Weather proverbs are ancient and some are accurate, while others are nonsense. Regional proverbs are more reliable due to years of experience. “Red sky at night” suggests good weather, while “red sky in morning” suggests bad weather. “Clear moon, soon frost” is applicable everywhere, while “halo around the moon” is less reliable. “Mackerel scales and mare’s tail” indicate a great storm. Birds roosting before a storm can be a sign of bad weather.
Weather proverbs are an ancient part of human society; there are even a couple in the Bible that are still used today, although they are sometimes reworked. Some weather proverbs are pretty accurate, depending on where you are, while others seem to be a load of nonsense. When considering weather proverbs, it’s important to remember that weather patterns move very differently in the northern and southern hemispheres, and that within each hemisphere there is a great deal of variation. Regional weather proverbs tend to be more accurate, because they come from years of experience with a specific area’s weather.
Perhaps one of the best known weather proverbs is “red sky at night, sailor’s joy, red sky in morning, sailors take warning”. According to meteorologists, a particularly red sunset or sunrise is caused by large amounts of particulate matter in the sky, filtering the sun’s rays before they reach the earth. The longer red wavelengths get through, while the shorter blue and green wavelengths don’t, making the sky appear red. During periods of high pressure, particulate matter becomes trapped close to the land; at sunset, they will turn the sky red, and in the northern hemisphere, where the weather generally moves from west to east, this suggests that good weather is on its way. If the sky is red at dawn, however, the high pressure system has passed and the weather could turn bad. A related proverb is “the rainbow in the morning gives you fair warning,” because it indicates rain and a low-pressure system in the west.
The saying “clear moon, soon frost” is applicable to all regions of the Earth, because when the sky is clear, there is no insulating cloud cover to prevent frost, so during the winter, a clear moon can be a strong frost indicator . “Halo around the moon, rain or snow soon” is a little less reliable; the halo is caused by crystals in the sky, which may or may not transform in wet weather. You may also have heard weather proverbs about stars huddling together before bad weather; these proverbs refer to the fact that when heavy cloud cover obscures much of the sky, it can appear that the visible stars are stuck together.
A particularly colorful weather proverb is “mackerel scales and mare’s tail make tall ships raise their sails”. This proverb refers to the appearance of the sky before a great storm. The cirrus clouds that often drift in front of a low-pressure system look like lumpy fish scales. Closer to home, many people believe that smoke curling down is a sign of bad weather, and they’re right, as it indicates a low-pressure system.
You don’t have to look to the skies for weather proverbs. Many regions of the world have some variation of this proverb: “seagull, seagull, sit on the sand; when you’re ashore, bad weather is at your fingertips.” As biologists are well aware, many birds roost before a storm to ensure they stay safe and sound, so when gulls hunch over the shore, it can be a sign of a storm to come.
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