This document discusses many old weather lore sayings and examines whether they have scientific validity. It explores sayings related to dew on grass, halos around celestial objects, leaf and plant behaviors, hair and humidity, smoke rising, sound traveling, bird flight patterns, cloud formations and types, moon color, insect behaviors, and high clouds. Each saying is explained in terms of modern meteorological understanding of how atmospheric conditions and pressure changes can cause the observed natural phenomena that led to the folk wisdom. A variety of public domain images support the explanations. Sources for both the text and image content are cited.

1. WEATHER LORE SAYINGS
ARE THOSE OLD SAYINGS REALLY TRUE?
BY KELLA RANDOLPH B.S., M.ED.

2. DEW
“WHEN THE DEW IS ON THE GRASS, RAIN WILL NEVER COME TO PASS. WHEN GRASS
IS DRY AT MORNING LIGHT, LOOK FOR RAIN BEFORE THE NIGHT.”
AGAIN, IF THERE IS NO DEW ON THE GRASS, IT MEANS
THE SKY IS CLOUDY OR THE BREEZE IS STRONG, BOTH OF
WHICH MAY MEAN RAIN.
PHOTO COURTESY OF FREESTOCKS.ORG HTTPS://FREESTOCKS.ORG/PHOTO/DEW-
ON-THE-GRASS/ AUTHOR: JOANNA MALINOWSKA LOCATION: WYRĘBA, W-M, PL
Dew on the
grass

3. CORONA
• “IF A CIRCLE FORMS ‘ROUND THE MOON,‘TWILL RAIN SOON.”
• THE CIRCLE THAT FORMS AROUND THE SUN OR MOON IS CALLED A
HALO. HALOS ARE FORMED BY THE LIGHT FROM THE SUN OR MOON
REFRACTING (BENDING) AS THEY PASS THROUGH THE ICE CRYSTALS THAT
FORM HIGH-LEVEL CIRRUS AND CIRROSTRATUS CLOUDS. THESE CLOUDS
DO NOT PRODUCE RAIN OR SNOW, BUT THEY OFTEN PRECEDE AN
ADVANCING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WHICH MAY BRING BAD WEATHER.
•
BY KICHIGIN
• ROYALTY-FREE STOCK PHOTO ID: 120512665
• HALO AROUND THE MOON, AN OPTICAL PHENOMENON IN THE SKY AT
NIGHT - IMAGE

4. PLANTS
• “WHEN LEAVES TURN THEIR BACK
‘TIS A SIGN IT’S GOING TO RAIN.”
• SOME TREES, SUCH AS OAK AND
MAPLE, HAVE LEAVES THAT WILL
CURL WHEN THE HUMIDITY IS VERY
HIGH AND THE WIND IS BLOWING
STRONGLY. BOTH THESE
CONDITIONS INDICATE AN
APPROACHING STORM.
- WATER DROPS ON GREEN LEAVES
FRESHNESS ON NATURE
BACKGROUND. YOUNG SHOOTS OF
PALE GREEN LEAVES ON TREE IN THE
MORNING. ROYALTY FREE STOCK PHOTO
IMAGE ID : 110379259 MEDIA TYPE
: PHOTOGRAPHY COPYRIGHT : KAEW6566

5. BAD HAIR DAYS
• “I KNOW LADIES BY THE SCORE WHOSE HAIR FORETELLS THE
STORM; LONG BEFORE IT BEGINS TO POUR THEIR CURLS TAKE A
DROOPING FORM.”
• HUMAN HAIR, ESPECIALLY BLOND HAIR, HAS A TENDENCY
EXPAND IN LENGTH AS THE HUMIDITY RISES. THIS MAY CAUSE
NATURALLY-CURLY HAIR TO DROOP. OR IT MAY CAUSE
STRAIGHT HAIR TO CURL UP A LITTLE. THE HIGHER THE
HUMIDITY, THE MORE LIKELY IT IS TO RAIN.
• PHOTO COURTESY OF CLIPART <A
HREF="HTTPS://WWW.CLIPART.EMAIL/">CLIPART.EMAIL</A>

6. SMOKE
• “IF SMOKE HOVERS LOW NEAR THE GROUND IT IS LIKELY TO
RAIN.”
• SMOKE PARTICLES TEND TO ABSORB MOISTURE FROM THE
AIR. THE MORE MOISTURE PRESENT IN THE AIR, THE MORE A
PARTICLE OF SMOKE WILL ABSORB, AND THE HEAVIER IT
GETS. HEAVY, MOISTURE-LADEN SMOKE PARTICLES DO NOT
DISPERSE AS EASILY AS THE LIGHTER, DRY ONES DO.
Free photos Campfire Ashes | Avopix.com
Campfire smoke and grey ashes with burning dry
grass and leaves in autumn day.

7. • “WHEN SOUNDS TRAVEL FAR AND WIDE, A
STORMY DAY WILL BETIDE.”
• SOUND TRAVELS AT DIFFERENT
SPEEDS THROUGH DIFFERENT
SUBSTANCES. IT TRAVELS FASTER
THROUGH A SOLID SUBSTANCE
THAN IT DOES THROUGH AIR,
FOR INSTANCE. SOUND TRAVELS
BETTER IN AIR THAT IS HEAVILY
LADEN WITH MOISTURE THAN IT
DOES IN DRY AIR.
SOUND
TRAVEL

8. HOW HIGH DO
THE BIRDS FLY?
“IF BIRDS FLY LOW EXPECT RAIN AND A BLOW.”
WHEN THE AIR PRESSURE IS HIGH, IT
IS EASIER FOR BIRDS TO FLY AT A
HIGHER ALTITUDE. IF THE AIR
PRESSURE IS LOW, INDICATING BAD
WEATHER, BIRDS CAN’T FLY AS HIGH
BECAUSE THE AIR IS LESS DENSE.
Flock of birds flying low
over ocean royalty-free
stock photo

9. HIGH LEVEL ICE CLOUDS
“TRACE IN THE SKY THE PAINTER’S BRUSH, THE WINDS AROUND YOU SOON WILL
RUSH.“
THE “PAINTER’S BRUSH” ARE CIRRUS CLOUDS. THESE ARE
HIGH-LEVEL ICE CLOUDS THAT OFTEN PRECEDE THE
APPROACH OF A STORM SYSTEM.
Pixabay
Source: pixabay.com
CC0 License
✓ Free for personal and commercial use
✓ No attribution required
Cirrus Clouds

10. CIRRUS CLOUDS
AND
ALTOCUMULUS
CLOUDS
• “MARES’ TAILS AND MACKEREL SCALES MAKE
LOFTY SHIPS CARRY LOW SAILS.”
• MARES’ TAILS ARE CIRRUS
CLOUDS, CALLED THIS BECAUSE
THEY SOMETIMES RESEMBLE THE
FLOWING TAIL OF A HORSE IN
THE WIND. MACKEREL SCALES
ARE ALTOCUMULUS CLOUDS.
THEY APPEAR BROKEN AND
SCALY. NEITHER OF THESE CLOUD
TYPES WILL BRING RAIN OR SNOW
THEMSELVES. THEY DO,
HOWEVER, PRECEDE AN
APPROACHING STORM FRONT BY
A DAY OR TWO.
SOURCE: PIXABAY.COM CC0 LICENSE

11. RED SKY
“RED SKY IN MORNING, SAILORS GIVE WARNING. RED SKY AT NIGHT, SAILORS
DELIGHT.”
THE WEATHER PATTERNS IN NORTH AMERICA GENERALLY
MOVE FROM WEST TO EAST, WHEN CLOUDS ARRIVE
OVERHEAD AT SUNRISE THE SKY WILL APPEAR RED,
SIGNALING A STORM "MOVING IN". WHEN THE STORM
EVENTUALLY PASSES, THE SKY WILL CLEAR IN THE
WESTERN SKY. IF SUNSET OCCURS SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE
LIGHT WILL CAST A RED GLOW ON THE CLOUDS ABOVE,
NOW MOVING TOWARDS THE EAST.
Photo courtesy of freestocks.org:
https://freestocks.org/photo/sky-at-dusk/
author: Joanna Malinowska
location: Suchawa, W-M, PL

12. COLOR OF THE MOON
• “PALE MOON RAINS; RED MOON BLOWS.” WHITE MOON
NEITHER RAINS OR SNOWS.”
• THE MORE DUST PARTICLES THERE ARE IN THE AIR, THE
GREATER THE CHANCE THAT MOISTURE WILL HAVE
SOMETHING ON WHICH TO FORM RAINDROPS. DROPS OF RAIN
CANNOT FORM UNLESS THEY CAN FORM AROUND A
“CONDENSATION NUCLEUS,” WHICH IS A DUST PARTICLE, ICE
CRYSTAL, OR SOME SIMILAR TINY OBJECT SUSPENDED IN THE
AIR. WHEN MOONLIGHT PASSES THROUGH AIR LADEN WITH
DUST PARTICLES, IT APPEARS PALE OR REDDISH. WHEN THE AIR
IS VERY CLEAR, IT APPEARS WHITE. FREE PICTURE COURTESY OF
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM HTTPS://GOO.GL/IMAGES/B9GOUS

13. CLOUDS GO AGAINST THE
WIND
“IF CLOUDS MOVE AGAINST THE WIND, RAIN WILL FOLLOW.”
CLOUDS THAT ARE MOVING IN A DIRECTION THAT
DIFFERS FROM THE WAY THE WIND IS BLOWING
INDICATES A CONDITION KNOWN AS WIND SHEAR. THIS
SOMETIMES INDICATES THE ARRIVAL OF A COLD FRONT.
WEATHER FRONTS USUALLY BRING RAIN.
This Photo Credit: NOAA Photo Library, NOAA
Central Library
Wind shear comes when two
levels of air are close, but
moving in opposite
directions.

14. SPEED OF CRICKET
CHIRPS
• “YOU CAN TELL THE TEMPERATURE BY COUNTING A
CRICKET'S CHIRPS.”
CRICKETS ARE ACCURATE THERMOMETERS; THEY CHIRP
FASTER WHEN WARM AND SLOWER WHEN COLD. THEY ARE
EXTREMELY ACCURATE. COUNT THEIR CHIRPS FASTER FOR
FOURTEEN SECONDS, THEN ADD FORTY, AND YOU HAVE THE
TEMPERATURE (IN FAHRENHEIT) OF WHEREVER THE CRICKET
IS.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
Crickets rub their back legs together to create chirping
sounds.
Vector Designed By Mitchell Marziali from
<ahref="https://pngtree.com//freepng/cricket_2151088.html"></a>

15. BITING FLIES
“FLIES BITE MORE BEFORE A RAIN.”
THIS RULE DOES NOT ALWAYS APPLY, BUT INSECTS DO
MORE CALLING MORE DURING MOIST WEATHER, AS
FLYING IS MORE DIFFICULT. HEAT CAUSES HUMAN
SWEATING, WHICH MAKES YOU A MORE APPETIZING
TARGET. THESES TWO REASONS, PLUS A RELEASE OF
MORE BODY ODORS WHEN ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE ON
YOUR BODY LOWERS, WILL ADD UP TO THE RULE THAT
FLIES AND INSECTS ARE MORE BOTHERSOME JUST BEFORE
A RAIN THAN AT ANY OTHER TIME.
Some flies bite to drink blood.
Photos and illustrations courtesy of the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Alex Wild (University of
California, www.myrmecos.net ), Jim Kalisch
(University of Nebraska) and Ohio State
University.

16. HIGH CLOUDS
"THE HIGHER THE CLOUDS, THE BETTER THE
WEATHER".
HIGHER CLOUDS INDICATE BOTH
DRYNESS OF AIR AND HIGHER
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE. BOTH
THESE QUALITIES ARE PRESENT WITH
FAIR WEATHER.
PICTURE COURTESY OF FRANK WINKLER
CC0 CREATIVE COMMONS
HTTPS://PIXABAY.COM/EN/COAST-BEACH-ROCK-STONES-
LAKE-192979/
High clouds in the sky

17. SOURCES FOR WEATHER LORE SAYINGS
• THANKS TO NASA FOR THE WRITTEN MATERIAL
HTTPS://WWW.NPS.GOV/GRTE/LEARN/EDUCATION/CLASSROOMS/UPLOAD/WEA
THER-LORE-SAYINGS.PDF
• GRAPHICS ARE INDIVIDUALLY CITED ON THEIR SLIDES.