By Banjo
Some have counted the foggy mornings in August, and some are looking at the color of the wooly worm caterpillars, but here are some folklore ways of predicting the upcoming winter weather that may be new to you. Digging deep into my collection.
Many of these are hundreds of years old and almost lost in time. Let me first say that with modern technology today, we do know a little about what winter can bring.
The expected El Niño has formed in the Pacific Ocean, and long-range forecasts by meteorologists predict the southern Appalachians to be a winter wonderland with numerous accumulating snowfalls this winter season.
But with that, I still like to double-check! Enjoy the following weather predictors of our Appalachian ancestors. These signs indicate a harsh winter:
A sign of a cold winter is the thickening of the fur on the ‘possum’s back. A sign of a cold winter is the thickening of the feathers on the rooster’s legs. Wild geese flying high on their way south foretell a hard winter. If the breastbone of a game bird has a cloudy appearance, there will be a cold winter.
If the woolly worm’s head is more black than colored, the coldest part of the winter will come in the first months of winter. If an autumnal caterpillar has a little yellow on the nose, is a sign of cold weather in the early part of the winter. If corn is hard to husk, expect a hard winter.
There will be a cold winter if corn silk is thick and abundant. If the bark is thick on the north side of the tree, look for a severe winter. A summer in which the foliage on trees is unusually dense, or exceptionally bright in color, is followed by a very cold winter If the fruit trees bloom in the fall, the weather will be severe the following winter.
Expect a hard winter if there is a large crop of persimmons. If the berries are plentiful in the summer, the following winter will be severe A lot of sarvis berries is a sign of a winter with heavy snow.
An unusually large crop of gum berries, wild grapes, etc., means that we will have a very severe winter. A large crop of wild nuts [such as hazel, walnut, or hickory] means a cold, wet winter. When beech acorns thrive well, and oak trees hang full, a hard winter will follow with much snow.
These signs foretell a mild winter. If the first snow falls on unfrozen ground, expect a mild winter. If ice is thick enough in November to bear up a duck, the winter will be mud and muck.
When the birds migrate toward the north, expect a mild winter. If snakes and toads are late disappearing, look for a mild winter. If the nut crop fails, the winter will be mild.
Weather Indicators
To tell whether the next year will be wet or dry and whether to rent bottom lands or uplands, take twelve shells or dry hulls from onions, place them sitting up as saucers in a row, out of doors Christmas Eve night, with a pinch of salt in each, naming each for a month. The months in which the salt will be melted and turned to water the next morning will be wet months. Those in which the salt is still salt will be dry. If April, May, and June are melted, don’t rent bottom lands.
If it snows on Christmas Day, the grass will be green on Easter. On a stormy day, the weather between one and two o’clock is the weather for the remainder of the day. From eleven till two, Tell what the day will do. A great many women stirring around indicates bad weather.
If a cat washes herself in the usual fashion, the weather will be fair, but if she licks her hair the wrong way, or washes above her ears, or sits with her tail to the fire, the weather will be bad. When a cat jumps up suddenly and runs about, bad weather is coming. If cattle keep their heads to leeward, it indicates bad weather. If you see a hog with a stick in his mouth, it is a sign of bad weather.
If hogs carry sticks or straws for bedding, stormy, bad weather will come. Whenever a horse stretches his neck and whiffs the air, bad weather is near. Crows flying in flocks presage bad weather. So, chop wood and preserve food for you and all the animals and wildlife. Winter will be here before we know it.
