November.
As at Catharine (25th) foul or fair, so will be the next February.
As November, so the following March.
Thunder in November indicates a fertile year to come.
Flowers in bloom late in autumn indicate a bad winter.
December.
If it rains on Sunday before mass it will rain the whole week.
If Christmas finds a bridge, he’ll break it; if he finds none, he’ll make one.
As Ash Wednesday, so the fasting time.
A warm Christmas, a cold Easter.
A green Christmas, a white Easter.
If windy on Xmas day, trees will bring much fruit.
If the wind blows much on Stephen’s day (26th), the grape will be bad in next year.
If it snows on Xmas night, we expect a good hop crop next year.
Christmas wet gives empty granary and barrel.
At Christmas meadows green, at Easter covered with frost.
Wet causes more damage than frost before, than after Christmas.
December cold, with snow, brings rye everywhere.
Days.
The first three days of any season rule the weather of that season.
The general character of the weather during the last twenty days of March, June, September, and December will rule the following season.
A bad day has a good night.
The three days of September (20th, 21st, and 22d) rule the weather for October, November, and December.
The first three days of January rule the coming three months.
The last twelve days of January rule the weather of the whole year.
When there are three days cold, expect three days colder.
The twelve days commencing December 25th and ending January 5th are said to be the keys of the weather of the year.
Wednesday.
Wednesday clearing, clear till Sunday.
When the sun sets clear on Wednesday, expect clear weather the rest of the week.
Thursday.
The first Thursday in March, the first Thursday in June, the first Thursday in September, and the first Thursday in December are the governing days for each season. Whatever point of the compass the wind is on these days, that will be the prevailing direction of the wind for that season.
If it storms on the first Thursday, or any subsequent, of a month, count the remaining days of the month, add to this the number of days remaining of the moon, and they will give the number of storms for that season. (Wm. R. Ryan.)
Friday.
If the sun sets clear on Friday, it will blow before Sunday night.
Rain on Good Friday forebodes a fruitful year.
Friday is the best or worst day of the week.
If the sun sets clear on Friday, generally expect rain before Monday.
As the Friday, so the Sunday.
Saturday.
There is never a Saturday without some sunshine.
Sunday.
If it rains on Sunday before mass it will rain all the week.
When it storms on the first Sunday of the month it will storm every Sunday.
First Sunday in month rain, it will rain every Sunday of the month.
Sunday clearing, clear till Wednesday.
The last Sunday of the month indicates the weather of the next month.
If sunset on Sunday is cloudy, it will rain before Wednesday.
Christmas.
A light Christmas, a heavy sheaf.
If the sun shines through the apple tree on Christmas day, there will be an abundant crop the following year.
If on Christmas night the wine ferments heavily in the barrels, a good wine year is to follow. (German.)
The shepherd would rather see his wife enter the stable on Christmas day than the sun. (German.)
If ice will bear a man before Christmas, it will not bear a mouse afterward. (English proverb.)
A green Christmas makes a full graveyard.
A green Christmas indicates a white Easter.
Candlemas Day.
On Candlemas day the bear, badger, or woodchuck comes out to see his shadow at noon; if he does not see it he remains out; but if he does see it he goes back to his hole for six weeks, and cold weather continues six weeks longer.
On Candlemas day just so far as the sun shines in, just so far will the snow blow in.
Corpus Christi.
If rain on Corpus Christi day, the rye granary will be light.
Dog Day.
Rain on first dog day, it will rain for forty days after.
Easter.
Rain on Easter gives slim fodder.
If fair weather from Easter to Whitsuntide, the butter will be cheap.
Good Friday.
Good Friday rain brings a fertile year.
Hollantide.
Lent.
Dry Lent, fertile year.
Martinmas.
If the wind is in the southwest at Martinmas, it keeps there until Candlemas. (French.)
Pentecost.
Rain at Pentecost forebodes evil.
Paster Sunday.
If it rains on Paster Sunday, it will rain every Sunday until Pentecost.
Palm Sunday.
If the weather is not clear on Palm Sunday, it means a bad year.
Shrovetide Day.
When the sun is shining on Shrovetide day, it is meant well for rye and peas.
Saint Andrew’s Day.
On Saint Andrew’s night a glass of water should be placed on the table. If the water has run over in the morning, a good year is to follow; if it does not, expect a poor year for crops. (German.)
Saint Bartholomew.
If it rains on Saint Bartholomew’s day (August 24th) it will rain forty days after.
Saint Bartholomew brings cold and dew. (Italian.)
Saint John’s Day.
Before Saint John’s day (24th of June) no early crops are worth praising. (German.)
Before Saint John’s day we pray for rain; after that we get it anyhow.
Saint Lawrence Day.
If on Saint Lawrence day (August 10th) the weather be fine, a good autumn and good wine may be hoped for. (German.)
Saint Margaret’s Day.
Rain on Saint Margaret’s day (22d of July) will destroy all kinds of nuts. (German.)
Saint Matthew’s Day.
If it freezes on Saint Matthew’s day, it will freeze for a month together.
Matthew’s day (February 25th) breaks the ice; if he finds none, then he’ll have some.
Saint Martin’s Day.
Saint Martin’s day (11th of November) if the wind is in the southwest at Martinmas, it keeps there till after Candlemas. (Scotch.)
Saint Paul’s Day.
Saint Patrick’s Day.
Saint Patrick’s day the warm side of a stone turns up, and the broad-back goose begins to lay.
Saint Stephen’s Day.
If it be very windy on Saint Stephen’s day, there will be a poor wine crop next year. (German.)
Saint Swithin.
A rainy Saint Swithin is well described by Gay:
All Saints’ Day.
If All Saints’ day will bring out the winter, Saint Martin’s day will bring out Indian summer.
All Fools’ Day.
Ascension Day.
As the weather on Ascension day, so may be the entire autumn.
Saint Thomas’s Day.
Look at the weathercock on Saint Thomas day, at 12 o’clock, and see which way the wind is, for there it will stick for the next quarter.
Saint Vincent’s.
If the sun shines on Saint Vincent’s day (22d January), a fine crop of grapes may be expected. (German.)
Whit Sunday.
If Whit Sunday brings rain, we expect many a plague.
Whitsuntide.
Whitsuntide rain, blessing for wine.
Rain on Whitsuntide is said to make the wheat mildewed.
Strawberries at Whitsuntide indicate good wine.
Whit Sunday wet, Christmas fat.
Some of the various signs of coming rain, which will be found in their respective places, are thus recorded by Swift:
Another author observes of a wet Saint Swithin:
Air Currents.
Currents of air change their course frequently, in the higher regions of the air first, and are afterwards continued to the earth’s surface; whence we can often foresee a change of wind by observing the clouds. Both the strength of a coming gale and the point from which it will blow may usually be determined by noticing the velocity and direction of the clouds floating along in the upper currents.
Appetite.
When everything is eaten at the table, it indicates continued clear weather.
Aurora.
The aurora when very bright indicates approaching storm.
Barometer.
If it freezes and the barometer falls two or three tenths of an inch, expect a thaw.
If the weather gets warmer while the barometer is high and the wind northeasterly, we may look for a sudden shift of wind to the south. On the other hand, if the weather becomes colder while the wind is southwesterly and the barometer low, we may look for a sudden squall or a severe storm from the northwest, with a fall of snow if it be winter time.
A sudden rise of the barometer is very nearly as dangerous as a sudden fall, because it shows that the level is unsteady. In an ordinary gale the wind often blows hardest when the barometer is just beginning to rise, directly after having been very low.
A rapid rise of barometer indicates unsettled weather. A slow movement the contrary, as likewise a steady barometer, which, when continued, and with dryness, foretells very fine weather.
Bells.
Bells are heard at greater distances before rain.
Boots and Shoes.
Boots and shoes easy to pull on and off indicate dry weather.
Brick Walls.
Brick walls become damp before a rain.
Breeders.
Fine, warm days are called “weather breeders.”
Calm.
A dead calm often precedes a violent gale, and sometimes the calmest and clearest mornings in certain seasons are followed by a blowing, showery day. Calms are forerunners of the hurricanes of the West Indies and other tropical climes.
Camphor Gum.
Camphor gum is said to rise in alcohol before rain.
Clouds.
If clouds drive up high from the south, expect a thaw.
Coals.
Coals covered with thick white ashes indicate snow in winter and rain in summer.
Coals becoming alternately bright and dim indicate approaching storms.
Coffee Bubbles.
When the bubbles of coffee collect in the centre of the cup, expect fair weather. When they adhere to the cup, forming a ring, expect rain. If the bubbles separate without assuming any fixed position, expect changeable weather.
Corns.
Corns giving trouble indicate bad weather.
When corns ache rain follows.
Cream and Milk.
Cream and milk, when they turn sour in the night, often indicate thereby that thunder-storms are about, and will probably shortly take place.
Creeks and Springs.
In dry weather, when creeks and springs that have gone dry become moist, or, as we may say, begin to sweat, it indicates approaching rain. Many springs that have gone dry will give a good flow of water just before rain. (J. E. Walter, Leavenworth, Kans.)
Dandelion.
When the dandelions bloom early in the spring there will be a short season. When they bloom late expect a dry summer.
Dreams.
Dreams of a hurrying and frightful nature and imperfect sleep, are frequent indications that the weather is changed or about to change. Many persons experience these nocturnal symptoms on a change of wind, particularly when it becomes east. In all these cases the effect seems to be produced immediately on the nervous system, and through it on the stomach, so that the stomach shall again react on the sensorium. The symptoms are enhanced by a full stomach and other sources of indigestion. (Forster.)
Dust.
Dust rising in dry weather is a sign of approaching change.
Ears.
Ringing in the ear at night indicates a change of wind.
Ears, when there is a tingling noise, or what is called a singing in them, afford thereby a sign of a change of weather, not simply of rain, as has been said, but of barometrical pressure in general. The sudden increase of pressure, like the descent from high mountains, or from balloons, causes in many persons a temporary deafness and roaring in the ears. A sudden fall of the barometer affects also the ears, but in a different manner, like mounting a high hill. (Forster.)
Noises in the ears are frequently precursors of marked atmospheric changes.
Eclipse Weather.
Eclipse weather is a popular term in the south of England for the weather following an eclipse of the sun or moon, and it is vulgarly esteemed tempestuous and not to be depended on by the husbandman.
Epidemics.
Epidemics are disorders of health brought on by atmospherical influence; and modern discoveries have shown how much most prevailing diseases partake of an epidemical nature. Scarlet fever, typhus, the plague, and indeed most diseases of this sort, are now considered epidemical. It would seem that there is a most immediate connection between the peculiar state of the air and the kind of disorders which might be thereby excited. For it may be observed that, even of those disorders which are not generally admitted to be contagious, one particular kind will prevail for a long time. Thus, in winter, the different symptoms of that state of body which we call a cold, appear in some measure to prevail and vary together, so that it is common to hear people talk of the fashionable complaint. Coughs, for a while, are the prevailing symptoms; then sore throats are the most common. It is in spring that certain kinds of cutaneous eruptions usually appear, and in autumn that those irregularities in the functions of the digestive viscera called cholera morbus, &c., happen, and which have been erroneously attributed to eating much fruit. On the other hand, it cannot be considered that atmospheric peculiarities alone produce epidemic and other complaints, which must be regarded as having a compound origin, and as resulting from the operation of peculiar states of the atmosphere on persons of particular states of constitution, otherwise all persons would be affected, which is contrary to experience. There are, probably, innumerable varieties of temperament, of general habits of life, and of pre-existing diseases, which in different subjects vary the effects of the air. And many persons perhaps enjoy a state of health and perfect action, which may be capable of resisting its evil influence altogether. It would perhaps be productive of useful results, if physicians of extensive practice would make accurate meteorological registers during the prevalence of any epidemic or contagious disorders. (Forster’s Encyclopædia of Natural Phenomena.)
Epizootic.
Epizootic is a name for epidemic disorders occurring among animals, of which we have many and various instances on record. The state of the electrometer and other meteorological instruments should be carefully examined during the prevalence of such pestilence.
Elder Bush.
A number of superstitions may be traced back to the former connection of the elder bush with the goddess. Witches were thought to produce bad weather by stirring water with branches of elder.
Electric Lights.
Fire.
If the fire burns unusually fierce and bright in winter, there will be frost and clear weather; if the fire burns dull, expect damp and rain.
Fire always burns brighter and throws out more heat just before a storm, and is hotter during a storm.
Blacksmiths always select a stormy day in which to perform work requiring extra heat.
A fire hard to kindle indicates bad weather.
When the fire crackles and crackles lightly, it is said to be treading snow. (Old woman.)
Floors.
Floors saturated with oil become very damp just before rain.
Fog Smoke.
When with hanging fog smoke rises vertically, rain follows.
Gale.
If, during the absence of wind, the surface of the sea becomes agitated by a long, rolling swell, a gale may be expected. This is well known to seamen.
General.
Wind.
The hollow winds begin to blow,
Clouds—Barometer.
The clouds look black, the glass is low,
Soot—Dogs.
The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep,
Spiders.
And spiders from their cobwebs peep.
Sun.
Last night the sun went pale to bed,
Moon.
The Moon in halos hid her head. The boding shepherd heaves a sigh,
Rainbow.
For, see! a rainbow spans the sky,
Walls—Ditches.
The walls are damp, the ditches smell,
Pimpernel.
Closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel.
Chairs and Tables.
Hark! how the chairs and tables crack;
Joints.
Old Betty’s joints are on the rack.
Ducks.
Loud quack the ducks, the peacocks cry,
Hills.
The distant hills are looking nigh.
Swine.
How restless are the snorting swine!
Flies.
The busy flies disturb the kine,
Swallow.
Low o’er the grass the swallow wings;
Cricket.
The cricket, too, how sharp he sings;
Cat.
Fish.
Glowworm.
Toad.
Dust.
Frog.