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Winter Weather Folklore Sayings

Signs in nature of a cold winter:

The folklore of winter weather is fascinating. You’re sure to know some of these weather sayings, passed down by generations of people who lived close to the land and nature. Which ones do you know?

Winter is the harshest season. The natural world—clouds, birds, animals, and plants—all provided cues to predict what the winter will bring! Generations of hunters, farmers, and fishermen relied upon this weather lore to predict storms and the severity of the coming winter.

Did you know: The study of weather proverbs is known as paroemieology. Most are fanciful fun with no basis in scientific fact while others have been found to have a kernel of truth at their core.

Acorns … that fall heavily means a cold winter is coming. Similarly, a large crop of walnuts means a snowy, cold season. Thick nutshells predict a severe winter.

Persimmon seeds … are an age-old way of predicting winter weather. (American persimmon trees grow in the wild in USDA Zones 4 to 9.) When you cut open a persimmon, the shape of the seed tells you if the winter will be cold or normal. If it’s spoon-shaped, expect snow to shovel!

Apple skins … which are tougher and thicker also tell us a colder winter is expected.

Corn husks … which are thicker and tighter than usual indicate a cold winter ahead as well.

Squirrels … with very bushy tails in the fall cue a colder winter. If squirrels stash their nuts high in the trees, the snow will be deep.

“When squirrels early start to hoard,
winter will pierce us like a sword.”

How One Month Affects Another

“If a cold August follows a hot July, It foretells a winter hard and dry.”
“For every fog in August, There will be a snowfall in winter.”
“If the first week in August is unusually warm, The coming Winter will be snowy and long.”
“A warm October, A cold February.”
“As the days lengthen, the cold strengthens.” (The coldest time of the year is mid January, about three weeks after the shortest day.)

Date of the First Snow

There are many similar variations on forecasting snow, based on the date of the very first snowfall.

The date of the first snowflakes tells how many times it will snow. Should the year’s first snow, for example, come down on the 12th of the month, you can expect 12 more storms before the winter’s done.
The number of days from Christmas the first snowflakes fall will tell you how many times it will snow this winter.
The date of the first snowflakes plus the number of days past the new moon tells how many times it will snow this winter.

https://www.almanac.com/winter-weather-folklore