegian:
aften r

Red sky at night etc is the UK one we are all familiar with and works. IMHO!

When the night has a fever, it cries in the morning.
if the temp increase between 10pm and midnight i beleive it will rain in the morning.

I wonder! if a turn to the worse is preceded by a atmospheric pressure drop which lowers the pressure above the surface of the canal/s allows the escape of gas from the bottom layer of the canal, hence the the fetid smell!!

I agree.
Sometimes with all this high-tec stuff, things can get messed up.
No one uses wives tales anymore.
All of mine are already posted, like the cricket one and stuff.

The winter are now almost at his end and in some areas around my village there has been up to 2.50 meter with
snow…and this autumn it was no rowanberry!

What about the pains in the joints like knees, and thumbs. My mother in law swears by it.

Re the cows, it is not working they lay down when they lay down I guess. Often you see them laying down to re-consume their grass. The do tend to face their back ends into the wind (same as horses and other animals). I have a few cows, so I might set-up a cow cam so you can see for yourself.

Re-swallows.
It is about hunting, flies are subject to updraft of hot air, hence they are higher and it is warmer (I think).

Gees flying north means that it is getting warmer (northern hem) and flying south it means it getting colder.

I believe the Irish have some way of weather prediction using a piece of string on a board. It tends to be very accurate. For example when it is wet it is raining, when it s horizontal it is storming and when it is gone well…Katrina came through.

H