Posted on 12/17/2022 7:29:17 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
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Going to FREEZE !!! In the south this coming next two weeks. Cover up anything you want to save.
Winter Weather Folklore Sayings
Signs in nature of a cold winter:
The folklore of winter weather is fascinating. You’re sure to know some of these weather sayings, passed down by generations of people who lived close to the land and nature. Which ones do you know?
Winter is the harshest season. The natural world—clouds, birds, animals, and plants—all provided cues to predict what the winter will bring! Generations of hunters, farmers, and fishermen relied upon this weather lore to predict storms and the severity of the coming winter.
Did you know: The study of weather proverbs is known as paroemieology. Most are fanciful fun with no basis in scientific fact while others have been found to have a kernel of truth at their core.
Acorns … that fall heavily means a cold winter is coming. Similarly, a large crop of walnuts means a snowy, cold season. Thick nutshells predict a severe winter.
Persimmon seeds … are an age-old way of predicting winter weather. (American persimmon trees grow in the wild in USDA Zones 4 to 9.) When you cut open a persimmon, the shape of the seed tells you if the winter will be cold or normal. If it’s spoon-shaped, expect snow to shovel!
Apple skins … which are tougher and thicker also tell us a colder winter is expected.
Corn husks … which are thicker and tighter than usual indicate a cold winter ahead as well.
Squirrels … with very bushy tails in the fall cue a colder winter. If squirrels stash their nuts high in the trees, the snow will be deep.
“When squirrels early start to hoard,
winter will pierce us like a sword.”
How One Month Affects Another
“If a cold August follows a hot July, It foretells a winter hard and dry.”
“For every fog in August, There will be a snowfall in winter.”
“If the first week in August is unusually warm, The coming Winter will be snowy and long.”
“A warm October, A cold February.”
“As the days lengthen, the cold strengthens.” (The coldest time of the year is mid January, about three weeks after the shortest day.)
Date of the First Snow
There are many similar variations on forecasting snow, based on the date of the very first snowfall.
The date of the first snowflakes tells how many times it will snow. Should the year’s first snow, for example, come down on the 12th of the month, you can expect 12 more storms before the winter’s done.
The number of days from Christmas the first snowflakes fall will tell you how many times it will snow this winter.
The date of the first snowflakes plus the number of days past the new moon tells how many times it will snow this winter.
https://www.almanac.com/winter-weather-folklore
Call around, around the world
Are you ready for a brand new beat?
Winter’s here in the great northeast
And we’re Freezing in the Sleet.
I just might do cocoa today. Ahhhh...if only I had marshmallows.
I’ve seen the forecast. The cold is going to get as far south as Pensacola. I’m going to be blasting my heat in my house to keep pipes in the crawl space from freezing. As a last resort, I could simply shut the water valve off overnight on a few nights and run the taps dry, then turn it on again when the temp goes back up the next day. No water, no burst pipes.
rutabaga time
Still dry as a bone here are a little rain - with nothing more in sight.
Lots of cleaning up to do in the garden. Here is my fairy garden, all cleaned up:
Meanwhile, waiting for Santa:
We know which one controls the couch!
snow here this am, squirrels still out and about
“just might do cocoa today. Ahhhh...if only I had marshmallows”
and a splash of grand mariner :)
Snow here too in west Michigan, got a few inches overnight and they are saying up to 6” more by tomorrow. I did water my houseplants. And eating my first of the winter alfalfa sprouts. Making some hot and sour soup today.
The cold get much further south than Pensacola. As far as freezing pipes: I doubt you’ll have a problem as long as you drip the faucets.
Yep. Drip the faucets, blast the heat. They’re predicting 19 degrees as a low in Pensacola next Saturday night. I thought that weather-wise, we wouldn’t have Maryland (my old state) in Florida. I guess I was wrong.
My fridge actually does have a water line, so I suppose I could draw a cup of water from the fridge every once in a while to keep that line moving.
LOL! Awesome.
Eternally GRATEFUL that my ancestors did NOT settle in Buffalo, NY when they came here from Germany, LOL!
We do whipped cream on top and a little drizzle of Hershey’s. :)
A shot of Peppermint Schnapps never hurts, either! ;)
“Making some hot and sour soup today.”
I have two chicken carcasses and lots of veggie peelings so I am making a huge pot of Chicken Stock, today. Perfect cold-weather activity.
We got 4” of crunch, WET snow that has stuck to everything, so it’s quite pretty, but a PITA to shovel.
Still watching the forecast - we’re either going to get missed, or we’re going to get a big dump by Thursday.
So glad to be retired and not HAVE to be anywhere! :)
Our house is from 1900, so the kitchen was added at a later date. We have nothing but a crawl space under the kitchen that needs insulation, but that never seems to get done for some reason.
Beau blows a fan in there to keep air moving, which helps to some degree. We’re going to be VERY cold this upcoming week and either no snow, or a LOT...they haven’t decided, yet. ;)
Our fridge water line will freeze, as will the kitchen sink pipes, so I do the same as you with the dripping water, which the cats find fascinating...
I realized the fridge line is actually for an ice maker, so when it gets cold, I’ll just make me some ice overnight to keep that thing moving.
Fortunately, I really only have to worry about a few nights. Pipes tend to freeze when it’s 20 or below for 6 straight hours or more, and apparently usually don’t if those conditions aren’t met.
I made chicken soup 2 days ago. We get a great deal from a chicken farmer for frozen vac sealed carcasses. They still have a good amount of meat in them and no big bones. Ever try Vegeta in your chicken soup? It’s a must here.
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