Farmers’ Almanac editor Peter Geiger found one of America’s favorite fuzzy forecasters on his car this week. It’s not Punxsutawney Phil, but a woolly bear caterpillar.
According to lore, if a woolly bear caterpillar has a narrow orange band in the middle of its back, it warns of heavy snow. If it is fat and fuzzy, expect bitter cold.
Our long-range forecast calls for a cold, snowy winter here in the Northeastern U.S., where our head office is located, but this guy had a pretty big orange stripe and was not very fat or fuzzy.
Who will be right? Us or the caterpillar? Only time will tell …
Jaime McLeod is the Web Content Editor for the Farmers' Almanac. She is a longtime journalist who has written for a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including MTV.com. She enjoys the outdoors, loves eating organic food, and is interested in all aspects of natural wellness.
If you notice a hole in the upper left-hand corner of your Farmers' Almanac, don't return it to the store! That hole isn't a defect; it's a part of history. Starting with the first edition of the Farmers' Almanac in 1818, readers used to nail holes into the corners to hang it up in their homes, barns, and outhouses (to provide both reading material and toilet paper). In 1910, the Almanac's publishers began pre-drilling holes in the corners to make it even easier for readers to keep all of that invaluable information (and paper) handy.
8 comments
I live in Northwest Alabama and yesterday I saw a Wooly Bear, he was very fat and fuzzy but the orange stripe was long.
Peter, that looks just like the ones I’ve been seeing. I think that we’ll see a cold start, followed by relatively mild conditions in the middle of winter, then things will pick back up towards the end, with possibly a cold spring.
Greensboro, NC- Ive seen many fuzzy little friends. Lets hope they symbalize a colder winter. I cant wait until winter! only 6 more weeks after Halloween then its winter, i think we can make it!
I live in Lynchburg, Virginia and I havent seen any of the wooly bears but the acorns are SO bad here that i almost slipped down my own backyard over a pile of acorns in my yard that literally pile up 2-3 inches deep. I go outside and I hear a BANG BANG BANG!! because acorns are constantly falling. We recorded our first frost about a week ago so its definitely fall but thats normal, we will get our first frost alot of times the latter half of October to the first part of November. I will send you guys some pictures of the acorns and the foliage. I dont have facebook or twitter anymore, what are some other ways I can send those in?
I don’t know…..but we just noticed one with the orange stripe yesterday, hanging on the screen. He wasn’t fat though, as a matter of fact, he was too skinny! And Wendy; WHITE ones? They must be pretty!
I seen one fat fuzzy caterpillar here in Knoxville, TN today what does it mean? I am hoping for both actually
I have not seen a woolly bear caterpillar in a long time! The National Weather Service also predicted a colder, snowier winter for us in the upper Midwest/Great Lakes area. I need to buy the Almanac to see what it says for us…
I have seen numerous all black and very fuzzy catepillars…what kind of winter will that bring? We also have around here all white ones….what kind of winter will that mean?
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