Monday, September 29, 2014

Weather lore....

Many of you have undoubtedly heard winter predictions using signs of nature as your guide.  For many years, there was a woman in our area who was respected for her winter predictions.

Today, I want to join a group of winter weather predictors.:-)  Take a look at what actually came into our house!

That is what we have always called a "woolly worm!"  The fact that it is black all over does not bode well for a mild winter!  If there had been brown on it, that would have meant part of the winter would be mild, but part might be more severe.  We will just have to wait it out and see.  What surprises us is that it found a way to enter the house!  We saw it on the sunroom floor!  Hopefully it wasn't searching for that warm spot to hibernate for an early-approaching winter!

What kinds of weather lore do you remember?

Thank you for reading.  I really appreciate  your comments.

23 comments:

  1. Oh, I remember how Margie Ison would quote Helen Lane, and Mrs. Lane was usally right on the money! I believe she was from Crab Orchard, and I always wondered how she could be so accurate in our area, which was several miles away. I'm thankful that, being retired, I'll be able to stay inside if things get really rough this winter. Have a marvelous Monday, Sister!

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  2. Well, my monitor hid my typo from me. that word should be "usually" !

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  3. Aww, a cute little weather prophet...A harsh winter wouldn't surprise me at all but I'm hoping for a mild one.

    My grandfather use to say there will be lots of snow if the bees built their nests high in the trees.

    When a woolly caterpillar has a wide brown band on it's back it will be a mild winter and when the band is black it will be a harsh winter.

    Hugs,
    JB

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  4. We used to depend on the Weather Almanacs for forecasts. The woolly worm forecast too.I have been reading that we are in for another severe winter here too.

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  5. I haven't seen one wooly yet this year, Nellie. I'm surprised it made it into the house. They don't move very fast, lol...

    Last year a farmer told me if the tree lost their leaves late in the season it would be a harsh Winter. Well, they did and of course our Winter was more than harsh. Gee, I hope he was wrong!!!

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  6. That was what I wrote about on my blog this week. I hope I am reading the signs correctly. I read in the Farmers Almanac though about the lady who reads Persimmon seeds. Her seeds say, harsh winter. I hope you are having a nice time today.

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  7. last year i saw an entirely black woolly caterpillar and you know what kind of winter we had!

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  8. Nellie, We better get our wool socks ready.. I have been seeing these black wooly worms for about 3 weeks. I have found some around the front door. I told Ted it's like they are coming up the drive, up the steps right to the front door. That is not a good sign. xoxo,Susie

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  9. As bad as my body feels when I get chilled, I can't imagine what it's going to be like when winter gets here!

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  10. In Maryland we called them woolly bears. The larger and fuzzier they were, the worse the winter would be.

    Love,
    Janie

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  11. Funny, I just saw our cat on the deck watching a wooly worm just an hour ago and sadly, it was mostly black, so I hope that prediction won't be true. I always heard if squirrels gathering nuts early, it will be a hard winter. And they're really bush here now. I'm ready for summer again!

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  12. YIPES---I've never seen a totally black wooly worm.. (Haven't seen any up here yet)... BUT--I have heard that we are in for another cold and rough winter again this year...

    I do believe weather lore --and those signs we get are usually more correct than the real meteorologists.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  13. Tell Glenda that Helen Lane was from Crab Orchard (near us here).. Her daughter publishes her articles every year and is seldom wrong. She has not written one yet --but I'll let you know when she does...
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  14. I am glad it may be a cold winter. I cannot wait for autumn to be cold too.

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  15. I keep seeing these wooly worms crossing the road!!! Wonder what that means!!!

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  16. My uncle used to be great at predicting the weather. He passed on those tips to his daughter, but I haven't talked to her yet this fall. Apparently the wollies are the same here - so they are saying cold winter but not as bad as last year. My uncle used to predict too on what day the Junco Bird showed up on his yard. Then he counted so many days thereafter for the first snowfall. Actually the Farmer's Almanac is quite accurate. My dad used to buy that every year and lived by it - including planting his garden by it!

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  17. wow, thats amazing, my dad was quite the weather predictor, he judged it by nature,

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  18. My father always said you could tell by the coats the animals grew over summer (after a spring shearing). And for us- it is when the geese head south...the sooner they leave the sooner winter sets in.

    We had such a terrible winter last year- I can't imagine one much worse. ugh- xo Diana

    ps. Do you have a new "pet" now- a wooly worm?;>)

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  19. I had never heard that one! I only heard about the groundhog, which made no sense to me. If he sees his shadow, it means winter will last longer but if he sees his shadow, that means the sun's out so it should be warming up already. Either way, I've noticed the groundhog isn't usually right.

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  20. Sounds like we might be enjoying our ice rink quite a bit again this winter.

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  21. Dear Hubby totally believes in the wooly worm predictions! They're all over our place.

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  22. We call these "Woolly Bears", but I have no idea why the "bear". I have seen more with black than brown here, too. That, combined with the Farmers Almanac and my chickens moulting in early August, leads me to believe we are in for a doozy!

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  23. I've seen a lot of these wooly worms around here lately. Haven't heard they were weather predictors though. : ) I'm sure we will have a cold snowy winter just like last year!

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