Weather Wisdom from the Elders: Life with the Cosmos Explained

by Rosemary Tayler, 2017 Celestial Planting Calendar

Dew on the grass, no rain will come to pass. Dew forms on the surface of the grass as it cools. This occurs under clear skies at night when the heat radiates from the ground. If the sky remains clear, there will often be no rain, but if a weather system moves in during the day, then a change in the weather will follow.

A cow with its tail to the West makes the weather best, a cow with its tail to the East makes the weather least. Cows prefer not to have the wind blowing in their faces, thus they stand with their backs to the wind. Westerly winds usually mean that fair weather will be arriving or continue, and easterly winds usually mean unsettled weather will be arriving or continue. A weathervane or cowvane is thus a good a way of knowing what the weather will be for the next few hours.

Clear Moon, frost soon. When the night sky is clear, Earth’s surface cools rapidly – there is no cloud cover to keep the heat in.  If the night is clear enough to see the Moon and the temperature drops enough, frost will form. Expect a chilly morning!

If there is a halo round the Sun or Moon, then we can all expect rain quite soon. This halo is caused by refraction of the light through ice crystals that form from high cirrus clouds.  Cirrus clouds are usually the first clouds to appear before a weather front moves in.

Tomatoes seem to know what next winter will grow. If your tomatoes seem to have a lower meat content and many small seeds, they are likely expecting a dryer season whereby they leave extra seeds to improve the odds that some will hold over for the next year and sprout.

When clouds appear like towers, the earth is refreshed by frequent showers. Large, white clouds that look like cauliflowers or castles in the sky, indicate lots of dynamic weather going on inside. If the clouds start to swell and take on a grey tint, they will likely turn into a thunderstorm.

No weather is ill, if the wind be still. Calm conditions, especially with clear skies, indicate the dominance of a high pressure system moving in. Because high pressure systems are broad regions of descending air, they discourage the formation of clouds, wind and precipitation. Calm conditions, however, may also result from a circumstance referred to as “the calm before the storm,” in which a large thunderstorm cell to the west may be updrafting the westerly surface wind before it arrives. This situation is easily identified by looking to the west — such an approaching storm will be certain to occur. 

When windows won’t open, and the salt clogs the shaker, the weather will favor the umbrella maker. Moisture in the air causes wood to swell, making doors and windows sticky. Salt is a very effective absorber of moisture. With a high level of moisture in the air, the likelihood of precipitation is increased.
Bees nesting in trees, means lots of snow. When hornets, wasps and bees build their nests higher than normal in trees, expect lots of snow.