weater signs

8/22/2019 Weater Signs

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Nature's Weather SignsLinda FlorenceThe Leader, June/July 1986

On a summer evening before an early morning fishing trip, my fatherand grandfather ritually sat on the stoop of the old shed checking andchoosing their tackle. My grandfather was not a talkative man, and thetime passed in companionable quiet which we had learned not todisturb.

"Guess that's it," grandpop would finally say.

"What time you want to leave?" dad would ask.

After a pause to scan the sky, my grandfather might reply, "Not tooearly. We're in for rain, so bring the oilskins." Another time hemight suddenly call off the morning trip. "Wind's shifted, " he'd say."Southeaster coming. May be okay just before supper." As I rememberit, he was always right. Soon after he predicted a southeaster, forexample, the first tug responded to marine radio storm warnings bymooring at one of the buoys in the shelter of the bay in front of thehouse.

My grandmother had the same knack. While puttering in the garden,she'd suddenly lift her head and sniff the air. "Smells like rain,"she'd say, when all I smelled was the heavy perfume of the blooms shewas tending. Inside, she could quash the afternoon's picnic plans witha flat, "There's rain on the way. I feel it in my bones." I learned torespect her predictions, even under a cloudless sky.

Country people who pioneered in our small west coast town, mygrandparents were dependent on land and sea and alert to nature'sweather signs; a mackeral sky, a counterclockwise shift in the wind,the reactions of animals, earth and their own bodies to increasinghumidity and falling barometric pressure. Not only cloud formationsand sky colours, but numerous subtle signs that perhaps even they

might not readily identify helped them form their predictions.

We can all learn some of nature's weather signs, and summer camp is agreat place to begin. Because few of us live as close to the land asmy grandparents did, we'll have to work at it, but there are things tolook for. Watch and listen, see what happens within 12 hours, and soonyou may find you are tuned in enough to say, "It's gonna rain" withouteven stopping to think why. And you may be right!

Low Pressure Signs

Many animals signal impending rain as they react to falling air

pressure, an indication that a storm is moving in. Bats fly lowerbefore storms, and you'll often see crows and robins walking. A dropin air pressure sets wolves howling because it hurts their ears. Antstend to scurry about and spiders busily repair their webs before astorm, but it's not clear if they are responding to low pressure orhigh humidity.

Leeches make good barometers. Put a couple of these creatures in a jarand watch their behaviour. If they lie quietly on the bottom of thecontainer, you can count on good weather. If they begin to dash back


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and forth, the pressure is dropping and you may have rain.

Another sign of low pressure harks back to my grandma's "It smellslike rain." Decaying vegetation in soil, pond and marsh forms gaseswhich, under normal pressure, stay put. Low pressure allows pockets ofthese gases to escape, giving the air an "earthy" smell or, nearstagnant water, something less pleasant, as noted in this littlerhyme: When the ditch and the pond offend the nose, then look for rainand stormy blows.

Even tree leaves react to a low pressure system. If you listencarefully one quiet evening as you enjoy an after-supper coffee, youmight hear slender white pine needles "whistle", coarser thicker pineneedles "grumble", and oak leaves "mutter". While you listen, lookdown at your coffee. Are there bubbles clustered around the edge ofthe cup? If so, the pressure is low. It's also low if the smoke fromyour fire is curling towards the ground instead of rising. Now, lookup. If there's a ring around the moon as well, you're probably in forrain.

A shift in wind direction indicates a high or low pressure system ismoving in. A counterclockwise shift from north to west, for example,is a sign of rain because that's the direction air moves around a lowpressure system. If the wind shift is clockwise, it means a high

pressure system, and you'll likely be blessed with fine weather.

High Humidity Signs

Rising humidity also signals rain. The ring around the moon or a hazearound the sun often means wet weather. When pitcher plants open,humidity is high and rain threatens. Wildflowers like daisies andchickweed close up when the relative humidity near the ground reaches82%, another rain sign.

Frogs provide storm warnings when they emerge from the water and start

croaking as humidity rises. About 12 hours before a storm hits,insects fly lower than usual and seem to swarm more because, when theupper air holds a lot of moisture, it condenses on their wings andhairs and makes flying difficult. Two hours before the storm, theystop flying altogether. Because they chase the insects, birds fly lowwhen the air is moist, too. And fish bite better, perhaps becausethey're feasting on waterlogged insects lumbering close to thesurface. Birds also sing more and fly facing the wind when humidity ishigh. Ants marching in single file and a night filled with firefliesare other signs of very moist air.

If the cry of the loon that wakes you early in the morning seems muchlouder than usual, go back to sleep. It's probably going to rain. When

you look out, you'll see the glowering low cloud that amplified theloon's call. On the other hand, if the ground is covered with dew whenyou emerge from the tent, you're probably in for a splendid day. Dewforms when the ground loses heat quickly, and that only happens whenthe air above is dry.

Finally, if the weather's very hot and you want to know just how hotit is, listen to grasshoppers and crickets. Grasshoppers won't giveyou a precise reading but, It they are singing, It's above 84 degreesF (29 degrees C). Crickets, they say, can tell you exactly what you


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want to know. Simply count cricket chirps for 14 seconds and add 40 tocome up with the temperature in fahrenheit. If you prefer centigrade,count the number of chirps in eight seconds and add four. Try it whenyou're out there, check your results against a thermometer, and tellus if it works.

Oh, by the way, if the crickets quit chirping, they're saying it'seither above 105 degrees F (40 degrees C) or below 40 degrees F (4degrees C). But I expect you'll find it pretty easy to figure whichone.

WEATHER PREDICTION:

Certain rules good to REMEMBER about this:

Sky Brilliant yellow at sunset = wind / Pale yellow = rain /Clear far away sighting = rain past or to come./ Light cloud withindefinite edges = nice weather.

Thick clouds with well-shaped edges = wind. If the birds fly low= will rain and wind.

Brilliant stars = nice weather coming. Night frogs #croassement#= nice day tomorrow! OLEY!

When rain comes first without wind then = a long period of badweather with high wind and heavy rain.

But when wind comes first and is followed immediately by rainthen fine weather will follow at short notice.

ANOTHER INFALLIBLE WEATHER signal is the appearance of CumulusNimbus cloud, a foreteller of thunderstorm. While a greenishlight in the sky preceding a thunderstorm is almost certain signof heavy hail.

CLOUDS & THEIR READING:

CIRRUS = this is the mare's tail sky of the landsman, shows aslong threads or wisps of cloud.

This is the highest of all cloud formations and is a sign of ahigh barometric pressure which means fine weather.

NOTE HIGH PRESSURE = FINE WEATHER:

However in cold regions where they gather in strong concentrationthis would mean a snow storm.

CIRRO-STRATUS & CIRRO CUMULUS:

In these clouds the former is a long wispy cloud and in thelatter rounded small cloud the typical "mackerel" sky. Both = ahigh barometric pressure = FINE weather!

CUMULUS & CUMULUS NIMBUS:

They are the high white piled-up masses of cloud seen in summer.When streaked with horizontal bands it is Cumulus Nimbus orthunder cloud, a sign of coming storms which may be of a short


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duration, or may indicate a change in weather generally.

If they add up on top of one another in shape of heads they willtell that a storm is coming. Black and in shape of #enclume#*then a big storm is on its way.

STRATUS & NIMBUS:

Clouds are dense and dark & low in the sky = rain & mist

CIRROCUMULUS:

They are #pommelees#* clouds which look like fish scales = raincoming in the next 12 to 15 hours.

SUN CIRCLE: (Halo! LIKE AN ANGEL!)

A small circle around the sun = rains in the next 36 hours / Alarge circle around the sun = rains .... 24 hours MOON CIRCLE =RAIN!

WIND DIRECTION:

To find the direction when the wind is very light, just throw

some dust in the air or let it fall slowly, or small grass orsuck your thumb and let the wind blow on it to tell you whichside is colder = wind side.

The wind direction will help you to find what kind of weather toexpect. Wind that changes quickly in their direction will tellthat weather will soon change.

SMOKE:

From your campfire smoke going up in a thin vertical column =nice if the smoke is going down toward the ground then = RainNN!

DRY GRASS:

If in the morning the grass is dry = rain coming before night.

BIRDS AND INSECTS:

When the air is humid and heavy the birds fly low and the insectsfly even lower than usual = soon rain coming in same day evenhour. The insects are more active before the storm but the beesare more active when comes the nice weather.

LOW FRONT PRESSURE:

A front of low pressure often warned by light winds and hardlynoticeable while the air becomes heavy with humidity. Theseconditions mean that the bad weather will last several days. Alow pressure is something you can "smell and hear". The damp airstays low and then spread its wild smell, the sounds carryfarther and the sounds are sharper.

SIGNS OF NICE WEATHER:

When the wind during a storm changes direction = nice. When the


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fog in morning disappears in the 2 hours after sunrise / When themoon is brilliant & its edges are sharp.

When the sun is a red ball at sunset / When there is a rainbow atnight warning then end of rain. When there is a good Dew on theground. When the clouds are isolated & high. When a slight breezeblows from West or N/West / When the #nebulosity# diminish after3 or 4pm.

When there are heat lightning at night / When it rains with anEast wind and that the wind turns slowly to North East then North= nice but cool. Brilliant stars = nice weather coming / When thesky is rose, pink, or orange or pale blue at night.

REMEMBER a quick storm will leave as quickly.

BAD WEATHER SIGNS: (Ratttss!)

When the air is real echo? When the night temperature is higherthan usual. When clouds move in opposite directions at highaltitude.

When there is fog in mountains = rain in the day. / When thinwhite clouds (cirrus) at high altitude gather. / When there is a

circle around the moon or sun.

When the clouds become dark in the afternoon. / When stormyclouds (Nimbo-Stratus & Cumulus) gather in West wind.

When after a nice weather period the wind changes direction. /When the Cumulus quickly form at the start of the afternoon. /When there is no Dew. / When the winds blow East or South East.

When the sun and the morning are grey and dull (beurrrk!) / Whenthe moon is pale, foggy and with a halo. / When the smoke risesslowly & tends to stick to the ground.

When dark clouds gather at the horizon and to the side where thewind comes from. When the clouds are slow to form and that therain starts slowly then the rain will last many hours.(Ratttsss!)

If the stars are real bright and numerous, the temperature willdrop down much during the night except if the wind is strong butit will not rain.

When the sun sets in dark sombre clouds. When the moon rises redit will wind./ If the stars shine little and are shadowed = raincoming. If the stars are real bright weather will change./Lightning from the South warns of rain.

SNOW:

A Cree Indian saying: Snow like meal = snow a great deal.

NATURAL #BAROMETER#:*

Make your own: Take a piece of #sapin# *trunk about 3/4" indiameter with a branch. Remove all bark, easier when the sapflows then you nail it outside. When the branch goes up = nice


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but when the branch tips down = rainNNN!

REMEMBER:

Tent should face East to profit from shade in afternoon and alsoto avoid rain and snow storm which ALWAYS comes from North andWest.

WEATHER AND INFORMATION: CLOUDY SKIES:

REMEMBER this old sailor's chant: Mackerel scales and mare'stails, make tall ships carry low sails. These (cirrocumulus andcirrus clouds) are indications of stormy weather ahead.

Cirrocumulus do indeed look like the sky's covered with mackerelscales etc. If the sky is full of both, rain within 24 hours orless is almost certain.

SHEEP OR FLEECE CLOUDS:

Those white picture calendar puffballs or cumulus are camper'sdelight fairly guaranteeing a beautiful day ahead except whenthey decide to merge, forming bigger and bigger tall top-heavyclouds, or thunder-heads, sinking visibly under their own weight.

When they start pressing down from the sky, they will bring withthem rain, lightning and possibly hail. Usually they will darkenat the bottom as they build up and the rain they bring will bescattered in localized summer showers or squalls under the darkareas. The faster they change from white to black sheep, theshorter the storm. Conversely if it's all day a coming, it willbe around for a while.

STRATUS CLOUDS:

Long ploughed furrows of white that go from horizon to horizon,bring either rain or snow if they build up enough. If not, why,

it'll still be clear the next day. The only way you'll know whichto expect is to have watched them, and the results that followedmany times. Keep your eye on them, you'll learn to gauge thefuture of the weather.

NIMBUS CLOUDS:

Are a sure bet it will rain or snow. Unfortunately by the timethey arrived on the scene it's usually already in inclementweather. They are low-hanging grey, shapeless mass, a misty darkovercast. The trick is to be able to spot the beginnings of thislow mist. The first sign of its pulling itself together usuallymeans prolonged drizzly weather ahead. Low clouds in general

bring bad weather.

THE WINDS THAT BLOW: (My mind?!) GONE WITH THE WIND?

Wind brings the clouds and the weather. In many regions it's thebest indication that a change is imminent. If there's no wind,there'll be no change in the weather. Before we go any further,which way does a West wind blow? It blows from the West. Here issome weather calling wind rhyme to help along:


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When the wind is in the North / The skilful fisher goes notforth. When the wind is in the East / This is good neither forman nor beast. When the wind is in the South / It blows the baitin the fish's mouth. When the wind is in the West = There is theVery Best.

FOLK SIGNS:

A ring around the moon at night or around the sun (in theirhouse) ALWAYS means it will rain or snow the next day. A smallcircle 36 hours and a big one within 24 hours.

HERE IS MOST CONSISTENTLY CORRECT VERSE FORECAST PARTICULARLY INOCEAN, LAKE OR RIVER REGION:

Red sun in the morning / Sailor takes warning. Red sun at night /Sailors delight. / When the dew is on the grass / Rain will NEVERcome to pass.

It's true that humidity at ground level has a strong relationshipto that higher up in the atmosphere. When you see a heavy dew orfrost in the morning, you can usually count on a good day.

If it's dry in the morning you can almost ALWAYS count on the sky

feeling the ground need to be moistened a bit. While you'resitting by a camp fire watch the smoke. If the smoke risesstraight, the weather will stay clear.

If the smoke just spills over & hangs heavily around the ground,rain is almost certain. The prevailing wind in the region is agood omen. Look at the leaves on the trees around you. Theynaturally lie so they won't be ruffled by the wind.

Wind from a different direction than usual, however blows theleave's underside up. Bad weather ahead.

ANIMAL SIGNS:

Wild things are much more sensitive than we to the changes inatmospheric pressure and their behaviour reflects it, in manycases turning them into living barometers. Probably the best longrange weather forecaster is the Elk. Out West come fall, when theElk decides to descend from their mountain pastures. You knowthen that winter's only a couple days away.

Deer in the Northern do the same but are not as reliable.Migrating birds are another sign to get your winter camping gearready. If the geese come early, be prepared for a long coldseason.

BIRDS SIGNS:

If the ducks overhead are high, the weather will be good, if theyare low they'll be taking shelter soon. In general birds willsnuggle up close to a tree trunk rather than sit far out or highif rain is coming. They will also stop signing, rain not beingmuch to sing about when you're living in a tree.

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