Weather proverbs

There are numerous weather proverbs which could of been passed down from the Vikings as they studied the skies prior and during their journeys. Here are a few weather proverbs that are associated with sailing and has given many a sailor young and old an advantage at sea if heeded:

Red sky at night sailors delight, red sky in the morning sailors take.

The meteorological reasoning behind this is: Red sky at night means that the high pressure is to the west. High pressure is associated with fair skies, lighter winds and generally good sailing weather. Red sky in the morning means that high pressure is now to the east which means that lower pressure is moving in. Low pressure is associated with cloudy skies, stronger winds which build seas and poor sailing weather.

Ring around the moon, rain is coming soon.

A ring seems to form around the moon as cirrus clouds which proceed a cold front move in. The moon is still visible but since cirrus clouds are composed of ice crystals, the light from the moon is refracted through them and give the illusion of there being a ring around the moon. The cirrus clouds as mentioned precede the low level clouds of the cold front, there is where the stormy weather lies.