Cold or mild winter? Using weather folklore to help predict the upcoming winter season

For many years people have used weather folklore to help predict impending storms or to get a glimpse into what the upcoming season may bring. 

A couple days ago one of my co-workers came to me asking if this winter was going to be cold because he noticed an unusally high amount of nut shells in his driveway and througout the neighborhood.  He said it just seemed like the squirrels were 'extra' busy this year.  His question got me thinking about all those weather folklore sayings you may have heard your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents talk about.  Is there any truth behind them?  For some, yes, and for others not so much.  Long before the technology of weather computers people made their forecasts using nature, animals and the sky.  So, just what are some of the 'weather proverbs' that may help us predict whether or not this winter will be a tough one or if it will be mild?


Well, do you have an onion?  If you have an onion near by, you may want to look at how thick the skin is.  According to this proverb: 'Onion skin is very thin, mild winter is coming in.  Onion skin is thick and tough, winter will be cold and rough.'  This one may be a little far-fetched, but still looked at.

How about this one - Using a persimmon seed to predict the upcoming winter.  It's said that if you cut the persimmon seed in half and then identify the type of flatware it most resembles you'll be able to predict the upcoming winter months: 

Spoon shaped: Be prepared for a lot of wet snow and many days of shoveling in your future
Fork shaped: Mild winter with smaller snows
Knife shaped: Chilling winds

There's always this one: 'A white Christmas means a green Easter, and a green Christmas means a white Easter'

'Squirrels gathering nuts in a flurry will cause snow to gather in a hurry'.  Some think that if squirrels begin gathering nuts early or gathering a lot they're getting ready for a long and cold winter.  This one is a little harder to try and follow because it always seems like squirrels are gathering nuts all the time.

This weather folklore has been around for many, many years.  'The wider the reddish-brown band on a woolly bear caterpillar, the milder the winter'.  So, is it true?  Well, most scientists think that this one is just that, folklore.  But there is thought to be a link between the number (and width) of the reddish-brown hairs and the age of the caterpillar - how late it may have started in the spring.  However, the correlation between the width of the band and the severity of the winter may actually be for the previous winter.  Either way, if I spot a woolly bear caterpillar I'm sure I'll check out the width of the band on its back.

So, do you have any weather sayings you use or do you have any that have been passed down from generation to generation?  Do you follow a particular weather folklore and how accurate have they been?  Let us know: weather@wtvo.com.  It would be neat to see some of the other ones out there!