Unscientific Weather Forecasting Pt. 3

by Hattie Dyck

Reg Smith also claimed that sea gulls are good indicators of storms. When a bunch of them fly to land you can be sure a windstorm is coming. His wife’s father, the late Ed Fraser, Salt Springs, looked for fog in the hollow which meant a fine day would follow. “Fog on the hill brings rain to the mill.” She also checks her clothesline to forecast the weather. If drops of rain hang on the line, the storm isn’t over.

   Bill Durning, Five Islands, forecasts winter by the way the squirrels gather witch hazel nuts. If they gather them early there will be an early winter. 

   Lowell Wagner, South Maitland, said his grandfather Stephen Wagner who came from Germany, always planted by the moon. When the moon was growing he would plant. He also pickled when the moon was getting full because he believed that if you waited until the full moon you wouldn’t get enough juice, especially in sauerkraut.

   Sheep breeders Fred and Winnie Wilson, West Branch, New Brunswick, who attended the 2012 sheep show at Truro, look for dew on the grass in the morning. If there’s a lot of dew it will likely rain. They note that on a hot day the cows will lie in the sun rather than the shade. If there’s a lot of frost on the bushes it’s a sign that a thaw is coming, and if the smoke is going straight up in the air it forecasts a mild spell. 

   Fred used to kill a pig for meat each year and would forecast the winter weather by the size of the spleen. If the spleen was the same size all the way down, it meant the winter would be mild. If it was bigger in some spots than in others it meant heavy storms would occur during the season.

   Thompson Densmore, Noel Shore, believed if you kill a chicken and the breastbone is brown it means a mild and open winter. If it is white, it indicates a lot of snow is coming. Hornets nests built high means a lot of snow but if they’re built low an open winter will follow. Thompson also commented that if you’re boiling potatoes and they tend to boil dry it means rain. His brother Newell Hill added it was also a sign of a poor cook. Carl Wall, Tatamagouche, also remembers the boiled potatoes boiling dry theory. Smoke from the chimney going straight up indicated to Thompson that fine weather was coming quickly. When it settled lower down it meant wet or stormy weather. And, in the winter if the trees cracked it meant soft weather. Also, if the water rises over patches of ice, it means soft weather. If the frost showed up on the inside of buildings, it means wet weather. If the house cracks and snaps a storm is in the offing.

   Crows squawking indicated to Thompson that a storm was coming. If their squawk sounds like “pork” it’s going to snow. If it sounds like “fog” it means rain. The horses yawn before a rainstorm he said. Also, like Mary – Ann Yuill if there were cobwebs on the grass in the morning it meant a fine day was coming. 

   The moon was very important to weather watchers a generation ago. Thompson said if the new moon stood on its end it meant fine weather. If it was lying on its back so a powder horn could hang on it, it meant a storm was coming. If there is a ring around the moon and stars inside it, the number of stars meant it would be that many days before a storm.

   They would often check for a mackerel sky which meant three days of dry weather.  Conversely mare’s tail clouds means a gale is coming. If there is a circle around the moon, they say you count the stars inside the circle. The number of stars inside the circle foretells how many days it will be before a storm.

Sheep breeders Warren and Norina Moore of Stabley, Alberta, say a southeast wind for four or more days means rain is on the way. They note that lambs and rams in their pens will become overactive just before the weather is going to warm up.

   Breeder Gordon Walker of Glencoe, Ontario, checks the leaves which he says turn upside down when it’s going to rain. Breeder Mike Skakom of Brockville knows rain is coming when his arthritis becomes painful.

   Lynn Cormier, Truro, tells how her grandmother (known as Gam) forecasted the weather by how her arthritis was causing pain in her bones. Margaret Bartlett was 98 when she died and was usually right on, telling her family when it was about to rain.

   Pat Kelly, Truro, says her arthritic pain will foretell stormy weather. Her father, the late Mickey Huey, Stewiacke, would get out the Minard’s Linament and rub his legs when pain from his rheumatism came before a storm.