Just about everyone is wondering what the weather will bring in the coming seasons. Modern forecasters are following the ancient practice of attempting to predict the future. You might want to try this folk prediction. The tale suggests that the wind direction on each of the days around the equinox will predict the rainfall for the following seasons. Winds from the southeast will bring dry weather, winds from the southwest will bring wet weather. The closer the winds are to the north, the closer the weather will be to normal. The first day predicts spring conditions, second day predicts summer, and the third day predicts fall. Thus southwest winds on the 20th of March would predict a wet spring; north winds on the 21st would predict a normal summer. Southeast winds on the 22nd would predict a dry fall. Does it work? I don’t know, but it could be fun to track.
Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu