Forecasting the Weather

The weather is always a safe topic of conversation and since we live in the age of up-to-the-minute satellite images and weather forecasters it quickly becomes a topic that we sound knowledgeable about. But what if we no longer had the technology to tell us when to take a coat along or when to expect a Mother Nature to change her mind?​

For some of us, we learned to tell what was going to happen with the weather from our parents and grandparents. They are well learned traditional ways of anticipating what is to come. You might laugh, but to this day, there are a lot of them we still use.

Here are some weather forecasting bits and pieces to ponder, practise and put into play if you don’t already use them. Consider them, and take them with you as part of your unplugged moments.

• Squirrels gathering and storing nuts. Yes, they do this on an ongoing basis; however, an overabundance late in the summer and early fall means we could be in for an early and long winter. 
• Horses hairing up earlier than normal means we could be in for a long cold winter.
• Smoke going straight up from a chimney means no wind. ​
• Horses running with their tails in the air heads flying high, snorting for no apparent reason is a sure sign of a storm coming. ​

The sky and the wind were considered a big factor in what kind of weather was going to happen. 

• Our part of the country is privy to Chinooks. The warm westerly winds that eat snow, dry out the land and create havoc with those who suffer from migraines. That clear blue skyline over the Rockies, pushing the clouds eastward is a telltale sign we are in for a Chinook. 
  
• Easterly winds are prevalent to the onset of some form of moisture - snow or rain. 
  
• Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Nothing like a red sunset to let you know the day to follow will be a good one.
  
• Red sky in the morn, sailor’s be warned. This is the other side of the spectrum. a sign of bad weather coming. 

• Sundogs are those colourful patches you might see on either side of the sun. They are an indicator of a weather change and often precipitation is that change.
• Ring around the moon - full or not - is an indicator of a weather change, and like Sundogs, it usually means some form of moisture is on its way. 
• My favourite is fog. Mark the date on the calendar. Count out 90-days and make a note on the calendar about when there was fog. Sure enough, there will be precipitation in some form or another +/- one or two days around the 90 day mark. The old-timers will tell you that if it didn’t happen on day 90, you didn’t count right. This has held true for generations and continues to be a something we do.​
• Saying things like, “It smells like rain or it smells like snow” is something you might not experience. I suggest if you have heard on the TV or computer that it is going to rain, get outside, close your eyes and inhale. You will eventually get it. 

Our grandparents depended on their senses to know when it was time to seed, harvest, prepare for bad weather and make hay when there was sunshine. Nothing has really changed for those who still work the land; and, for those of us lucky enough to know we don’t need modern technology to provide us with a weather report, nothing has changed for us either. 

Do you have an old fashioned weather forecasting tip to share that doesn’t include modern technology?

Ann Edall-Robson
Author, Photographer, Lover of Life
"Capturing moments others may never get to experience."