Weather Lore: "Red Sky At Night" / " ... Morning" ?

[MrRING]

Isn't there a saying:

"Red moon at night
sailor's delight;
Red moon in morning
saliors take warning"

?

 

[gyrtrash]

Just looked out on the skies above west yorkshire - it's not unusually coloured, no different. Just waning.


'Red sky at night - shepherds delight,
Red sky at morning, shepherds warning'

...was the thing my ma used to say....

 

[oll_lewis]

Isn't there a saying:

"Red moon at night
sailor's delight;
Red moon in morning
saliors take warning"

?

I learnt it as red sky (like mr Raven). but then proverbs might vary slightly from place to place.

 

[Swifty]

Is this more a rural legend, an urban one or simply fact Forteans ? ... the old rhyme we remember goes as: red sky at night, shepherds delight, red sky in the morning, shepherds warning, said to indicate if it would rain or not after these events. I wonder what the success rate is for correct predictions using this old wisdom and if any experiments have been conducted or even studies written about it ? ... or it's all just B.S. ...
I've blindly believed in it all my life!. Thanks in advance for any insight :idea:

 

[David Plankton]

We had quite a nice sunset last night but today is a bit dull and drizzly. Nothing a sheep couldn't handle though.

 

[ramonmercado]

Perhaps the shepherd is happy because the Red Sky is caused by a farmhouse burning. The house of the farmer who exploited him for decades. Now the shepherd makes off with the sheep for a new beginning.

Tragically the sheep dash over a cliff.

 

[Swifty]

Typing in Weather Lore on Wikipedia tells that this legend/rhyme goes a lot deeper, was also used by sailors and has translations from loads of different countries as well as practical reasons why it's believed ... I can't link to it sorry but it's worth reading!.

 

[rynner2]

"Weather systems typically move from west to east, and red clouds result when the sun shines on their undersides at either sunrise or sunset.[5][citation needed] At these two times of day, the sun's light is passing at a very low angle through a great thickness of atmosphere commonly known as The Belt of Venus. The result of which is the scattering out of most of the shorter wavelengths — the greens, blues, and violets — of the visible spectrum, and so sunlight is heavy at the red end of the spectrum. If the morning skies are red, it is because clear skies to the east permit the sun to light the undersides of moisture-bearing clouds coming in from the west. Conversely, in order to see red clouds in the evening, sunlight must have a clear path from the west in order to illuminate moisture-bearing clouds moving off to the east.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_l ... y_at_night "

The scattering of sunlight mentioned above is known as Raleigh Scattering:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh_scattering

 

[Mythopoeika]

I don't think there's truly anything in it - given the fact that the chances of being correct are 50%, I guess a lot of old farmers and sailors may have fooled themselves into thinking there was a correlation.

Sorry.

 

[rynner2]

I don't think there's truly anything in it - given the fact that the chances of being correct are 50%, I guess a lot of old farmers and sailors may have fooled themselves into thinking there was a correlation.

Got a reference for that statistic?

 

[Swifty]

I don't think there's truly anything in it - given the fact that the chances of being correct are 50%, I guess a lot of old farmers and sailors may have fooled themselves into thinking there was a correlation.

Sorry.

Fair enough though I do think there's a lot to be said for experience, it can never be 100% accurate though. This rhyme is repeated in a lot of different cultures which lends weight to there being a little more behind it to me? ..

I think the use of rhymes about weather are an interesting topic on their own. Me and my Sister used to chant rain, rain, go away, come again another day and were convinced of our powers if the rain did stop .... all the times the song didn't work were forgotten about by us in that moment of course!

 

[EnolaGaia]

The thing that I always found interesting about the 'red sky' folklore is that it's mentioned in the Bible (Matthew 16):

2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

(Standard King James Version)

 

[Mythopoeika]

I don't think there's truly anything in it - given the fact that the chances of being correct are 50%, I guess a lot of old farmers and sailors may have fooled themselves into thinking there was a correlation.

Got a reference for that statistic?

You realise that 66% of statistics are made up on the spot?

 

[Stu73]

You realise that 66% of statistics are made up on the spot?

Wrong, it's 67% and the other 38% are honest mistakes :lol:

 

[Cochise]

Actually, 100% of statistics have been massaged by the time the newspapers publish them

Red sky at night - shepherd's cottage on fire.

There is a Welsh version referring to holiday homes...

 

[OneWingedBird]

OK, that's probably an overinterpretation too far, but suddenly the obvious meaning of the proverb has been 'subverted'.

I was actually wondering for a minute if the red sky thing was something that had been introduced at the translation stage rather than being authentic, however Youngs Literal has the red sky thing too, as do all the other translations I checked.

 

[Swifty]

Shakespeare, in his poem Venus and Adonis wrote

Like a red morn that ever yet betokened,
Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field,
Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds,
Gusts and fowl flaws to herdmen and to herds

 

[GNC]

Is the same condition that causes a red sky the same that causes good or bad weather depending on what end of the night it's at? Because you would have thought red sunset or sunrise were pretty much the same, only the sun is going in opposite directions.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Is the same condition that causes a red sky the same that causes good or bad weather depending on what end of the night it's at? Because you would have thought red sunset or sunrise were pretty much the same, only the sun is going in opposite directions.

Actually, the sun isn't going in opposite directions ... It's the earth that changes direction to rewind its antiquated spring drive mechanism overnight. :lol:

But seriously ...

The adage doesn't refer to just any sign of redness in the sky. It refers to the low sun illuminating the underside of a substantial set of clouds. In the northern hemisphere the prevailing weather movements are from west to east. Red sky in the morning means it's clear to the east but clouds overhead or to the west. Red sky in the evening means there's clearing west of the clouds. Any inclement weather associated with the clouds is imminent on such a morning (hence 'warning') and departing on such an evening (hence 'delight').

 

[CarlosTheDJ]

Yes! I always thought/guessed/assumed it was summat to do with the sun illuminating the underside of clouds!

 

[GNC]

I see. Does that mean in the southern hemisphere the saying goes "Red sky at night, shepherd's warning, red sky in the morning, shepherd's delight"?

 

[EnolaGaia]

I see. Does that mean in the southern hemisphere the saying goes "Red sky at night, shepherd's warning, red sky in the morning, shepherd's delight"?

I don't recall ever seeing mention of whether (or how ...) any similar weather folklore arose in the southern hemisphere.

 

[rynner2]

Southern hemispere weather systems move mostly east to west as well, so the same sayings should apply as in the north.

 

[Spudrick68]

"Red sky at night get off my land".

 

[Swifty]

I see. Does that mean in the southern hemisphere the saying goes "Red sky at night, shepherd's warning, red sky in the morning, shepherd's delight"?

I don't recall ever seeing mention of whether (or how ...) any similar weather folklore arose in the southern hemisphere.

I haven't been able to find any red sky southern hemisphere folklore ... it'd be interesting to find out if and what they have instead.

 

[David Plankton]

I wonder why it's "shepherd's". Sheep are hard enough for all but the very worst of weather conditions.

Now, "sailor's delight" I would have thought was a more apt phrase of speech for this sea-faring nation, but it's probably a euphemism for something rude.

 

[Cherrybomb]

Sailor's delight is what I was told it was as a kid.

 

[Cochise]

Because the sheep don't care about bad weather, it doesn't mean the shepherd doesn't.

Quite apart from personal discomfort, sheep are harder to find and look after in a lashing rainstorm, especially on hill farms and the like.

 

[ramonmercado]

Because the sheep don't care about bad weather, it doesn't mean the shepherd doesn't.

Quite apart from personal discomfort, sheep are harder to find and look after in a lashing rainstorm, especially on hill farms and the like.

Yeah. I bet David Plankton is a Farmer Palmer type.

 

[Anome]

Sailor's delight is what I was told it was as a kid.

I've heard this, too. I seem to recall both versions, not entirely sure which was more common.

Of course, this was in Australia, where, for this kind of thing, we just inherited the English version. I don't think there's any particular change to the logic for the different hemispheres. I don't know of any indigenous equivalent.