bad weather ahead

December 22, 2020

Maryland Folklore: weather beliefs

All of this info comes from the book Maryland Folklore and Folklife by George G. Carey. I’m sure some you have heard of before, some may be brand new!

Hope you enjoy!

• It will be a long winter if the bands on caterpillars are narrow, leaves are slow to fall, squirrels grow unusually bushy tails, skin of the belly of a catfish is unusually thick, the breastbone of a chicken is long and black
• The weather the last Friday of the month determines the weather for the following month
• rain before seven, clear by eleven
• Evening red, and morning gray
  Sends the traveler on his way
  Evening gray and morning red
  Sends down rain upon his head

• A rooster that crows when he goes to bed
  Will get up next morning with a wet head
• A sunshiny shower
  Won’t last an hour
• Red sky at night, sailors delight
  Red sky in morning, sailors take warning
• When crows flock together
  it’s a sign of bad weather

• If a cat passes a paw over its ear, it’s a sign of bad weather
• A high hornet’s nest is a sign of deep snow coming

• when you see raindrops hanging from the clothesline, you know it will rain again tomorrow
• onion skin thick and tough
  coming weather will be rough
  Onion skin very thin
  mild weather coming in
• when the horns of the moon point down, it will rain
• it will snow if. . .
  turkeys sit in trees and refuse to come down
  cats sit with their back to the fire
  dry leaves rattle in the trees
  burning wood drops in the fire
  air becomes still and silent

• if the smoke of the chimney floats towards the ground, this is a sign of rain
• the number of stars in the circle around the moon tell the number of days before a storm will come
• If the fog lifts
  the rain will fall
  If the fog descends
  no rain at all

Hope you have a great day!
Thanks for stopping by!!

(pinterest)

take care
stay safe
much love