Wanna Be a Steader!

How to Tell if the Weather Will Change w/o Your Evening News!

This is taken from Countryside & Small Stock Journal (magazine), May/June 2007 issue.  Some of these I have heard of and some are new.  I thought it was well worth sharing with you!

Blessings, Kim Wolf<><

A Change in the Weather

Jeffery Goddin, Bloomington, Indiana

There are many quaint old sayings about what might indicate a change in the weather.  All involve pleasantly observing the world around us.  Some of these sayings are a bit humorous, and some of them are even based on scientific fact!

If the grass is dry at night, look for rain the next day.

Dew only forms when the humidity is low, as when there's a high pressure front over the area.  If the grass is dry in the morning it often means there's a low air pressure and high humidity, good conditions for rain.

A mackerel sky means rain is on the way.

A mackerel sky is a sky that has that "quilted" look of regularly spaced mounds - of fish scales.  This kind of sky is formed by high altitude winds - a good sign that rain is blowing in.

A ring around the moon means rain.

A ring around the moon is caused by high-altitude moisture, which indicates there might be enough moisture in the atmosphere to cause rain clouds within 24 hours or so.  [KW - I've seen this MANY times in my life; it's very true.]

Leaves show thier backs before rain.

This is almost always true.  Leaves hang a certain way in accord with the prevailing breezes.  Before a rain the wind will "back around" from its regular directions, causing the leaves to show their backs.  [KW - This is very true, too!  My family always said that the leaves were "begging for rain."]

Distant sounds can be heard clearly before rain.

The low air pressure and changing wind directions before a storm do indeed make it easier to hear distant sounds, like the whistle of a train, or a dog barking.

Smoke will move low to the ground before it rains.

Before a storm, the low air pressure makes it harder for smoke to rise, while on clear days smoke will often rise straight up in the air.  [KW - this is true.  I've seen fireplace smoke bend over to a nearly perfectly horizontal line out of a chimney.]

Birds fly low before a storm.

The air pressure falls before a storm, and this disturbs the balance in birds' inner ears, making it harder for them to fly higher.

Pigs carrying sticks in their mouths are a sign of storms coming.

This might be true, in that the changes in air pressure before a storm disturb their ears, and the change in wind directions brings them new scents, making them restless.  Still, pigs are ornery enough without letting them arm themselves. 

Roosters crow at odd times when the weather's changing.

This saying can have some truth to it, but there are roosters that will crow at just about any darned thing.

An old cat will get frisky as a kitten before it rains.

I've seen this saying prove true on many occasions, but one must also keep in mind that old cats are pretty much a low unto themselves.  [KW - I've seen this many times, myself.]

Doves coo a lot before a rain.

KW - This is one of my own.  When doves coo like crazy, it will rain within 24 hours!  Never fails.  This is why the old folks call doves "rain crows."

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><