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SALT LAKE CITY— Weather folklore has been a part of forecasting history for hundreds of years. Before there were satellites, computers and even thermometers, people would pay close attention to the signs nature provided to predict the weather and ensure their survival.
KSL’s chief meteorologist Kevin Eubank said that understanding the signs of the seasons was a matter of life or death for Native Americans, pioneers and farmers who lived off their land and concepts such as sundogs, halos and rings around the sun and moon were good predictors of upcoming storms. This transformed into folklore that still exists today.
Eubank said much of the weather folklore that exists today has little to do with meteorology and is not based on scientific data; however, people still like to think the folklore is the real deal.
Here are a few favorite weather folklore sayings and whether or not they are backed by science.
1. Red sky at night sailors delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.
Eubank said this saying was developed before satellite, radar and other modern technologies. This myth was most likely created and used as a reminder of what had happened in the past, and then turned into a prediction of what might happen in the future.
It implies that if the sky is red in the evening, moisture has moved to the east and rain has cleared out. The saying implies that the opposite is true for red skies in the morning. However, the sky can be red with or without clouds. Water vapor and dust are two reasons the sky might be red, according to an article written by MLive chief meteorologist Mark Torregrossa.
2. When the night has a fever, she cries the next day
The “fever” mentioned in this saying is referring to high temperatures at night, which is said to make it rain, or “cry,” the next day. As a warm front moves in, the temperatures at night rise, along with the humidity levels, according to MLive. The warm front is usually accompanied by rain the next day, which might also result in a bad hair day. Although this is a common occurrence, it is only a possibility and is not guaranteed to occur.
3. When the snowflakes are large, the snowstorm will be a lasting one; when they are small, the storm will be a short one.
Large snowflakes mean a long and heavy snow, according to this particular folklore saying; however, Eubank said this phrase is not backed up by science in any way. He said that although some snowflakes are large and some are small, there is no predictive value in these events and any correlation that could be drawn would not be applicable to a general area.
4. The date of the first snow foretells the number of snowstorms for the winter.
This saying implies that if the first snow of the year falls on the 12th day of the month, one could expect 12 more storms before the end of winter. This is another folklore saying that Eubank has declared a myth.
Folklore might have been the way your great-great grandparents decided what to wear each day, but luckily, today we have the KSL's expert weather team.