Wherever you are from and wherever you will travel to, proverbs and sayings play a large role in cultures and languages all over the world. One of the major sources for proverbs in many languages is found in the maritime world. In addition to describing the ocean and daily life situations on the vessel, the weather has proven itself to be a popular topic for sayings that continue to be known and used today. This article explores a selection of weather-related proverbs and sayings originating from the maritime world, as well as the processes behind the phenomena they describe.
“Red in the morning, sailor take warning!” - “Red at night, sailors delight!”
(Or in Dutch: ‘Morgenrood, water in de sloot, avondrood, mooi weer aan boord.’)
Probably the best-known proverb that combines the maritime and meteorological world, inspired by beautifully coloured skies appearing during sunrise and sunset. These skies have been thought of as a prelude for the weather the next day. A red sunrise was believed to indicate bad weather ahead, while a red sunset suggested an improvement in conditions. The reasoning behind this is that red skies indicate the presence of moisture in the air. The basis for this saying is that most weather systems over the northern hemisphere move from west to east. At sunrise, the sun (rising in the east) shines at clouds that are positioned to your west, with clear skies present at your east. Due to the movement of the weather systems over the northern hemisphere, it means that the clear skies have passed, and the clouds are heading towards you, possibly leading to bad weather later during the day. At sunset, the opposite is happening: the sun is positioned in the west, shining at clouds in the east and indicating the bad weather has already passed by and better conditions can be expected.
Our colleague Raymond Klaassen of Weerplaza dived deeper in this saying (the Dutch version) in an earlier article, and found out that these sayings are unfortunately not necessarily true.
“Rainbow to windward, foul fall the day - Rainbow to leeward, rain runs away.”
Based on equal principles as the previous saying, this one uses a different weather phenomenon to describe the expected weather in the near future. First of all, a rainbow obviously indicates the presence of precipitation, but the rainbow’s relative location may offer further insights. If the rainbow is found at the windward side, it suggests that the rain is moving toward you and foul weather is on the way. Conversely, a rainbow on the leeward side typically signals that the rain has passed, and better weather is expected (though it remains always possible that more bad weather is approaching).
“When the clouds are higher, your decks will be drier.”
As you might agree, no two clouds are exactly alike. They vary in size, shape, colour, and other characteristics. Within meteorology, different cloud types and denominations are used to distinguish between clouds. The names for these cloud types are derived from two specific characteristics: the cloud shape and the height at which the cloud develops. Clouds with a high cloud base, the level at which the bottom of the cloud is formed, are less likely to produce precipitation and thus indicate dry conditions and therefore dry decks for sailors. Or as said with another saying: The higher the clouds, the better the weather. However, as we see with the next saying, this is only the matter for a limited amount of time ahead.
“Mackerel sky and mares' tails make lofty ships to carry low sails.”
Mackerel and mare do not refer to fish and horses, but high cloud types as altocumulus and cirrus clouds, that with a bit of imagination can be described as such. The presence of these clouds may indicate that bad weather is ahead at larger timescales. While these clouds don't typically bring precipitation, they can signal the presence of low-pressure systems and worsening conditions at a later moment. To be prepared for the approaching weather, sailors would typically already lower their sails.
“Clear Moon, Frost Soon.” Or “Cold is the night where the stars shine bright.”
Obviously, the former saying is only applicable to locations where the temperature at night may drop below freezing point. But with an extended cloud cover at night, the radiation that the earth surface emits, being equal to energy and thus heat, gets (partially) trapped in the lower parts of the atmosphere, limiting night cooling. During clear nights however, the heat that is lost at the surface will escape out of the atmosphere and temperatures will drop to a larger extent, reaching freezing point at an earlier stage.
“A backing wind says storms are nigh, but a veering wind will clear the sky.”
Backing and veering wind are terms that describe the change in wind direction at a certain point. A backing wind means that the wind turns counterclockwise, a veering wind means that the wind direction makes a clockwise turn. A southerly wind that backs will hence become south-easterly, a wind that veers south-westerly. A backing wind usually indicates that a warm front will pass by, with low pressure and unsettled weather as a result. With the cold front passing, the wind veers again, eventually leading to calmer conditions again as the low pressure will move away from the area.
“Being under the weather.”
This saying does not describe a weather phenomenon but is a way of phrasing that means you are not feeling well. Its origins are believed to be found in the maritime world as well. To avoid being exposed to harsh weather and getting drenched and cold, crewmen at ships searched for shelter below deck. By doing so, they literally went down to a place positioned lower than the rain and wind would reach, being ‘under the weather’. At a later stage, the expression evolved into a way of describing feeling ill.
“When seagulls fly to land, a storm is at hand.”
This saying is more related to the behaviour and senses of seabirds than to the weather itself but may still give some insights into the possibility of bad weather ahead. To avoid being blown away and exposed to stormy conditions, seabirds tend to seek shelter when they sense bad weather ahead. If you encounter this, you better be prepared.
In conclusion
All the sayings that are mentioned above, are inventive ways to describe observed weather phenomena, with some of them originating in times that tailored weather reports did not exist. They indicate that people in these times were affected by weather and that they attempted to understand the phenomena behind it. describing them with well memorisable phrases. Despite some of them could perhaps be used as a rough rule of thumb under certain circumstances, it is good to notice that they are not necessarily accurate or based on scientific evidence. Nonetheless, they show that sailors back then were developing a general sense of atmospheric patterns, leaving us with expressions that continue to enrich the language we use today.
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