The true northerner., 1886-05-06
WEATHER SIGNS.
whioh May Be Observed by Early Rising
students of Nature.

which May Be Observed by Early Rising
students of Nature.
Tho man who is out of doors mt sun
rise can form pretty accurate opinion
of what the day will be. If just before
sunrise the especially in the west
lis suffused with red, rain generally
| follows in the course of the day. In
winter, often snow. If, however, IL be
frosty weather, the downfall is some
| times delayed On the other hand, if
] the sky be q dull gray, and the sun rises
clear, gradually dispensing the vapors,
| it will be fine. If he retires behind the
c.ouds, and there are reddish streaks
about, IL will rain. Should the sun,
later in the day, shine through gray
watery haze, it will probably be rainy
night. 1he sunset is very unreliable.
Often n beautiful sunset will be fol-
lowed by bad day. After rainy day,
suddenly at sunset, in the far west,
will appear magnificent steak OF
crimson mot copper color)-this gen.
orally loretells fine day. A tinted halo
around the sun at setting occurs in
long continued rainy weather. A halo
around the moon, especially ii some
distance from it, is n sure indication OF
downfall at hand. Rainbows are unre-
liable except they occur i'll the morn.
ing, when rain may be expected Sun
dogs, and fragments of prismatIc colors
during the day, show continued un-
settled weather. A dazzling metallic
luster on foliage during cloudless day
in summer precedes a change.
Huge piled-up masses of white cloud
in blue sky, during winter, indicate
snow or hail. If small, dark clouds
float below the upper ones, moving
faster than they, rain will follow, as it
will if, in the morning, low-hanging.
pale-brown, smoke-like clouds are float
ing about Red-tinged clouds, high
up, at evening, are followed by wind,
occasionally by rain. Mists at evening
over low-lying ground, or near river,
precede fine and warm days. If a mist
In the morning clears off as the sun
gets higher it viii be fine; but if it set
ties down again after lifting a little,
rain is at hand. No dew in the morn
ing is mostly followed by rain; and q
heavy dew in the evening by fine day.
Rain follows two or three consecutive
hoar frosts. A shower of hail in the
| daytime is usually followed by frost at
, night. If, after rain, drops of water
still hang on the branches and twigs,
and to window frames, the rain will re-
turn; but if they fall, and the wood
work dries, fine weather is at hand.
Stones turn damp before wet; at the
same time it must be observed that the
fact of their doing so does not invaria-
bly, indicate rain, for they will do so
occasionally before heat Smoke de-
scendng heavily to the ground is sign
of very doubtful weather. Objects at
great distances, which are generally in
distinctly seen, or even not seen at all,
sonnet mes loom out clear and distinct.
When this happens bad weather
or change of wind ensues. A we'll
known instance of this is the Isle
of Wight. as seen from Southsea. If
the opposite shore is plainly seen, there
is rain about. If, at night, after being
blown out and exposed to the outer air,
the wick of a candle continues to smol-
der long time, the next day will be
fine. Green-colored sky betokens un-
settled, bad weather, often long con-
tinued. If, on fine day, the dust sud-
denly rise in a revolving, spiral column,
rain is near.
The bowling of the wind indicates, in
most houses, but not invariably, that
downfall is near. In some houses,
owing to their construction, the wind
always means. Wherever the wind is
at time of the vernal equinox March II
and thereaboutl that will he the pre-
vailing wind throughout the next three
months. If the stars appear unusually
numerous and the "milky way" very
clearly defined, with the surrounding
sky dark, or if there is misty appear
ance over the stars, rain is coming:
while if there be but few stars, and
those very bright and sparkling, in a
pale, steely sky, it will be fine. Swine,
before rain, are unusually noisy and
restless. Swallows in fine weather will
fly high, and at the approach of rain
close to the ground; but the latter does
not apply it the day is cold, in which
case they hawk very low. Common
sparrows washing vigorously in puddle
on the rold, or at the edge of running
water, is a sure sign of rain. A baker
who kept a parrot in the dry atmos-
phere of the bake offices noticed that
few hours before rain the bird took an
imaginary bath, futtering as if splash
ing water, and preening her feathers
CGsSelPs Family Magazine.