Weather prophet

“ But who wants to be foretold the weather? It is bad enough when it comes, without our having the misery of knowing about it beforehand. The prophet we like is the old man who, on the particularly gloomy-looking morning of some day when we particularly want it to be fine, looks round the horizon with a particularly knowing eye, and says:
"Oh no, sir, I think it will clear up all right. ”

“ The weather prophets have let us alone this winter. But on the Pacific coast a sidewalk philosopher has tried to explain the cold weather of the sunset slope. He says that an earthquake off the coast of Japan has filled up the Straits of Sunda, and so diverted the warm current that should flow to the coast of Oregon. This is an improvement upon the last prophet, who regulated the weather astrologically—by studying the positions of the stars. The new man comes back to the earth and is chiefly at fault in his facts. ”

“ No fury of tempest overhead, or depth of snow, or quagmire under foot, could interrupt the weekly visits of the pastor to the lady. The solitary lady knew this; and so, even in the most frightful weather, during the darkest, dreariest, and loneliest seasons, there was one day in the week to which she could look forward with certainty of enjoyment—namely, to Wednesday, when, let the wind and the rain, the hail and the snow, do what it might to prevent him, the minister was sure to present himself at Mount Calm. ”

“ I hope every thing from that—the noiseless and steady progress of Christianity; the snow melts, not by sunlight, or that alone, but as the whole air becomes warm. You may in cold weather melt away a little before your own door, but that makes little difference till the general temperature rises. ”

“ While there is evidence that the climate is drier now throughout all of the Holy Land than at the birth of Christ, it is highly probable that when He was born the stars were shining brightly and the hills were green and beautiful and the weather smiling its benediction upon the Son of God.
We now will glance at the weather that experience teaches us will probably prevail in some of the principal cities of the world on Christmas Day, and thus have impressed upon us the fact that on any day of the year humanity lives under widely differing weather conditions throughout the world. ”

“ The winds are very gentle, and curl the cirrus or hairy clouds in most graceful shapes about the hoary-headed Andes, in rich and delicate clusters; when the peak is concealed, all but the blue tinge below the snow, we see a natural bridal vail. An easterly wind lifts and turns them to dark, cumulus clouds, settled on the frosty crown, like an old man’s winter cap; the physiognomical expression is that of anger. The change is accompanied by thunder, and seems to command all around to clothe themselves for storms. The cold rain comes down in fine drops upon us ”

“ After twenty years Argus water rose in the wash against the frail houses, and the piled snows of Kearsarge slid down at a thunder peal over the cabins and the camp, but you could conceive that it was the fault of neither the water nor the snow.
The first effect of cloud study is a sense of presence and intention in storm processes.
Weather does not happen. It is the visible manifestation of the Spirit moving itself in the void. It gathers itself together under the heavens ”

“ But do we not see, you inquire—at least those of us who live east of the Alleghanies—that when it rains, the wind is from the eastward; and that the clouds follow the wind from the east to the west? You do indeed, generally, in all considerable storms, observe that the wind blows from some easterly point, and that seeming clouds are blown by it to the [Pg 44] westward; but what you see, and call clouds, are not the clouds which furnish the rain. ”

“ The blood liquefies all the same, and with as many attendant variations, whether the day be fair or rainy, whether the season be so dry that the farmers are complaining of drought, and prayers have been ordered for rain, or whether it has been raining incessantly for weeks and months, to the injury of the crops, and in the churches they are praying for fair weather; in summer, when the sun is pouring down his almost tropical beams; and in winter, when the procession is confined to the cathedral because it is too cold to go out into the streets, or because the ground is covered with snow. ”

“ The changes and extremities of the weather, wet or dry, hot or cold, are the subject of a great deal of our common talk and observation; but how seldom do we think and speak of these things, as Elihu does here, with an awful regard to God the director of them, who shows his power and serves the purposes of his providence by them! We must take notice of the glory of God, not only in the thunder and lightning, but in the more common revolutions of the weather, which are not so terrible and which make less noise. ”

“ Throughout Christendom, the prevalence of the conviction that meteorology is obedient to laws is more and more evident. In cities especially, where men are accustomed each day to see posted in public places charts which show the storms moving over various parts of the country, and to read in the morning papers scientific prophecies as to the weather, the old view can hardly be very influential. ”

“ The best time of the year for this journey is in spring, between 'the early and the latter rain' which the Bible mentions. The country is then in its best condition, the climate is delightful, and the chance of fine weather far better than now. But as we cannot suit the season to ourselves we will run the risk; with stout hearts and plenty of water-proof clothing we ought to go through without difficulty. ”

“ Fashion has attention in advance; death none till at the door.
Now the southern line of the extra-tropical belt of rains descends upon those who, living between the areas of magnetic intensity, have a dry season; and the focus of precipitation in that belt descends every where. “Winter no come till swamps full,” the Indians told our fathers, and there is truth in the remark; although like other general truths respecting the weather, it is not always so in our climate. ”

“ It is simply that the wiles of the East Wind are too much for its fundamental honesty. After years and years of experience the most trusty instrument of the sort that ever went to sea screwed on to a ship's cabin bulkhead will, almost invariably, be induced to rise by the diabolic ingenuity of the Easterly weather, just at the moment when the Easterly weather, discarding its methods of hard, dry, impassive cruelty, contemplates drowning what is left of your spirit in torrents of a peculiarly cold and horrid rain. ”

“ It was burning autumn weather, when the sun had for months shone in a cloudless sky, and the early rains were longed for as the monsoons in India after the summer heat. Water at all times is a magic word in a sultry climate like Palestine, but at this moment it had a double power. ”

“ The prophets, evidently, are more weather-wise than the generality of their race, and, however much a rain-maker may believe in himself, he never willingly undertakes a commission when the signs of the sky portend a continuance of drought. ”

“ The astronomical works published under the dynasty of the Han family state that one can judge from the wind that is blowing at daybreak on New Year’s Day what kind of weather one is going to have throughout the ensuing year. Thus a south wind means general dryness, a south-westerly wind partial drought, and so on. An easterly wind on New Year’s Day morning means war, a north-westerly wind a good harvest, a north wind a moderate harvest. A north-easterly wind indicates a peaceful year, wind from the west warns one of coming floods, and from south-east of epidemics. ”

“ For my own part I consider the general run of cloudy and wet weather to be a blessing of Providence. Hot weather would have caused us to have died with thirst; and probably being so constantly covered with rain or sea protected us from that dreadful calamity. ”

“ At other times the under sides of the eastern clouds are all turned to pink or rose-colored wool; the transformation extends until nearly the whole sky flushes, even the west glowing slightly; the sign is always to be interpreted as meaning fair weather.
The approach of great storms is seldom heralded by any striking or unusual phenomenon. The real weather gods are free from brag and bluster; but the sham gods fill the sky with portentous signs and omens. I recall one 5th of March as a day that would have filled the ancient observers with dreadful forebodings. ”

“ Because the storm will not pass to the westward, covering the sun and continuing, how strong soever the wind may be from the east; and because it is passing, and will continue to pass off to the eastward, leaving the sky clear. The easterly wind will stop as soon as the storm clouds have passed, and it will fall calm, or the wind will “come out” from the westward.
So, too, when the clouds are dark in the west in the morning, and the sun rises clear, but “goes into a cloud,” as it is expressed, you say that it will rain. And if the clouds are dense this generally proves true ”

“ So convinced, for our own part, are we of this, that while reserving our right to vaticinate and predict as much and as recklessly as anybody else, when it so pleased us, yet, as a matter of fact, we never do venture further into the treacherous territories of vaticination than the mere outskirts, so to speak, of what may well be called the debateable land of weather prognostics ”

“ The clouds and storm rapidly pass over eastward, and the wind falls, while the sun warms the air, and in a few minutes removes every trace of hail or snow. Thus we were often treated to winter and summer weather, with all the gradations between, several times over in the space of an hour. ”

“ Such morning condensation is indicative of foul weather. It is, as we have said, the eastern edge of an approaching storm, on, or under which, the sun shines and illumines it. Thus, at night, it shines through a portion at the west, which is situate between the sun and us, making the sky gray: but shines on, or under, a portion in the morning, east of us, but not far enough east to obscure the horizon, and the rays of the rising sun are reflected from it. In either case the red or gray appearance results from the relative situation of the sun and the eastern edge of an approaching storm. ”

“ We admire the accuracy of the prediction, and congratulate ourselves that we have such a good meteorological service. But when, perchance, a bright, crystalline piece of weather arrives instead of the foretold tempest, do we not feel a secret sense of pleasure which goes beyond our mere comfort in the sunshine? ”

“ There is much more stress laid upon the direction of the wind, in this matter of the weather, than is warranted by the facts. Those deadly statistics, that are gall and wormwood to the weather-wise, prove this. Even a northeast wind may blow for three days without one drop of rain. When this happens, we hear of a “dry storm”—curious name for bright, clear days, perhaps with a cloudless sky, that, by virtue of the cool breeze, from the east, are well-nigh perfect. ”

“ The utmost severity of the weather does not present any obstacle to their courageous devotion. They continue their prostrations through rain, snow, and cold. Sometimes they go through the additional penance of carrying an enormous weight of books on their backs. ”

“ Though of ancient origin, the rain makers, or weather shamans, have persisted right on down through the ages. A severe drought meant death to the early agriculturists; weather control was the object of much ancient magic. ”

“ Yet that little cloud on the Western horizon, not larger than a man’s hand to-day, is destined to cover the whole land, and will either be found to be filled with tempests or refreshing rain, according as the people meet the exigencies of the hour. ”

“ In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign.
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty
Jesus Christ. ”

“ A proper amount of bright sunshine is essential for the ripening of crops, but too much sunshine may parch soil and vegetation, and become injurious. Clouds bring rain; hence a sufficient amount of cloudiness is just as necessary as a sufficient amount of sunshine. The drift of clouds shows us the direction of movement of the air above us, and is of considerable help in forecasting the weather. ”

“ Praying for Rain.—From another Commentary on the Spring and Autumn, by Ku-liang Shu, fourth century B.C., we have the following note on Prayers for Rain, which are still offered up on occasions of drought, but now generally through the medium of Taoist and Buddhist priests:—
"Prayers for rain should be offered up in spring and summer only; not in autumn and winter. Why not in autumn and winter? Perhaps the moisture of growing things is not then exhausted; neither has man reached the limit of his skill. Why in spring and summer? Because time is pressing and man's skill is of no further avail. ”

“ This is what in Scripture is termed the early or the former rain. Showers continue to fall at uncertain intervals, with some cloudy but more fair weather, till toward the vernal equinox, when they become again more frequent and copious till the middle of April. These are the latter rains, Joel ii, 23. From this time to the end of May, showers come on at irregular intervals, gradually decreasing as the season advances; the sky being for the most part serene, and the temperature of the air agreeable, though sometimes acquiring a high degree of heat. ”

“ There is occasionally a southerly afternoon wind, followed by short rains in spring and fall, or a succession of showers in summer, which is rather a precedent wind than a storm wind; blowing toward and under an advance portion of the storm at the north, and hauling to the eastward when the rain sets in, or to the westward when the showers reach us.
When there are no storms, or showers, or inducing electric action in the counter-trade, within influential distance to disturb the surface atmosphere, it is calm. ”