All Signs Fail In Dry Weather…

“Red sky in morning, sailors take warning.  Red sky at night, sailors delight.”
We’ve had reddish skies a couple times in recent days including today (May 24th).

A ring around the moon means rain. The number of stars within the ring indicated the number of rainy days on the way.

Rain with the sun shining means more rain the next day.

That one holds up pretty well around the Midwestern U.S. because of the way summertime weather systems are in this part of the world.  From what I can tell, that saying is 100% accurate in the Rocky Mountains and in Ireland although both locations are prone to daily rain showers.

The above sayings have a basis in science. Water vapor in the air creates those conditions. We know that, the people who came up with the sayings hundreds of years ago weren’t that well versed in the science. They did know what generally followed in the hours following a brilliant red sunrise.

There is also the saying about rain on Easter Sunday meaning rain on the next six Sundays. I didn’t see any rain on Easter this year, and that one is holding up pretty well.  It seems like this bit of folklore is on target more often than not. I can remember a lot of years where a rainy Easter was followed by a lot of rainy Sundays.

Washing your car and mowing the yard are also supposed to bring rain. Baseball doubleheaders are also known rain magnets.

After the experiences of last weekend and a look at the weather forecasts from the professionals, I’m beginning to wonder if the “All signs fail in dry weather” saying is going to apply around here this summer.

As I noted above, we’ve had a couple red sunrises recently in Hannibal. No rain followed the first one.  No rain in today’s forecast following this morning’s reddish eastern sky in Hannibal.

Last Sunday, it was sprinkling with the sun shining as I drove out to Mark Twain Lake to play in a vintage base ball doubleheader.  We also had a few sprinkles during the second game with the sun shining.  No rain followed on Monday although the doubleheader thing technically came through.

I mowed my yard Saturday. A lot of people mowed over the weekend. Washing the car is also supposed to bring rain. I saw a lot of car washing last weekend too.

No rain in Hannibal or Quincy since.

The annual Gus Macker 3 on 3 basketball tournament over Memorial Day weekend in Quincy has a reputation for rain, likewise for the holiday weekend activities in Hannibal.

Awaiting developments...