Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
February 8, 2007 issue
Garreth the Groundhog Predicts Early Spring
Story by Celeste von Mangan
Rodent of renown, Garreth the groundhog, failed to see his shadow on the morning of February 2. While there was no crowd of onlookers, no fireworks and definitely no Pennsylvania polka, Garreth’s prediction was right up there with the best of them. Garreth, High Country Press’s mammalian meteorologist, predicts an early spring for 2007, along with Punxsutawney Phil, Staten Island Chuck and Sir Walter Wally of Genesis Wildlife Sanctuary. Since 1886, Punxsutawney Phil has failed to see his shadow only fourteen times. Last year, Garreth failed to see his shadow, though Phil did see his shadow for 2006.
The groundhog is not the only non-human weather indicator. The insect and animal kingdoms have a number of weather forecasters. Here are some of them.
Woolly Worm: This caterpillar is used to predict the severity of a winter and the length. The worms feature black and brown banding on their backs, and folklore states that more black than brown indicates a harsh, cold winter, while more brown than black points to a soft winter.
Geese: They fly higher in fair weather versus foul. Dense, high-pressure conditions make it easier for birds to fly, so geese fly high in high-pressure systems associated with fair weather.
Crickets: Crickets can provide temperature estimates because they chirp more frequently in warm weather. To calculate the temperature from a cricket, count the chirps for 15 seconds and add 39 to calculate a temperature in degrees Fahrenheit.
Cows: A forecaster of bad weather, if a cow stands tail to the west, the weather is considered to be fair; if a cow grazes or stands with its tail to the east, the weather is going to turn sour. In the Northern Hemisphere, a west wind can indicate fair weather, while an east wind indicates rain.