KIRKSVILLE, MO -- With the upcoming winter season only six weeks away, the topic of conversation is turning into just how cold this winter will be and just how much snow fall we are going to get?
People have their theories year in and year out, but are these theories simply winter wives' tales passed from generation to generation, or do they actually have some fact to them in predicting an upcoming winter season?
This fast approaching season has some Heartland residents looking at the old wives' tales to predict the next couple of months.
Albert McLin, a resident of the Heartland for eighty two years said, "The shuck on the corn is tight and well protected, that is a pretty good sign. I saw a black woolly worm, but I've seen some brown ones too. It could be part of an old wives' tale." McLin believes we are going to have a pretty bad winter again similar to last winter.
The old wives' tale is if the worm has a brown stripe the upcoming winter will be mild, but if the worm is completely black, the winter is going to be a bad one.
Ryan McDonald, a resident of the Heartland said, "This year is hopefully going to be a mild winter. Last year was a bear. I should have watched the woolly worms because they usually tell if it's a mild winter or a severe winter."
Now how about that persimmon tree? Supposedly, if you cut the fruit and it is what is said to be a knife inside, the winter will be mild. If you cut the fruit and it is a spoon shape inside, that means get your shovel ready for the snow. A fruit cut in the Heartland was said to be a knife, so that persimmon tree is saying a mild winter ahead.
So, are winter wives' tales just a fun way of predicting the weather or will they accurately hold true? We will just have to wait and find out.
Snow and temperature forecasts are dependant on approaching systems and generally can not be forecasted more than a week ahead of time. So have your ice scrappers and snow shovels ready because winter is right around the corner.
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