The Skywatchers

By Eilene Lyon

Last month I captured a fleeting phenomenon in the sky south of my house, seen in the header image: altostratus undulatus clouds. Trigger daily dose of awe!

While I adore observing unusual cloud formations—mammatus, lenticular, mackerel—for our ancestors, watching the sky served an important function: weather forecasting. Whereas we now have weather satellites, radar, and other high-tech tools, with continually updated forecasts right on our phones, the only thing they had were farmers’ almanacs and, maybe, barometers.

Unfortunately for the pre-technology set, even diligent skywatching could only help them predict the weather over the next twelve-to-twenty-four hours. But that might be enough to help them prepare for a coming storm, or anticipate continuing good weather for planting.

I’ve read in my collection of gold rush letters that “rheumatism” problems cropped up regularly. It’s true that lower barometric pressure and approaching storms can be felt in our joints. There are many weather-related sayings that were commonly bandied about in earlier days. Some have merit.

The adages “Red skies at night, sailors delight” and “Red skies in morning, sailors take warning” both relate to the position of clouds and the fact that many weather systems move west to east. However, the sayings are much more useful for those at sea, much less so if you’re in central Kansas.

The almanacs contained many such rules of thumb (or old wives’ tales). You can read about some on the “Old Farmer’s Almanac” online. This long-standing publication is still going strong. A Maine-based competitor, 208-year-old “Farmers’ Almanac,” recently announced that their 2026 edition will be the last.

We don’t usually need to rely on skywatching or weather sayings today. But if you’re backpacking in wilderness, it’s still a useful skill to have. You can find some excellent explanations about reading the clouds in the source materials given below.

Living where I do, extreme weather events are rare. Sunny days are plentiful and precipitation events manageable. However, there was a nearby flooding event this fall at Vallecito Creek, and heavy hail storms have become more common in recent years. Usually we have good warning systems in place.

In any event, I will continue to watch for unusual cloud formations…just because.

Feature image: Altostratus undulatus clouds are caused by wind shear, the wind moving in different directions at different altitudes. Alto means mid-level clouds, stratus means layered (usually spreading across the sky). 

Sources:

https://www.backpacker.com/skills/beginner-skills/backcountry-weather-forecasting/

https://mountwashington.org/using-clouds-to-predict-the-future/

https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/628-observing-clouds-and-weather

https://www.almanac.com/weather-lore-and-proverb-calendar