THE WEATHER Some signs of the impending weather, as read and forecast by the shepherds and ploughmen of Suffolk, with comments thereon, in the West Suffolk dialect.
1. We-er gorn ter git sum wet, bor, oi sed owd Nor's ark wus arbout earlie on ar-smornin. The " Noah's Ark " is a formation of streaky clouds Cirrostratus, which in outline is the shape of a ship thus stretching across the sky from north to south, rarely from east to west, often the centre is streaked with Cirro-stratus, it is then difficult to discern. When rain is imminent, formations of lower and darker clouds Strato-cumulus can be seen approaching. This sign and forecast is accurate, and little or much rain will fall within the following twenty-four hours. The beginnings of this Observation was taught me by my grandfather around the years 1910 to 1913. 2. We might git ar-drop, daint yer sea they owd ship (sheep) ar-floating arbout, they arnt ar-good sign, bor. Boats, sometimes called sheep, are puffs of white cloud, Cumulus, moving across the sky usually from west to east at a fairly low altitude. These puffs sometimes appear to impinge upon slower moving or cross currents of air, the puffs which follow crowding together, forming a widespread cloud, Nimbo-stratus. On occasions the puffs of Cumulus will disintegrate and disappear. This sign and forecast is of little or much rain. Not so accurate as the Noah's Ark. 3. We-er gorn ter git-ar half tidy day oi reckun, hefty owd dagg ar-smornin. " Hefty Dagg ", a heavy dew, is the sign and forecast for a fine sunny day, often h o t ; it is sometimes called a wet frost or water frost on account of the conspicuous tracks made by the passing of man or animals over grass-land. 4. Oi thowt we shud git sum afor long, we-er had free-er they owd whiten's. " Whiten's " are hoar frosts or white frosts, and if three of these occur on successive mornings it is the sign and forecast for rain, a fairly accurate forecast. 5. We-11 git-ar drop-er tew afor ther owd day iss out, owd phoebe wus's suffen waterie.
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WEATHER
A "Waterie Sun ", the sun shines very bright and appears to be shining through water, this is probably due to the moisture content of the upper air. This sign and forecast is for rain and is fairly accurate. 6. Half-tidy owd burrah round owd moon, oi rechon we sharnt git nun thow. The " Burrow around Moon ", the halo caused by a thin sheet of whitish cloud 'Cirro-stratus' and the moon's reflections. This sign and forecast is widely known by the following lines :— Near burrow far rain. Far burrow near rain. The accuracy of this readers will be better able to judge from their own observations. The following is taken from " On the Agriculture of Suffolk " by W. and H. Raynbird. Longman and Co., London, 1849. "Noah's Ark Clouds in an arkite form, or like a large boat turned bottom upwards appearing when the sky is for most part clear, and sometimes spread extensively on the heavens. It is believed among us that such a cloud immediately preceded and prefigured the deluge, and we still confidently expect rain on its appearance." Names of cloud formations are taken from. " Climate and the British Scene ", by Gordon Manly. New Naturalist Series. Collins, London, 1952. HENRY J. BOREHAM, February, 1955.
WEATHER
REPORT
JULY, 1954—MARCH, 1955 JULY, 1954.—Extremely unsettled and wet weather obtained practically throughout the month. There were onlyfivedays on which rain did not fall. The number of days with measurable rain was 19. Perhaps the most outstanding features were the mean temperature and the sunshine total. The former was 58.9° (av. 61.3°) the lowest since 1922 and the latter was 123.5 hours (av. 198) the lowest since 1919. An interesting point was, that at the observing hour, on every day the wind was from a direction between S. and N.W. The rainfall total was 2.75 ins. (av. 2.35).