Determining the weather.

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Fonly

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Sep 24, 2006
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So, I wanted to try something. Oover the next few weeks, I want to chart and find out just how accurate the saying "red sky at night sailor delight, red sky in morning sailor take warning" is.
This is the first night of testing, and sun set was at 10:30 or so, here is the first part of the test. Will there be a nice tomorow, well find out.
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Fonly,

There's a lot of truth in this statement, but the interpretations vary.

Generally, this is true for folks well North into the Northern hemisphere--because prevailing winds blow from West to the East.

A red sky at sunset means fairly clear sky to the West: meaning that approaching clouds are absent, so you can expect clear skies over the next several hours.

A red sky in the morning means a fairly clear sky to the East, but clouds to the West. This can readily indicate an approaching storm system.

This is hardly a foolproof system! You're better off learning to read the clouds, not the sky colors.

For example, if you leave in the Gulf area of the US, the prevailing winds begin going from East to West (why hurricanes hit from the Atlantic), so this is reversed.

Also, if you live elsewhere in the world, wind patterns vary and so the saying becomes meaningless.

And just because you see a red sky in the evening, you're not home free. Cirrus clouds in upper latitudes can turn the sky pinkish red and indicate the earliest signs of an approaching cold front--you can therefore have a pink sky at sunset, but a drizzly rain all day the next.

And you can always be between waves of a storm: a thunderstorm at 3:00pm can give you pinkish red sunset--before the next storm hits you at 1:00am!

Take this saying with a grain of salt. It's more right than wrong, but not foolproof. Use it as "supporting evidence" after looking at clouds and radar.
 
Based on your photo, I'd expect either slight rain or at best partly cloudy skies the next day.

You didn't say where in NW Canada you were, so sadly I couldn't cheat by looking up your weather 12 hours later and claiming I was right. :mad:

One more thing: if you're REALLY far North in NW Canada, your winds may blow from N-NW, and not the West... so you would need to look more North.
 
Watchful said:
Based on your photo, I'd expect either slight rain or at best partly cloudy skies the next day.

You didn't say where in NW Canada you were, so sadly I couldn't cheat by looking up your weather 12 hours later and claiming I was right. :mad:

One more thing: if you're REALLY far North in NW Canada, your winds may blow from N-NW, and not the West... so you would need to look more North.
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lol


Yeah, just a test in the hole thing man, Not depending on it.;):D


btw, its blues skys all around today.
 
"Weather patterns tend to move from west to east. A red sunset is caused by the sun's rays filtering through dust particles and pollution. Since the weather in the west will most likely reach you the next day, and a red sky incdicates dry conditions in the west, the weather should be good the next day. A gray or yellowish glow indicated wet weather is on the way. A red sky in the morning shows the sun lighting up high cirrus clouds, which may lower later on-- a warning that wet weather may follow." Michael Mouland The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hiking, Camping and The Great Outdoors. Emphasis on conditional statements mine.

Just thought I would throw this in. This book is actually a really good resource for the outdoor type.
 
A good indicator, IMO, of less than fair weather has been the leaves turned inside out in the wind. It's worked quite well for me.
 
Anyone ever take a storm spotter class? Ive wondered if they cover anything but rotation spotting.
 
There was another thread about using proverbs to help understand the weather. I was hoping to post it here. Last night I spent almost an hour looking for it, but didn't find what I was looking for. I found one that said proverbs, but I don't think that was the one because the first post used the red skies line, so I hope you find it since I couldn't.
 
There are a ton of weather proverbs that are right more often than they are wrong. Obviously there are no absolutes - The weather man on the evening news is wrong A LOT and he has doppler radar and such. One that I have found correct more often than not is "ring around the moon or sun, rain is coming on the run". Not sure of the technical mumbo jumbo about why - i'm too lazy to look it up - but if you spend any time on big water you learn to get pretty good at predicting the weather and that one ALMOST always prove correct.
 
Fonly said:
Thats another thing, my wrist will swell like the dickins, I KNOW when a rainy day is coming.:D
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Usually means a low pressure area is rolling in fast, and your joint reacts to the pressure change. No joke: Esav's sinuses (okay, those *can* be funny), Brian's knee, Fonly's wrist, and nearly every mobile part of my skeleton aches when bad weather approaches. It's a functional barometer.

Bwilson said:
Not sure of the technical mumbo jumbo about why - i'm too lazy to look it up...
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Ice crystals in the higher altitudes scattering light.
 
In addition to watching the sky and winds. Take a listen to the forest around you.

When the weather is good the forest is a busy place with birds cheeping, and squirrels and other creatures making a racket. But before bad weather sets in like a storm front the forest very often becomes quiet- silent at times. Pay attention to this because the sky may still look favorable, but often the storm is looming.

Many times this means a thunderstorm is coming, but just this spring we had a big late season snowstorm dump six inches of heavy wet snow that even the weather forecasters did not foresee.
 
Bufford said:
When the weather is good the forest is a busy place with birds cheeping, and squirrels and other creatures making a racket. But before bad weather sets in like a storm front the forest very often becomes quiet- silent at times.
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I see the same thing in urban/suburban areas where birds will line up perched on a power line when a storm is approaching.
 
the best weather related proverb i have heard if if the smoke from you fire dosent rise, be expecting rain. this has to do with air pressure
 
Not sure if this belongs here,but from my experience a blazing,huge,reddish/orange sun at sunset means it's gonna be a really hot next day.

My busted-up body tells me when it's gonna rain:)
 
BarberFobic1992 said:
the best weather related proverb i have heard if if the smoke from you fire dosent rise, be expecting rain. this has to do with air pressure
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The Proverb:
"If smoke goes high,
no rain comes by;
If smoke hangs low,
Watch out for a blow."

The explanation:
"Smoke rising from a campfire in thin, vertical spirals reveals a high-pressure system, therefore good weather. Smoke will stay close to the ground in the presence of a low-pressure system, which may mean rain" Michael Mouland The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hiking, Camping, and the Great Outdoors


This book has turned out to be a great resource. I would suggest it to anyone, especially those new to the outdoors experience.
 
dougo83 said:
The Proverb:
"If smoke goes high,
no rain comes by;
If smoke hangs low,
Watch out for a blow."

The explanation:
"Smoke rising from a campfire in thin, vertical spirals reveals a high-pressure system, therefore good weather. Smoke will stay close to the ground in the presence of a low-pressure system, which may mean rain" Michael Mouland The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hiking, Camping, and the Great Outdoors


This book has turned out to be a great resource. I would suggest it to anyone, especially those new to the outdoors experience.
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And this is more of an imediate thing right, as in your smoke isnt rising, in the next few hours its going to rain?
 
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