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midnightsmum

Weekend Trivia ~ Saturday

Good Morning Cottagers!! Happy Saturday! It's a grey drizzly day here - I think it is - I'm still half-asleep.

Well, that whole in like a lamb out like a lion thing got me curious last week. You know, Wikipedia has a whole entry on weather lore, and it's quite interesting. It is the nature of Human Beings to try to predict things, and weather is possibly one of the first things we tried to predict. Oral and written history is full of rhymes, anecdotes, and adages meant to guide the uncertain in determining whether the next day will bring fair or foul weather. For the farmer wanting to plant crops, for the merchant about to send ships on trade, foreknowledge of tomorrow's circumstances might mean the difference between success and failure.
So here's a test of your prognostication skills - which of these are true, and which are false.

1. Rain before seven, clear by eleven.

2. A coming storm your shooting corns presage,
And aches will throb, your hollow tooth will rage.

3. If clouds move against the wind, rain will follow.

4. A summer fog for fair,
A winter fog for rain.
A fact most everywhere,
In valley or on plain.

5. When March blows its horn,
your barn will be filled with hay and corn.

6. When halo rings the moon or sun, rain's approaching on the run.

7. Red sky at night, sailor's delight.
Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.

There, 7 seems a lucky number. So, my little barometers, which are true and which are false? As always I will be back with clues, which I confess are going to tough to give without giving it all away!!

Nancy.

Comments (15)

  • PRO
    Whitelacey
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I vote for 6 and 7. Not sure about the rest.

    Linda

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Welcome Whitelacey! Do you mean you vote for true, or false? Interesting - and, welcome to Weekend Trivia. Nice to 'see' a new face here.

    Nancy.

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Mornin' everyone,

    2. I'm thinking True
    7. True for sure, why because my grandpa told me so
    The rest I'll think about, back later.

    Annette

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My sinuses always clue me in on weather changes!! The Wiki page is interesting.
    "A halo around the sun or moon is caused by the refraction of that body's light by ice crystals at high altitude. Such high-level moisture is a precursor to moisture moving in at increasingly lower levels, and is a good indicator that an active weather system is on its way. Halos typically evolve into what is known as "milk sky", when the sky appears clear, but the typical blue is either washed-out or barely noticeable. This high, thick cirrostratus cloud is a clear indicator of an approaching low. In the coldest days of winter, a halo around the sun is evidence of very cold and typically clear air at and above the surface. But sun dogs are indicators that weather conditions are likely to change in the next 18 to 36 hours." That sun dog bit is interesting. I always love photos with sun dogs in them.

    Nancy.

  • mnwsgal
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think 2, 6 and 7 are true.
    My sinuses have been painful this week with our changing weather. I think it has to do with air pressure.

    The only thing I rember about fall fog is some believe that a snow storm will follow thirty days later.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I always heard that the halo around the moon means snow. Hmmm. Never heard or saw a halo around the sun.

    I definitely believe #7 is true. Have been hearing and saying that since I was a child.

    I also like #4-never heard that and I am trying to think back on foggy days. That seems to ring true.

    Welcome, Linda. We love new people here!

    Nancy can you give us a hint as to how many are true?

    Cynthia

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hmmm...can I give you a clue as to how many are true? This is a prime example of how difficult and vexing finding clues can be.

    Nancy.

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is a fun true one I didn't include:
    When windows won't open, and the salt clogs the shaker,
    The weather will favour the umbrella maker!

    You know, the day didn't start well, but we have had a lovely sunny day. Lily, my ginger cat, has been out on the back deck quite a bit today. She wants me to leave the door open, but there is a cold wind. Not going to happen, and she worries about getting left outside. I'd never do that to my ginger girl!!

    Nancy - Cyn, there were 2 clues in my last post for you!

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh dear. I think my brain is permanently fried from too much going on at school and too much paper work every weekend! This weekend, it is interims and another IEP-the interims were due on Friday and the IEP is Monday at 7:30, but I lost every planning period and every lunch (when I usually try to get some of that finished) period, so here we are again.

    So, prime example-prime #---that could be 2, 3 5,, or 7-probably not what you meant. Ha.

    2 clues, huh? Well, that could mean rain before seven, clear by eleven. maybe the wind blowing?

    Ok, thinking 1, 4, 5, and 7? of course, if prime does mean prime, take away 4. :) oh, except one is not a prime number. Nevermind.

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hmmmm, I must have forgot to hit submit so here they are again.
    1. F
    2. T
    3. T
    4. T
    5. F
    6. T
    7. T

    Annette

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Annette - you frighten me sometimes. And Cyn, vexing was also a clue to steer your way. Early Morning Rain was such a seminal song, it flowed with a music movement that could have occurred in any age.

    Nancy.

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well, it seems many of us are as reliable as a groundhog - which is to say, not really reliable at all!!

    1. F - Late-night rains and early morning rains may simply be the last precipitation of a passing weather front. However, since fronts pass at night as often as they do in the day, morning rain is no predictor of a dry afternoon. However, this lore can describe non-frontal weather. Given sufficient surface heating, a late-day rainstorm may continue to develop into the night, produce early precipitation, then dissipate by late morning. This, though, is the exception rather than the rule. Only 40% of rain is produced by convective events - 60% is the result of a frontal passage.

    2. T - There have been medical studies done which indicate some people experience this effect. The most likely reason is that with a fall in atmospheric pressure, blood vessels dilate slightly in reaction. This has the effect of aggravating already-irritated nerves near corns, cavities, or arthritic joints. Studies are inconclusive, however, with some researchers attributing this effect to selective memory.

    3. T - This rule may be true under a few special circumstances, otherwise it is false. OK, so I'll take either as a correct answer. By standing with one's back to the ground-level wind and observing the movement of the clouds, it is possible to determine whether the weather will improve or deteriorate. For the Northern Hemisphere, it works like this: If the upper-level clouds are moving from the right, a low-pressure area has passed and the weather will improve; if from the left, a low pressure area is arriving and the weather will deteriorate. (Reverse for the Southern Hemisphere.) This is known as the "crossed-winds" rule. Clouds traveling parallel to but against the wind may indicate a thunderstorm approaching. Outflow winds typically blow opposite to the updraft zone, and clouds carried in the upper level wind will appear to be moving against the surface wind. However, if such a storm is in the offing, it is not necessary to observe the cloud motions to know rain is a good possibility. The nature of airflows directly at a frontal boundary can also create conditions in which lower winds contradict the motions of upper clouds, and the passage of a frontal boundary is often marked by precipitation. Most often, however, this situation occurs in the lee of a low pressure area, to the north of the frontal zones and convergence region, and does not indicate a change in weather, but rather, that the weather, fair or showery, will remain so for a period of hours at least.

    4. T - Fog is formed when the air cools enough that the vapor pressure encourages condensation over evaporation. In order for the air to be cool on a summer night, the sky must be clear, so excess heat can be radiated into space. Cloudy skies act like a blanket, absorbing and reradiating the heat, keeping it in. So if it is cool enough (and clear enough) for fog to form, it will probably be clear the next day. Winter fog is the result of two entirely different circumstances. Above the ocean or a large lake, air is typically more humid than above land. When the humid air moves over cold land, it will form fog and precipitation. (To the east of the North American Great Lakes, this is a common phenomenon, and is known as the "lake effect.")[16] In northerly climates, ice fog may form when the temperature drops substantially below freezing. It is almost exclusively an urban phenomenon, when the air is so cold that any vapor pressure results in condensation, and additional vapor emitted by automobiles, household furnaces, and industrial plants simply accumulates as fog.

    5. F - "Blows its horn" refers to thunderstorms. While March thunderstorms indicate that the weather is unusually warm for that time of year (thunderstorms can occur only with a sufficiently large temperature difference between ground and sky and sufficient amounts of moisture to produce charge differential within a cloud),[25] it is no indicator of the long-term weather trend. It is still unwise to plant your annuals before the long May weekend.

    6. T - {{gwi:598937}} this is a solar halo.

    7. T - quoted by Matthew in the Bible and Shakespeare, in his poem Venus and Adonis, as well Norse lore. Weather systems typically move from west to east, and red clouds result when the sun shines on their undersides at either sunrise or sunset. At these two times of day, the sun's light is passing at a very low angle through a great thickness of atmosphere commonly known as The Belt of Venus. The result of which is the scattering out of most of the shorter wavelengths - the greens, blues, and violets - of the visible spectrum, and so sunlight is heavy at the red end of the spectrum. If the morning skies are red, it is because clear skies to the east permit the sun to light the undersides of moisture-bearing clouds coming in from the west. Conversely, in order to see red clouds in the evening, sunlight must have a clear path from the west in order to illuminate moisture-bearing clouds moving off to the east.

    So there you go - more weather info that you ever wanted to have. If you are typical gardeners, you just want to know when you can plant your peas and onions!

    So for Annette:
    {{gwi:598938}}

    For Bobbie, Linda and Cyn:

    Thanks for playing. See you all next week.

    Nancy.

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I got them all right? LOL, I knew a couple of them but the rest were just guesses on my part. Thanks for the fun.

    Annette

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Woohoo for Annette.

    Thanks for the stars and the fun, Nancy. Love the sun halo picture.

    Cynthia

  • mnwsgal
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for the weather forecasting info, Nancy. I listen to the noon news everyday which includes the weather forecast so don't think much about forecasting the weather from my own observations.

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