01 January 2011

JANUARY

Astronomy for January: Wolf Moon on January 19.

Meteor Showers
Quadrantid  (December 28 through January 7; peak on January 4)

Weather for January:
Based on the 12 Days of Christmas:  started out clear and sunny, then overcast and chilly the rest of the day.
Based on the first 12 days of January:  Sunny with high, thin clouds, and very warm.
Based on the Ember Days: clear, bright, sunny, and very chilly.
The weather of the last Sunday of the month indicates the weather for next month: SNOW! And not just a little snow.  Nope, a blizzard today, with a foot of SNOW.

Weather Lore:
If the old year goes out like a lion, the new year will come in like a lamb.
A summerish January, a winterish Spring.
A warm January, a cold May.
Fog in January brings a wet Spring.
Just as many foggy mornings as there are in January, there will be just so many frosty mornings in May and on the same days of the month.
When there is thunder in the winter time, very cold weather may be expected.
The number of times it thunders in January indicates the number of frosts there will be in April.
The first three days of January rule the coming three months.
If the wind blows from the south on the first day of January, it will blow from the south every day of that month.
As the weather is on January 2, so will it be in September.
It will be the same weather for nine weeks as it is on the ninth day after Christmas.
If the sun shines on January 12, there will be much wind.
The last twelve days of January rule the weather for the whole year.
If the sun shines brightly on Vincent's Day, we shall have more wine than water (i.e. optimum growing conditions for the vineyards this year).
If the sun shines on January 22, there shall be much wind.
If Paul's Day be fair and clear, it doth betide a happy year.

Of course, the one wise weather saying that makes the most sense is the one that I like the least, since, by the first of January, I am ready for Spring... but, as the saying goes,

"As the day lengthens, so the cold strengthens"

and, at least in New England, it is true - sadly, never-endingly, cabin-feverishly TRUE.