Tools Of The Trade: Judging By The Sky

Growing up, we lived all over the country. If we’d been in one place for two or three years, you just knew any day now Dad would be home with the “Honey, we’re moving” speech. We had the good fortune, though, to usually live by a large body of water: the Pacific Ocean, the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico. So I remember watching the sky for clues to the weather because Dad drilled the old rhyme into us kids: “Red sky at night, sailor delight; red sky in the morning, sailor take warning.” My friends were always surprised that I knew ahead of time when we weren’t going to have to dress out for gym.

But red is not the only color with which the sky prognosticates the weather. For centuries, sailors have looked up and judged – often correctly – what was coming by the hints in the sky. Here is a list, by no means complete, of some of the possibilities from the great age of sail:

Bright yellow sky at sunset: wind
Dark, gloomy blue sky: high winds
Dark gray, oily looking clouds: wind
Dark red clouds: rain
Delicate, cotton candy clouds: good weather with light to moderate breezes
Gray sky in the morning: excellent sailing weather
Lavender-gray clouds: snow
Light, bright blue sky: fine weather
Orange or copper sky at sunset: storms with rain
Pale yellow sky at sunset: wet and humid
Red sky in the morning: bad weather
Rosy sky at sunset: good weather
Sickly green: wind, rain, possible hurricane or typhoon
Tawny or coppery clouds: wind
The softer the appearance of the clouds: chance of being becalmed
The harder the appearance of the clouds: stiff winds and fine sailing

Check the sky where you are today, mates. Let me know how the old seafaring wisdom stacked up in your area.

Header: Good weather with light to moderate breezes in Isle de la Tortue