Sunday 20 August 2017

Weather Forecasting

Merominia - days of the month

This is a method of predicting the weather which goes way way back into antiquity.   The weather of the first 12 days of August is observed and noted in detail.  Each day represents one month of the coming year.





Wind means unsettled weather that month.
White slow moving clouds forecast rain
White clouds racing across the sky mean snow

and so on

Of course meteorolgists poo-poo the idea but farmers and country people who observe the sky and mother nature live by these predictions

However, there is a bit of an argument over which days of August should be watched.  Because this way of forecasting goes so far back into history there are many who argue that the days observed should be from the 14th to the 25th August.  In 1582 the modern world changed from the Julian calendar to the present day Gregorian calendar.  The Julian calendar is 13 days behind hence the days of August being watched should start from the 14th. 




So what do the 'merominia' say for this winter?

  The weather each day has to be watched closely for 24 hours.  For instance if it rains on the 18th August in the evening it means that the last days of December the weather will be unsettled.

Observations are still going on

Note Well - No work must be done while the days are being viewed. 
 A wood chopper's wood will rot if he cuts during August.  Clothes that are washed will fall apart.
Marriages should not take place
Women must not wash their hair at night or leave the house

More days of idleness for the Greeks!


15 comments:

  1. Weather forcasting is such a great way to pass the time. So many ways and so many wives tails
    Even those meteorologists with all their fancy equipment get it wrong
    Although my knee is always right. If it hurts. It rains!
    Yup. I'm that old lady in th village lol

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    1. And don't forget the ants!! We are supposed to have some rain tomorrow. Had ants in a dish of beans tonight.
      Wonder K hasn't been complaining about his knee!!

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    2. When your joints all start to ache
      Rainy weather is at stake

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  2. Ok let me see 7am in Greece in August, open patio doors cosy have coffee, 10am bit warn, put on slippers marble floors gets warm 12pm scortchio, 2pm bloody hot, snooze 4pm still hot hit air con,6pm still hot shower sit in sun, go for walk, sit outside to eat, 10 pm nicely cool and repeat!.

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    1. Cloudy and a few spots of rain! Maybe there will be snow in December....or maybe not

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  3. Grey n yuk here turning to Autmn!. How did that happen without Summer!.

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  4. We always used to have serious storms mid-August (for our village fete), but recently things have changed. Global warming maybe?

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    1. Something has changed but here summer is still hot amd hotter. Clouds and a few spots of rain today. No storms though.
      Still warm enough to swim in the pool?

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  5. Sounds like my childhood with predictions about the weather and my mother. She was big on ant activity and was in fact usually right. But the ants were only able to predict the weather to her for about week forward. Then she had to look for other ways or the return of the ants. The rest of the year it was how the cows were behaving, what the birds were doing, changes in the moon, and berries on the trees, when the blossom came in spring and so it went on.

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    1. Yes, they knew back then what was happening in nature. I hear people talking like that around here. So many sayings.
      The ants and the birds and the bees definitely know

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  6. raining here and grey skies. :(

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  7. Dogs eating grass, shiny rocks on the mountains, a cap of cloud on top of the mountain, when the houses across the bay seem really close.. These all indicate rain in Ireland. Oh the midges at night also ensure the rain will follow. Mizzle weather here today. We can't see the bay.

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    1. Haven't heard the one about dogs eating grass. I might just look up some of the greek sayings about weather. There are a lot but of course, you have to notice these things and most people nwadays are too busy to look at nature

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  8. Just saw a weather 'saying' dont know if it is greek but struck a note

    When the ass begins to bray
    Surely rain will come that day

    Drinking coffee outside this morning I said to the grandkids, 'that sounds like a donkey 'eeyoring' and we all heard it in the distance. Later got a few drops of rain. More forecast and change in the air

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    1. That definitely sounds like my mother's sort of weather forecasting!

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