Weather Lore

As I stood outside my front door last night taking some snapshots of the brilliant reds and oranges the sunset produced, I found myself muttering the old folklore my Mum told me so many years ago:

Red Sky at Night Shepherds Delight

Red Sky in the Morning Shepherds warning

On throwing back the curtains this morning, I wasn't surprised to find a truly spectacularly glorious October day awaiting me. Proving, on this occasion, these lores do have a modicum of truth surrounding them.

I was curious to find out how, and why, this particular 'Weather Lore' came about and whilst munching on my lunch I decided to do a little research and found that, to my surprise, this particular gem dates back to the Bible.

Matthew 16:2-3

He said, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather, because the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’  You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times.

Apparently the reasoning behind this saying is due to the fact that weather systems generally move from West to East. In a nutshell; If the morning skies are red, it is because clear skies to the east permit the sun to light the undersides of moisture-bearing clouds coming in from the west. On the other hand, in order to see red clouds in the evening, sunlight must have a clear path from the west in order to light 'damp' clouds moving to the east.... Simples!!!! For a more in-depth explanation follow the link... it's too long winded for a blog.

And it's not just us, here's some more of the same from around the world:

Red sky at night, sailor's delight,
Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.
 
Morgenrøde gir dage bløde.
Kveldsrøde gir dage søde.

Rosso di sera, bel tempo si spera,
rosso di mattina mal tempo si avvicina.

Avondrood, morgen mooi weer aan bood,
Ochtendrood, vanavond water in de sloot.

Rouge le soir, bel espoir,
Rouge le matin, de la pluie en chemin.

So... seeing as it's such a lovely day today why don't you pop in and see us here in Gul Padstow and say hello, you never know what useless drivel you may learn!!!