Grandma's Weather Lore

I've looked at books about weather lore, how cattle turn their backs to the wind, "red at night, sailor's delight...", those kinds of weather foretelling.  But Grandma taught me one that I've never seen anywhere else.

Farmers have always had to know how the weather and the climate would effect their crops.  If you cut hay before a rainstorm, it will rot on the ground.  You have to have several dry days in a row and get the hay under cover or stacked before a rain.  Grandma was a farmer's wife, so she was in on all the secrets.

Here's the one I've never seen anywhere else.  On your calendar, mark the first thunderstorm after spring starts.  If you live on a line even with or near the southern border of Wisconsin, the first frost will be 6 months after that date.  I tried it for 13 years and Grandma wasn't off more than 3 or 4 days in that whole time.  I'm learning the spacing for southern Indiana.  Last year, it came out to 6 1/2 months.  If it comes out fairly consistent after a few more tries, I'll have the local formula.

You might try the experiment for yourself.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi