¹The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. ²He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' ³and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

As documented in this passage of scripture, in Biblical times people whose livelihood depended on the weather used signs in nature to predict upcoming weather patterns. Today, with our use of advanced instruments, such as weather satellites and Doppler radar, such methods seem rather primitive. While this may be true for some proverbs, which are nothing more than catchy rhymes and phrases, many in fact rely on the observation of various atmospheric conditions to make surprisingly accurate predictions of the weather that is to come.

Below is the list of weather lore that I have compiled. If you have a piece of weather lore that I do not have listed, feel free to use the contact form and send it to me. I just may put it on this page.

This one is a favorite of mine. Having many persimmon trees on my property, this is one that I look forward to doing every year. Unfortunately, I don't always get pictures taken and posted. As the theory goes, you can tell how severe the upcoming winter will be by cutting open the seed of the persimmon fruit and looking at what is inside. There are three possible things you will find: a fork, a knife, or a spoon. Here is what this means:

• Fork - You can relax if you find one of these. The upcoming winter will be mild and there will not be much snow.
• Knife - Brr! Bundle up if you find one of these. It is going to be so cold that it will cut through you like a knife.
• Spoon - Break out the snow shovels! Finding one of these means there will be a lot of snow to shovel.