weather folklore

Red sky sayings

Weather folklore is the body of traditional sayings, rhymes, and beliefs used to predict weather: Red sky at night, sailor's delight.

Some have scientific basis—red sunsets often indicate stable air moving in.

Others are superstition: groundhogs predicting spring, woolly caterpillars forecasting winter severity.

The genre persists partly as cultural heritage, partly because some rules genuinely work.

Related
  • red skyAtmospherically scattered sunset hue
  • pineconesConifer seed structures
  • cowsAdult female bovines
  • antsSocial colony insects
  • frogsLeaping, croaking amphibians

birds · cloud formations · air pressure · barometric pressure · dandelions · fog · groundhog · early spring · woolly bear caterpillar · lunar phases · harvest moon · old wives' tales · sun dogs · moss · rhymes · farmer's almanac · flowers · dew

Categories
Opposites
epistemological method

weather folkloremeteorology

Study of atmospheric phenomena

atmospheric science · climate science · climatology · weather modeling

knowledge source

weather folkloreDoppler radar

Motion-sensing weather instrument

weather satellites · National Weather Service · weather stations · climate models

Family

weather, folklore, folk, lore, weathers, weathered, weathering, folklorist, lores

Familiarity
Top 500,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Everyday, not technical · Rated G