WEATHER "SIGNS" IN GEORGIA'S MOUNTAINS

By OLIVENE GODFREY

I started having columns and articles published back in the 1960s and about this time of year I would interview Old Timers regarding weather superstitions for the upcoming winter. Now that I am an Old Timer myself, those weather prognosticators have passed on. But, I imagine that there are still weather prophets who are forecasting the coming winter in Georgia's high country.

I remember an old retired farmer who forecast seven snowfalls that winter. And, there were exactly that many. How did he know?
Well, during August there were seven fogs and the old farmer said that was a sure sign that an equal number of snowfalls could be expected during the winter.

Another Old Timer told me one year that hornet nests were five or six inches from the ground and that was a sign of a cold winter ahead of us. Then another weather prophet insisted that a hot summer inevitably would be followed by a very cold winter.
Then there was the Old Timer who said he personally didn't take much stock in weather superstitions but he added the corn shucks were heavy that year and those who did believe in those things said that meant a bad winter was coming.

Aching corns and other pains were cited as guides for forecasting the weather. There may be some scientific support here, because air pressure and moisture may actually cause pain to a sensitive spot. A good thermometer, the prognosticators say is a cricket because they chirp faster when the temperature is rising. If you add the number 37 to the number of chirps within 15 seconds, you are supposed to have the correct temperature.

Although the weather prophets admit that scientific observations involve careful techniques, they say, "Nature is a volume of which God is the author".

Quote: "A bore is a person who has a flair for doing the completely expected."

See you next time.