Is the old adage “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning,
sailor’s warning” true, or is it just an old wives’ tale?
Within limits, there is truth in this saying.
Have you ever heard anyone use the proverb above?
Shakespeare did. He said something similar in his play, Venus and Adonis. “Like
a red morn that ever yet betokened, Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field,
Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds, Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen
and to herds.”
In the Bible, (Matthew XVI: 2-3,) Jesus said, “When in evening, ye say, it will
be fair weather: For the sky is red. And in the morning, it will be foul
weather today; for the sky is red and lowering.”
Weather lore has been around since people needed to predict the weather and
plan their activities. Sailors and farmers relied on it to navigate ships and
plant crops.
But can weather lore truly predict the weather or seasons?
Weather lore concerning the appearance of the sky, the conditions of the
atmosphere, the type or movement of the clouds, and the direction of the winds
may have a scientific basis and likely can predict the weather.
In order to understand why “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in
morning, sailor’s warning” can predict the weather, we must understand more
about weather and the colors in the sky.
Usually, weather moves from west to east, blown by the westerly trade winds.
This means storm systems generally move in from the West.
The colors we see in the sky are due to the rays of sunlight being split into
colors of the spectrum as they pass through the atmosphere and ricochet off the
water vapor and particles in the atmosphere. The amounts of water vapor and
dust particles in the atmosphere are good indicators of weather conditions.
They also determine which colors we will see in the sky.
During sunrise and sunset the sun is low in the sky, and it transmits light
through the thickest part of the atmosphere. A red sky suggests an atmosphere
loaded with dust and moisture particles. We see the red, because red
wavelengths (the longest in the color spectrum) are breaking through the
atmosphere. The shorter wavelengths, such as blue, are scattered and broken up.
Red sky at night, sailors delight.
When we see a red sky at night, this means that the setting sun is sending its
light through a high concentration of dust particles. This usually indicates
high pressure and stable air coming in from the west. Basically good weather
will follow.
Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.
A red sunrise reflects the dust particles of a system that has just passed from
the west. This indicates that a storm system may be moving to the east. If the
morning sky is a deep fiery red, it means a high water content in the
atmosphere. So, rain is on its way.
