In Like a Lion…
The groundhog predicted that we’d have 6 more weeks of winter on February 2nd which is also known as Groundhog Day. Then the week of Valentine’s Day, we had everything from freezing rain and ice to sunny spring-like days. March is coming in cool and breezy so hopefully it’ll go out calm and pleasant. For years people have had sayings about the weather and how to predict what mother nature has in store for us but this is Tennessee and our weather does its own thing. I’ve heard the saying all my life that goes something like this: if you don’t like the weather in Tennessee then wait 5 minutes and it’ll change. In my lifetime, I’ve heard several old wives’ tales that predict the weather and they usually prove to be pretty accurate. I’ll share a few of them with you this week.
Since we just had a big snow a couple weeks ago, we’ll start with a snow tale. My granddaddy always said that if snow laid around for 3 days that we’d have another one that season. In case you didn’t notice, the snow we got the week of Valentine’s day laid around for several days after the snow fall. My birthday falls about the middle of April and I do remember having snow on my birthday a few times so there’s plenty of time for more this year! During this week of freezing rain, ice and snow, CO-OP sold about 4 truckloads of Ice Melt collectively through our 4 locations. We had a little over 2 truckloads before this wintery weather moved in and that was gone on the 13th. We’ve received more and we do have it right now but not a doubt in my mind that we’ll sell out again as soon as they start talking about snow in the forecast. By looking at local forecasts, we will be experiencing warmer, sunny days this week but we’ll have plenty precipitation in March. How do I know? Read on to find out!
The last day of February was more lik
e a spring day with the temperature reaching around 70 and in came the rain which brings me to this popular forecasting tale: if it rains on the first day of the month, then you’ll have rain at least 15 days in that month. The tale doesn’t say how much rain will come. It could be a down pour or it could be a sprinkle but anyone I’ve ever known to keep up with this has found it’s true. What I don’t know is whether that transfers to other forms of precipitation or not…could you imagine 15 days of snow? Another rain/storm predictor is the red sky. The saying goes something like this: red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning. That one is pretty self-explanatory. The delight is calm weather that would be great for smooth water and sailing. The warning is bad weather that could cause choppy water that would make for less enjoyable sailing conditions. This one seems to be pretty true from my experience of when I have paid attention to the sky. Whether it be in the morning or the evening, a red sky makes a beautiful picture regardless of the weather it’s predicting!
While predicting Tennessee weather is fairly challenging, some of the old wives’ tales may help you out. These few that I’ve mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg of the tales I’ve heard for weather and planting but I’ll bring you a few more in the future. By the way, Bonnie dropped off the first batch of plants this week but I wouldn’t plant yet. March has a saying that I learned in grammar school that goes something like this: in like a lion, out like a lamb. Let’s hope that saying is true cause March surely is coming in like a lion!
“He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’” Matthew 16:2
