Winter Weather

November 17, 2010

I've always loved reading the Old Farmer's Almanac. Even as a kid, I would pore over this handy little book just to enjoy the miscellaneous facts it contained.

Today, I still enjoy reading things like the almanac. After last year's snowy winter, I wondered what it would list as signs of a rough winter. Here are some signs that I found:

• woodpeckers sharing a tree
• a small rust/orange band on a wooly worm caterpillar
• very thick onion skins or corn husks
• pigs gathering sticks
• hickory nuts having heavy shells
• spiders spinning larger-than-usual webs
• tree bark heaviest on the north side of the tree
• squirrels gathering nuts early in the year
• frequent halos/rings around the sun or moon
• heavy and numerous fogs in August

If you find weather interesting, there are many books at the library to check out. We have weather folklore books that discuss signs like those listed above. For those readers who want a more scientific approach to weather, we also have weather forecasting books based on more objective conditions and standards. For folklore, I like The Essential Book of Weather Lore by Leslie Alan Horvitz. For the scientific side, I would suggest Weather by Ross Reynolds. 

Sheryl W.
North Oak Branch