Red Sky at Night
Bonfire in the Sky by Swishphotos
You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase “Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight.” But what is it these sailors know that you and I don’t? I very rarely take warning for any kind of sky color, except deep, dark grey with flashes of lightening.
It turns out that red skies are caused when dry, high-pressure systems stir up dust in the atmosphere, giving the sunlight a reddish glow. Since weather systems tend to travel from west to east, and the sun sets in the west, a red sky at night means this high-pressure system is heading your way. A red sky in the morning means that high-pressure system has already passed to the east, and low pressure may be on the way, bringing rain and foul weather.
Accurate? Who knows? Fascinating? Yes.
You can learn more ways to forecast the weather using just your five senses using this handy infographic put together by a marine electronics company called Marisys. They cover the meaning behind various cloud shapes, what a ring around the moon indicates, and how you can watch animal behaviors to determine when a storm is approaching.
Did you know that birds tend to congregate in large numbers on the power lines when the pressure is dropping? Neither did I, but it makes sense.
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Dan – good commentary. Based on this write up I plan to stop watching the local weather guy and, instead, I’ll get a flock of birds (including sea gulls), a turtle, a cat, a herd of cows and an ant farm. Even if my weather predictions are a little off..it sounds like much more fun!