The Teacher Brothers' Modern-Day Almanac 1984 [antikvár]

Meteorological Proverbs A great deal of folk wisdom about the weather has been passed down from generajljL tion to generation in the form of epigrams, adages, and easy-to-remember rhymes. Many of them have turnéd out to be valid, succinct expressions of known meteorological laws. Herewith, somé of the most reliable: When the smoke floats west, good weather is gone; when the smoke floats east, good weather is come. Smoke floating west is carried by an east wind-which often brings rain; while smoke carried on a wind from the west means clearing-or at least changing-weather. If the dew is on the grass, rain will not come to pass. Dew is heaviest on clear nights, when the ground cools off rapidly after sundown-thus predicting clear weather for the next day. The higher the clouds, the better the weather. High air pressure and low humidity both boost clouds higher. Thus, "sheep's packs" or "wool packs" (fluffy cumulus clouds) are tokens of fair weather. But a "mackerel" sky (covered with a thin layer of altocumulus clouds) and "mares' tails" (cirrus clouds) foretell a coming change- either from clear to cloudy, or vice versa. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning, red sky at night, sailors' delight. A brillant red sunrise often precedes precipitation by less than 24 hours. But when the sun sets as a red ball, then hot, sunny weather will continue. Short notice, soon to pass; long notice, long will last. In other words, when a storm comes sweeping in out of the west, it usuaily passes on as quickly as it came. But when clouds move in slowly, "on little cat feet," they have a tendency to curl up and stick around for a while._