People have been obsessed with trying to figure out what the weather will do the following day ever since they walked out of a cave and thought it was a bit chilly!  There is nothing that can be done about the weather.  It cannot be changed or bribed, persuaded to go away or come hither even though people the world over have tried to do just that.  Thanks to the preoccupation with the weather a huge amount of folklore, mythology and superstition has been amassed about the weather and the seasons. 

Animals play a big part in weather and season superstitions and the most famous example of this would have to be Groundhog Day.  When the woodchuck exits his burrow if he sees his shadow he goes back to sleep knowing that there will be six more weeks of winter.  This day is either observed on February the 2nd or the 14th dependent on where you are in the country.  This has become such a famous event that it is even covered by mainstream media every year. 

Other animals play a part when it comes to predicting weather.  It is a well known superstitious fact that if cows lay down then rain is on the way.  Other well known animal superstitions to do with rain include bees flying back to the hive and not coming out, horses becoming agitated and stamping on the ground.  Plants can also help with this as the pine cone shows.  If a pine cone is open then wet weather is surely around but if it is closed then it will be dry.  Finally for rain superstitions there is an English saying that goes, “If the oak flowers before the ash, we shall have a splash. If the ash flowers before the oak, we shall have a soak”.

Pigs play a part in superstitions regarding snow.  If wild hogs being to make beds in the bottom of a creek it is a sure sign of snow.  Likewise if a pig squeals in winter it will begin to snow the following day.  Squirrels also help when it comes to snows as the following rhyme shows, “Squirrels gathering nuts in a flurry will cause snow to gather in a hurry”.   August seems to be linked with winter when it comes to folklore.  If the first week in august is warm then the winter will be long and snowy or you can count the number of foggy days in august and this will give you the number of snowy days coming in the winter. 

The spider can tell us if it is going to be sunny.  If a spider spins its web before noon, then sunny weather will follow.   In Russia if the spider builds new webs or mends a broken one this is a sure sign of good weather.  Likewise if spider webs appear to move day by day it is a sure sign of good weather. 

A common English superstition is about St. Swithin’s day.  This day is celebrated on the 15th of July and is often used as a barometer for the following forty days.  “St. Swithin’s day, if thou does rain, for forty days it will remain. St. Swithin’s Day, if thou be fair, for forty days ’twill rain ne mair”.  It should be noted though that forty days of solid rain is very rare even in England. 

These are just some of the weather and seasonal superstitions that can be found.  Every region on the planet will have its own little set of superstitions and folklore and a trip to the local museum can unearth some of these.   It is a fascinating and intriguing subject and like all superstitions they have a grain of truth in them.