POPULAR WEATHER GUIDES.

Waikato Independent, Volume XXII, Issue 2574, 20 July 1922, Page 7

POPULAR WEATHER GUIDES.

They were first heard of by the writer in London, and are —that a wet Friday means a wet Sunday, and that a cock crowing before daylight is a sign of coming rain. Why should a wet Friday mean a wet Sunday ? The most likely explanation is that if a certain district happens to be under the influence of an unsettled weather area—a cyclone or depression—on a Friday, it may still be more or less under its influence on the following Sunday. Another explanation may be that, as these wet weather areas occur in a series, as a rule, one which brought the rain on the Friday might reasonably be succeeded by another bringing more rain on the Sunday. No one would suggest that every wet Friday is followed by a wet Sunday, but the sequel appears to have happened often enough to warrant its crystallisation into a popular proverb.. Then why should the circumstance of a cock crowing before daybreak indicate rain ? It might be explained in this way—that as the rain approached there would be an increasing dampness in the air. This would cause the fowl a certain amount of discomfort, and tend to make it wakeful and restless. Crowing at an unreasonable, hour might well result from this wakefulness. It is certain that as the air grows damper just before rain it has an irritating effect, upon many feathered creatures, as well as upon many animals, as shown by the noise they make at the time.