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Weather Folklore
Topic Started: February 8 2011, 01:51 AM (1,552 Views)
Mark (IWO)
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Weather lore is the body of informal folklore related to the prediction of the weather.

It has been a human desire for millennia to make accurate weather predictions. Oral and written history is full of rhymes, anecdotes, and adages meant to guide the uncertain in determining whether the next day will bring fair or foul weather. For the farmer wanting to plant crops, for the merchant about to send ships on trade, foreknowledge of tomorrow's circumstances might mean the difference between success and failure. Prior to the invention of the mercury barometer, it was very difficult to gather numerical data of any predictive value. Even though there were devices such as the weather stick which gave some indication of moisture changes, the only instrument of any reliability was human experience.

If anybody wishes to add to the list already compiled please do so by adding a reply. All information collated here will be used in an index of weather folklore presently being compiled for the main Irish Weather Online website

- Clear moon, frost soon.
- Red sky at night, shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning, sailor's warning.
- It rains as long as it takes rain to come.
- When the dew is on the grass, rain will never come to pass.
- When halo rings the moon or sun, rain's approaching on the run
- A cow with its tail to the West makes the weather best, A cow with its tail to the East makes the weather least
- If clouds move against the wind, rain will follow
- When leaves show their backs, it will rain
The coldest winter you will ever experience is a summer in West Clare.
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Fergal (IWO)
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Here are some more, with an explanation why in italics.

"When the glass falls low, Prepare for a blow; When the glass is high, Let your kites fly"
Glass falls low refers to atmospheric pressure. A low means wet and windy weather, a high means....well, kite-flying weather!

"Cold is the night when the stars shine bright"
The coldest nights are when there is no cloud cover, so the earth can lose its heat to space

"Catchy drawer and sticky door, Coming rain will pour and pour"
With higher humidity, wood will expand, therefore drawers and doors will stick. Higher humidity means more possibility of heavy rain

"The winds of the daytime wrestle and fight, Longer and stronger than those of the night"
Stability occurs when cool air is under warmer air. At night, the earth's surface cools off. This surface cooling promotes stability. The wind tends to slacken as low level stability occurs after sunset.

"A ring around the sun or moon, means rain or snow coming soon"
A ring (halo) means that there's a thin veil of Cirrostratus cloud, which is usually the first sign of an approaching weather system

"When clouds look like black smoke a wise man will put on his cloak"
Pretty self explanatory I reckon!

"No weather's ill if the wind be still"
If the wind be still, there's most likely high pressure around, which brings fine weather

"Evening red and morning grey, two sure signs of one fine day"
The weather tends to move from the west toward the east in the mid-latitudes. A red sky in the evening often means the setting sun in the western sky is shining on clouds in the eastern part of the sky. Precipitation in the east will often move away since weather tends to move east. A morning grey sky as the sun rises in the east means the precipitation is already to the east of the area and will thus not move into the area.

http://weatheire.yolasite.com
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Bella East Cork
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[ *  * ]
Heres a few i have used and come across ............

Rain before seven, clear before eleven

A sunshiney shower, last half an hour

When ditches and ponds offend the nose, look for rain and stormy blows

Aching joints foretell wet weather

The daisy flower shuts its eye before rain

When dew is on the grass, rain will not come to pass

If autumn leaves are slow to fall. may way for a cold winter

If ash buds before Oak, the summers all a soak, if Oak buds before ash then the summer is but a splash ( buds ie when they come into leaf)

When sea birds fly to land there truly is a storm at hand.

If crows fly low, winds going to blow; If crows fly high, winds going to die

No weather is ill, if the wind is still.

It rains as long as it takes rain to come.

To talk of the weather is nothing but folly; when it rains on the hill, it suns in the valley.

Yellow streaks in sunset sky, wind and daylong rain is nigh

Year of snow, fruit will grow.

The sharper the blast, the sooner it’s past.

Pale moon doth rain, red moon doth blow, white moon doth neither rain nor snow.

Rainbow in the east, sailors at peace. Rainbow in the west, sailors in distress

Onionskin is very thin, mild winter is coming in. Onionskin is thick and tough winter will be cold and rough


:)


Weather forecast for tonight: dark
The trouble with forcasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.
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