Will It Be A Snowy Winter?

image_pdf
Persimmon seed examples in the Farmers’ Almanac.

Autumn just arrived officially last week. Yet it came across my facebook feed a few weeks ago. A picture of a cross section of a persimmon seed with the shape of a spoon evident and the caption: Get ready for some snow! I was intrigued and read more. Apparently if you cut open a persimmon seed grown in your area and find the spoon shape, it predicts a snowy Winter; a fork shape means a mild Winter; and a knife indicates cold, cutting winds are expected.

Wondering about the validity of this method and how widespread the belief in it may or may not be, I decided to read the comments and found a bunch more “informal” predictors of a very snowy Winter. They included:

  • Wasps and hornet nests located higher up than previous years.
  • Cows’ ears have lots of hair inside.
  • Berries are bigger than usual.
  • Numerous webs in trees.
  • Potatoes are deep and nestled together.
  • Watch the corn. If the shucks stay up tight on the ear, it’s going to be a stormy Winter.Snowy Winter If the ears can be seen, expect a mild Winter.
  • If squirrels take nuts up trees, expect a Stormy Winter. If they bury nuts in the ground, Winter will be mild.
  • The amount of foggy days in August are followed by someone between Nashville and Knoxville, TN. Heavy fog days equal the number of heavier snow days. Light fog days equal the number of lighter snows days.
  • The greater the amount of black on woolly bear caterpillars, the more severe the Winter. If the rusty band is wide, it will be a mild Winter.

Does your area have a Winter weather predictor not mentioned here? Let us know in the comments!

Original facebook post on August 28 on Milton NH Community News page.