Caterpillars Predict Severe Winter

[ThePhotoGuy]

Caterpillars Predict Severe Winter

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) ―

A weather prognosticator for The Hagers-Town Town and Country Almanack says the upcoming winter is going to be cold, snowy and severe. How does he know? Caterpillars.

Almanack Weather Prognosticator William O'Toole looked at the markings on pictures of wooly bear caterpillars submitted by area residents for an almanac contest in order to make his prediction.

The markings on the caterpillar are believed to indicate how severe or mild a coming winter will be.

This year, the front and back bands on the caterpillars were darker and thicker than average, indicating a more severe winter from beginning to end.

More than 60 entries were submitted for judging on size and cuddliness. The winner got a $100 cash prize.

http://wjz.com/local....2.2028267.html

[AfewUniversesBelowNormal]

This is pretty simple causation, as it's a matter of climatology. It has been proven that X conditions over the Spring/Summer/Fall months can be a good predictor of the coming Winter with reasonable accuracy (using a 50/50 variable, 60-65% would by my guess). When these conditions are present, caterpillars grow and adapt to their environment a certain way. Such methods were a good source of information before the technological age, but take a back seat to the more accurate methods we have now.

[Huffwx]

This is pretty simple causation, as it's a matter of climatology. It has been proven that X conditions over the Spring/Summer/Fall months can be a good predictor of the coming Winter with reasonable accuracy (using a 50/50 variable, 60-65% would by my guess). When these conditions are present, caterpillars grow and adapt to their environment a certain way. Such methods were a good source of information before the technological age, but take a back seat to the more accurate methods we have now.

got a theory on squirrels? I have a sunken in walkway to my house with brick walls and the squirrels were cracking nuts like crazy this time last year--- and than again when we had that 10 day warm spell before the snow started.

This year, NASO much nuts.

[AfewUniversesBelowNormal]

got a theory on squirrels? I have a sunken in walkway to my house with brick walls and the squirrels were cracking nuts like crazy this time last year--- and than again when we had that 10 day warm spell before the snow started.

This year, NASO much nuts.

Same general concept as caterpillars, although a lot of mammals exhibit strong powers of intuition (it's evolutionary - the strong/gifted survive, the weak die off). I'm sure you've heard about the animals which fled the coast before the great tsunami hit a few years ago. In a comparison between the two, I'd personally trust the squirrel theory over our limited knowledge of climo trends.