Traditions and Knowledge
My husband and I have both been blessed to come from families that are close across generations. We both grew up knowing grandparents and great-grandparents. Because of this, we have gleaned much from our elders, both traditions and knowledge. One tradition involves the Twelve Days of Christmas. Observing the weather on these days helps us with weather prediction for garden planning in the new year.
Beginning on December 26th through January 6th, the traditional twelve days of Christmas, observation and notation of the day’s weather will leave you with a guide for the general weather of the coming year. If the day starts clear and warmer than normal but turns colder than average with cold precipitation (ice or snow) for the latter half, the weather for the corresponding month will follow the same general pattern. If your normal planting time would be the latter half of that month, you may be better off to delay a week or two to avoid a cold snap. Many older generations have been using this means of weather prediction for centuries.
Observing and Tracking
I have seen the record of daily observations noted on the calendar, on the days observed. While this is handy at the time of recording, it isn’t very usable throughout the year. I don’t keep old calendars around for long, at least not intentionally. *grin* I have a page I keep in our gardening binder just for this purpose. Doing the observing and tracking in the place I will use it just makes sense. The page lists the twelve days in the left column and the corresponding twelve months on the right. The middle spaces are for making your notes and recording what the weather did that day. You can download your own copy at the end of this post.
What exactly do I record? I note the day’s weather in generalities and comparison to the average for that day. I refer to the weather history on WeatherUnderground to find the daily averages — and to catch up because I invariably miss a day or two. I note how the temperature relates to the average and if there were unusual patterns (dropping temps throughout the day, etc.). I track the precipitation – especially the general time of day it occurred. We have had days that are dry, but stormed all night. That will reflect a dry beginning of the month and wet in the latter part. We also record cloudy vs overcast vs clear. Windiness is noted as mild, breezy or gusty. Anything of note to the days weather, we note it.
Truth or (False) Tradition
I’ll admit, I would see this weather tracking as one of those things that older people do, but didn’t have much faith in it. After tracking the weather for those days then the subsequent year, my opinion changed. This tradition originated with peoples in Europe and came to America with them. It has been practiced and passed down for generations. I have only lived in the midwest, a place where we experience four definite seasons. I would be very curious to hear from others where the weather patterns are less variable and more consistent from month to month. You know, places I would like to vacation but not live. What do you think? Is this means of weather prediction truth or false tradition?
Want to predict your weather for the upcoming year? Download this handy sheet to keep in your gardening binder. Finding this post later in the year? You can still find your weather from December 26th through January 6th to record to use for weather prediction for garden planning.
