20 March 2012

20 March - Vernal Equinox


Astronomically speaking, winter turned into spring at 1:14 this morning, at least for those in the northern hemisphere.  The days are getting warmer and longer, the sun is moving higher in the sky.  We are out in our yards cleaning up the debris left by winter and planning this year's gardens.  The last couple of days have been warm enough that I can open the windows and let some 'real air' circulate throughout the house.

And soon, the voice of the mower will be heard in the land...

If the weather is agreeable and you have a burn permit, why not gather all the fallen branches, dead wood, and garden clearings into a pile and have a vernal bonfire (the ashes can be worked back into your garden again).

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Weather particular to the Equinox –  

As the wind and weather at the equinoxes, so they will be for the next three months.

If the wind is northeast or north at noon of the equinox, there will be no fine weather until midsummer. If the wind is southwest or south, there will be fine weather until midsummer.

A southwest wind at the equinox indicates rain.

If the wind is northeast at the equinox, it will be a good season for wheat and bad for other kinds of grain.  If south or south-west, it will be a good season for other kinds of grain and bad for wheat.

The vernal equinoctial gales are stronger than the autumnal.

Easterly gales without rain during the spring equinox foretell a dry summer.

If a storm comes from the east today (or in the next week), the summer will be dry; if from the southwest, the summer will be wet.

As the equinoctial storms clear, so will all storms clear for the six months.

If near the time of the equinox it blows in the day, it generally hushes towards evening.

The first three days of any season rule the weather for that season.


Weather particular to Spring –

A mild winter, a dry spring.
A severe winter, a rainy spring.

Lightning in spring indicates a good fruit year.

Thunder in spring,
cold will bring.

Listen for the direction of the first thunder in spring.  If it is from the south, it indicates a wet season; if from the north, a dry season.

The thunderstorms of the season will come from the same quarter as the first one of the season.

Early thunder, early spring.

A rainy spring means a serene summer.

A dry spring, a rainy summer.
A wet, spring, a dry harvest.

A rainbow in spring indicates fair weather for twenty-four hours.

Cold weather in spring makes the ass shiver [yes indeed. And the rest of me as well]

A late spring
Is a great blessing  
 (because plants that come up too early in the season have every opportunity of being killed by frost or cold weather)
                       Also
A late spring never deceives 
(doesn’t tempt you to put away your winter woolies or set out the tomato plants, only to see them fall victim to the last snow of the season – in April)

If the spring is cold and wet, then the autumn will be hot and dry.

When the dandelions bloom early in spring, there will be a short season.  When they bloom late, expect a dry summer.

Spring has not arrived till you can set your foot on twelve daisies [will twelve dandelions do?]