(TENNESSEE) Have you noticed cooler temperatures in the mornings and evenings, while also breathing-in cleaner smelling air? That's part of fall, and it officially arrived in the Volunteer State at 1:50AM (Central Daylight Time) Saturday morning (9/23/2023).
When you hear the season described as FALL EQUINOX, that's Latin for "equal night". However, that's not exactly accurate.
As the season moves deeper into fall, the temperatures not go down, but so does plant growth as well as people activities.
Along with autumn comes a fun forecast that WGNS has promoted for decades. The folklore winter forecast uses:
- The number of fogs in August signify the number of snows for this winter. We had reports of only 2 dense fogs in August, and that indicates not much snow locally this coming season.
- The color of wolly worm caterpillars shows how severe this winter will be...the lighter they are, the milder the winter. This year reports from across Rutherford County have been a few light colored and some with darker bands. This indicates a mixed winter. Not too rough and not too mild, just enough to know you had winter.
- Another winter predicter is when spiders spin larger than usual webs, the winter will be rougher. We have not had any local reports of larger than usual spider webs.
- Acorns falling from the trees. The more that fall, the more severe the winter will be. Sometimes Swap'n Shop has been full of invitations for the public to come and pickup all of the free acorns you want from someone's lawn. Not getting those reports for this year.
- When you see squirrels, birds and skunks growing fatter than usual, the winter will be harsher than usual. Nothing out of the ordinary with animals. Hmm, perhaps human pounds are UP. Wonder if we should count that? If we stick with our forefather's predictors, then we have another sign of a mild winter ahead for the mid-state.
- Here's on you can watchout for when you go camping and cook outside: if the smoke from the fire stays lower rather than rising, it's a sign of a harsh winter ahead. Let WGNS know what happens when you cook outside.
Based on data that you have furnished so far, this area's folklore winter forecast calls for a few snowfalls, but not many--and no significant ones. It's not going to be super cold, but the "bone chills" will come to Tennessee in spurts this winter.
Let's have some fun, save this FOLKLORE TENNESSEE WINTER FORECAST and come spring--compare it to what happened. We'll know if our forefathers might have known more than given credit.
