General Weather/Earth Sciences Topics > Weather Folklore

The Moon and Some Weather Sayings

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BKS97:
The moon catches our eye and never loses its charm, so it’s not hard to understand why it’s the source of many interesting bits of weather folklore. Here’s a quick look at some of them.

In these sayings, the moon tells of coming weather:

 Clear moon, frost soon. 
 The moon, her face be red, of water she speaks.
 Pale moon rains, red moon blows; white moon neither rains nor blows.
 If the moon rises clear, expect fair weather.
 When the moon rises red and appears large, with clouds, expect rain in twelve hours.
 When the moon is darkest near the horizon, expect rain.

A circle, ring or halo around the moon promises rain, snow or storm:

 If a circle forms 'round the moon, 'twill rain soon.
 Halo around the sun or moon, rain or snow soon.
 Ring around the moon?  Rain real soon.
 Ring around the sun, time for fun. Ring around the moon, storm coming  soon.

The tips or ‘horns” of the crescent moon, pointed up or down, also spoke of rain – or none.   When pointed up, the crescent “holds” water, meaning no rain; and when the horns are pointed down, rain will soon fall.

Rain in three days when the horns of the moon point down. 
If the moon lies on her back, she sucks the wet into her lap.
Tipped moon wet; cupped moon dry.

When conditions are such that the dark of the new moon can be seen, it supposedly foretells good weather:

If the new moon holds the old moon in her lap, fair weather.

Finally, there’s this one:

The moon and the weather may change together, but change of the moon does not change the weather.

Some sayings are based on science, and some are not, of course. But they are fun to consider and provide a nice sidelight to our hobby.  I include a saying on my main website each day.

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