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Weather Proverbs

Are Some Weather Folktales True?

Each culture has sought to understand weather through stories that explain how the Sun was created, how and why the wind blows, why we have frost and how fire (a means of controlling temperature) came to the world.

Methods of predicting the weather can be traced back to the ancient Greeks (Aristotle's Meteorlogica and Theoprastus' On Weather Signs and On Wind). References to weather prediction are also present in the Bible. For example, in Matthew 16.2-3, Jesus says to a group of fishermen, "when it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' and in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.'"

This concept is reflected in the English sailing proverb:

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight;
Red sky in morning , sailors take warning." (Schneider, 1996)

In addition to trying to understand and predict the weather, humans have also tried to control the weather. Native American tribes attempted to bring rain or stop rain from falling and to control the winds, depending on what the situation required. This was achieved through a variety of methods that typically involved prayers or incantations, the smoking or burning of tobacco, using charms, and dancing. (Harrington, 1884)

Early American scientists also developed theories to influence the weather. One such theory for causing rain involved simultaneously lighting a series of fires that were built with about forty acres of timber and spaced every twenty miles in a 600 -700 mile line reaching from the north to the south. Others theorized that shooting explosives into the clouds would cause rain. J.B. Atwater of Chicago designed a box rigged with explosives and mounted on a long pole which, when placed about a mile southwest of the area to be protected, would explode when the high winds of a tornado came and thereby cause the tornado to dissipate. (Harrington, 1884)

From this history of interest in weather, a body of American folklore or "weather wisdom" has evolved. While some of these may seem silly by modern standards (A green Christmas makes a fat churchyard), others have some basis in scientific theory.

Take the afore mentioned rhyme:

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight;
Red sky in morning, sailors take warning."

A red or pink hue in the evening sky is the result of light interacting with dry dust particles which indicates dry weather is coming. A gray evening sky means that the atmosphere is heavy with water droplets that will likely fall the following day.

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Bibliography

Harrington, Mark W. "Weather Making, Ancient and Modern." National
Geographic, April 25, 1894: pp. 35-62.
Lee, Albert. Weather Wisdom: Facts and Folklore of Weather Forecasting.
Congdon & Weed, Inc. 1976.
Ludlum, David M. "Weather Lore." Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather. 1996.
Meider, Wolfgang, "Proverbs." Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather. 1996.

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Written by: Riley Koch

Adapted from the Athena web site.