I had the opportunity to hop in the water and catch some tropical storm surf late yesterday afternoon. Due to the effects of the full moon combined with the moisture in the atmosphere the sunset was nothing short of breathtaking. Viewing a few mares tales as the sun fell below the horizon I remembered this article that I put together some years ago and I thought it may serve as a good refresher.
Red skies at night, to the sailors delight. Red skies in the morning, sailor take warning. During fishing season, friends of mine will ask me on Monday what the weather forecast holds for the upcoming weekend. My friends know I watch the weather throughout the week and start trying to determine if it is going to be fishable or not. Captains and their crew have been looking at the weather for decades to predict upcoming weather. In fact I am convinced most captains are more in tuned to the weather than the guy wearing the tacky tie on the 6 o’clock news. Throughout the centuries and prior to the development of modern technological weather devices, the weather has been read primarily through basic observations. Somewhere along the line, the interpretation of these basic observations has been put into proverbs to make them easier to remember. I find these proverbs to an easy and helpful way of understanding and reading some of the basic conditions that determine our weather. Provided herein are some of the most popular proverbs and a brief interpretation of each.
Red skies at night, to the sailors delight. Red skies in the morning sailor take warning or Rainbows at night to the sailors delight. Rainbows in the morning, sailors take warning. This proverb is undoubtedly the most popular, however for those unfamiliar the interpretation is as follows. The sun will appear red under clear skies. Also, dusty particles, the core for rain, appear red under the sun. As the sun sets in the west it lights the east. If it red at night we know it is clear to the west, and it lights the clouds of the storm in the east that has pass