How did we ever make it from one day to the next before the weather channel was invented? How was it possible that we could survive without our favorite weatherman telling us what the weather was going to be like? Did it make any difference when the long-range predictions warned us that we would experience 12 major hurricanes this past summer; yet there was only one, and it did not amount to much more than a strong breeze for those living along the east coast.

Long before weathermen learned how to hypnotize us with seven-day weather forecasts, our forefathers learned to rely on natural occurrences and signs to figure out what the weather was going to be. With a little experience, a little superstition, a little common sense, and a lot of firsthand observation, our elders were able to predict the weather, and they were just about as accurate as the National Weather Serviced is today.

Man has looked to nature for forecasts of the coming seasons for as long as he has walked this earth. Your parents, grandparents, or others may have passed these observations down to you, but if not, here is a small sample.

The winter will be severe if the black bands on the woolly bear caterpillars are wider than the central brown band, if there are a lot of spiders in the house, if grasses are loaded with seeds as fall approaches, and if the coats of animals are heavier than normal. If the squirrels' tails are bushier than normal, if leaves fall late in the year, if apple skins and onion skins are thick and tough, if wasps build their nests up high, and if pumpkin and squash vines are longer than normal, then we will have a harsh winter.

As hard as I try, I cannot figure out the reasoning behind this little rhyme, "If Christmas Day on a Thursday be, a hardy winter ye shall see." I knew it! I just knew you would stop to peep at the calendar, and sure enough, this year Christmas Day will be on Thursday. Get ready; we might have a white Christmas after all!

I share all this to call your attention to the large amount of berries and nuts on many of the trees and shrubs around our houses and in the forest. A reliable and easy-to-understand observation of our elders was if there is a heavy nut crop and if the bushes are full of berries, a hard winter is on the way. It is easy to understand that if the winter is going to be especially harsh, then birds and wild animals will need a plentiful supply of nuts and berries in order to survive through the winter.

It has been a long time since I have seen pyracanthas, nandinas, holly trees, and dogwood trees with as many berries as they have this year. They are beautiful, and anyone wishing to use native plant materials for Christmas decorations will not have to look very hard to find absolutely beautiful stems just loaded with berries. We have an unusually large pecan crop this year, and even the oak trees are loaded with acorns.

Does all this mean that the winter this year will be much more severe than normal? We have seen much more cold weather before Christmas this year than we have seen in many years. The landscape has been covered with frost most mornings since mid-October, and we have seen several very heavy frosts.

We have already seen snow two different times, and it is just the first of December. I must admit that you had to be in the right place at the right time, and you had to be looking toward a dark background in order to see the tiny flakes. But it was snowing, at least for a few minutes.

Does all this mean we are going to have a severe winter this year? I am not making any predictions. I am just going to watch all the signs around me and wait to see what the coming weeks will bring.

If it does turn out to be a severe winter with lots of snow, I can just say, "Look, I told you so!" But if not, I can say, "It was all just an old wives' tale!"

I don't know if the winter will be severe or not, but I do know it is wise to be prepared. Don't wait until the snow is two feet deep, the wind is blowing 30 miles per hour, the sun has gone down, and it is below freezing to start wrapping water lines. If you ever wondered what miserable is like, you will soon find out.

Think about your pets and other animals that stay outside. They can deal with cold weather if they have plenty of bedding, can protect themselves from the wind, and have plenty of fresh, unfrozen water to drink. For their sake, take care of this before it gets real cold.

Take a few minutes to winterize your house by stopping up the cracks around windows and doors. Wrap outside water lines. Remove water from water-cooled engines, or make sure they have a sufficient amount of antifreeze. If you have a fireplace, stock up on firewood.

Winter will officially be here in less than two weeks. Then we will have to deal with whatever comes our way for the next 90 days. As soon as the Christmas holidays are over, I invite you to join me in looking forward to spring.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 01/18/09