A couple of weeks back I was having a terrible Monday on a Wednesday if you know what I mean. I arrived at home from work about 7 pm, tiered, ticked off, and in desperate need of some quite time. Within 45-minutes Rusty, my 10-year old Golden Retriever, and I had the boat in the water and I was releasing a small Spanish Mackerel. As I looked back across the harbor at the falling sun I noticed it seemed to be getting dark a little bit earlier than usual. Over the next half hour I continued to release Spanish as I watched the setting sun became eclipsed by dark clouds. Not wanting to leave the fish and the relaxing time I stayed put and hoped that the approaching storm would just skirt around us toward Mt. Pleasant or James Island. The storm never wavered in its travels however, and I quickly realized it was coming right down the gut of the harbor. I stowed my gear, laid the antennas and rods down and Rusty and I headed straight into the storm. As we approached the battery the temperature dropped 15 degrees and the winds picked up to a steady 35 knots. The heavy winds quickly transformed the harbor from a light chop to a raging 3 to 4-foot standing sea. Strong winds, rough water, lightning popping, blowing rain, a quite evening gone bad within a matter of minutes!
Strong thunderstorms are to be expected in the lowcounty this time of year, and while many of these storms are not predictable, a close eye to the sky can help avoid many of them. Throughout the centuries and prior to the development of modern technological weather devices, the weather has been read primarily through basic observations. Some where 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 th