Montana farmer-stockman. [volume], December 01, 1949, Image 1

About Montana farmer-stockman. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1947-1993

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
HœroaicAL
«
LNT* •• •
Dec. 1, 1949
■
• I
-v
| :
m !
■
L -
,s
••
9
te ? '•
£
"SS
v.
v; ■
-,
I
• :
■
Ä '
V.-';. •
v..'
xi
v
> ' .
v ;
»»■ÿri
'
■m
—TT. S. Weather Bureau, A, A. Lotham, Photo
OUR FOREFATHERS, noting that weath
er was always an important item to con
sider before doing their farming, fishing,
hunting, traveling, etc., over the centuries
began to acquire knowledge about weather
sequences, and signs that might indicate
what to expect next in the weather line.
In some of thè earliest writings known to
man, expressions of weather wisdom are
found, some of which are still popular and
useful A number of these weather
j s jjaS : s|
.
i
i
- ^
sayings, or local signs, have their basis in
accepted principles of meteorology. In other
words, these signs are sometimes good in
dicators when used by an experienced per
son.
Excellent Amateur Weathermen
In Montana and Wyoming there are sev
eral kinds of weather, all important to the
stockman or farmer, and it is a fact that a
great many ranchers are excellent amateur
weathermen. Nearly everyone has his fa
vorite weather signs. Each sign is usually
the result of some atmospheric phenomenon
involved in making some type of weather.
Too, some types of weather tend to pre
cede other types, such as thickening clouds
preceding rain, etc. During the 1949 grow
ing season, a great many ranchers watched
almost daily for signs of rain—rain needed
to keep crops growing.
Some of the popular signs of rain are the
basis for the following quotations:
S MONTANA AND NORTHERN WYOMING
— ü. S. Weather Bureau, R E. Carter, Photo
A ''Mackerel" sky (altocumulus clouds) such as
shown in the lower picture is often followed by a
thunderstorm (heavy cumulus or cumulonimbus
clouds with shower) as seen in the upper picture.
U
A mackerel sky, not 24 hours dry.
Mackerel clouds in sky, expect more wet
than dry."
The Zuni Indians are credited with,
When the clouds rise in terraces of white,
soon will the country of the corn priests be
pierced with the arrows of rain.
"Mackerel Sky"
A large share of the rain in Montana and
Wyoming falls during thunderstorms, often
preceded by the so-called "mackerel sky.
As the white clouds of the Zuni Indians
build vertically, we know that in summer
they more often than not either develop
into a "thunderhead," or are followed by
others that do.
-
u
•*
Both these cloud signs find their scien
tific basis in the fact that their presence
is not possible without moist air—air fre
quently moist enough in summer to pro
duce thunderstorms. The fact that suffi
cient moist air and heat to produce "thun
derheads" often occur together in Montana
or Wyoming in summer is an incidental
fact that makes these two cloud signs very
useful in the hands of an experienced per
son.
We know that the patches of "mackerel
sky illustrated in the picture at the lower
right on this page, when observed in the
morning, are often followed by a thunder
storm as shown in the upper illustration.
"Sounds" of Rain
Several thousand years ago, according to
the Old Testament, Elijah warned Ahab to
waste no time getting down from Mount