When the sun is setting and the sky in the west presents a color of whitish yellow or radiates out at a great height, rain can be looked for during the next night or day. Gaudy colors where clouds are definitely outlined indicate probably wind and rain.
Before setting, if the sun looks diffused and the color is a brilliant white, this forecasts storms. When the sun sets in a slightly purple sky and the color at the zenith is a bright blue, this indicates fine weather. A red sunset generally indicates good weather, whereas a ruddy or misty sunset indicates bad weather.
WHAT THE SKY INDICATES
When you see a dark, dismal sky, look for rain. A sky with a greenish hue, described as a sickly-looking sky, is an indication of both rain and wind. A sailor’s sky, which is red in the morning, means either wind or rain, and it makes no difference if the sky is cloudy or clear, if at sunset it is rosy, it indicates fine weather. A gray sky in the morning indicates fine weather. When daylight is first seen above a bank of clouds, look for a good stiff wind. Wind is indicated if we have a bright yellow sky in the morning, and rain is indicated if the sky takes on a pale yellow hue. If the sky turns bright yellow late in the afternoon, it generally indicates that rain is near at hand. Unusual colorations, particularly of deep intense color, indicate wind or rain.
The following appearances indicate a change in the weather: When the atmosphere is clear and crystalline and the stars appear extremely bright; when the background of the horizon seems to be pinned up against the foreground; when the clouds form into delicate white film-like mist way up overhead. (Fig. [33].)
WHAT FOG AND DEW INDICATE
Locality has considerable to do with what the fog indicates. As a rule, where you have fog, there is not much wind, and as a result it does not indicate stormy weather, unless the fog becomes heavy with overhanging sky, then it is apt to turn into rain, but a heavy fog with a light sky indicates fine weather. A fog in the morning generally indicates a fair day. A rising fog is a good indication for fair weather.
Courtesy Julien Friez & Sons, Baltimore, Md.
Fig. 34
