Like Snow? Count The Number of Fogs in August!
What does fog in August have to do with snow? Check out some fascinating weather lore that is not only whimsical but also wise.
Here at the Farmers’ Almanac, we love finding old folklore sayings about the weather. And it seems each month and season has its own set of lore. We just released our winter weather outlook, so our thoughts are on cold and snow.
And, according to weather lore, “For every fog in August, there will be a snowfall.” So we hope you have your calendars out and pens ready to start counting!
August Weather Lore
If the first week in August is unusually warm, the coming winter will be snowy and long.
If a cold August follows a hot July, it foretells a winter hard and dry.
While many of us in the 21st century may think weather lore is more whimsical than wise, it’s hard to discount all of these “natural forecasters,” especially when they prove to be true. But how could a saying that’s been passed down from sailor to farmer to business executive really predict the weather?!
Weather Lore: Accurate?
While not all weather lore is accurate, there are many sayings that prove to be on the mark time and time again. When you examine weather folklore, you realize that the basics of this weather predicting method are careful observations that have been made over many years. Weather lore relies on the notion that there is a strong cause-and-effect relationship between nature and the weather.
A weather lore forecaster takes cues from nature at the time he or she needs to know what the weather is going to be like. It is more of a short-term forecast for a specific area, rather than a long-term forecast for broad areas.
What About the Farmers’ Almanac’s Forecasts?
Here at the Farmers’ Almanac, we acknowledge and appreciate weather lore, but do not use it when we make our long-range weather predictions. We don’t count acorns or fogs in August. We have a mathematical and astronomical formula that is more often than not quite accurate. Learn more about how we make our predictions here.
Wondering about our forecast accuracy? Check it out.
What other bits of folklore are related to winter weather? See the list!
This article was published by the staff at Farmers' Almanac. Do you have a question or an idea for an article? Contact us!
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Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin
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Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin
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Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin
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Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin
I wish you had posted this the beginning of August!
My Daughter says if the old Wives tale about the Foggy mornings in August and Snowfall in Southeastern Ohio we will have 14 snowfalls. Hoping this is not true, but we will see. lol.
whatever happen to Indian Summer?
We’ve had 4 thick fogs in august. We may need to get snow shovels handy. I will have to cut a persimmon in half to see if there’s a spoon shape in it! We live in western Kentucky.
Sue – did the winter turn out as you thought? Curious because we just had an unusual fog here in Montana and 90 days from today is early august. [email protected]
When are dog days in North Western Virginia
When are dog days in North Eastern Virginia
For Abri farms,
Where are you? I see you are getting fog everday? Maybe this is a back east thing? Here in southeastern Wyoming, we merely got 3 or 4 days of fog, total. Maybe this means we dont get much, if any moisture?
http://www.rawhidestudios.com
Patti Padgett,
We are north of you, Torrington, Wyoming. didnt get the rains you did. Gardens here this year have been disappointing. . in fact, not much at all in rain really and a cold spring With our luck, another cold but DRY winter!
We have a saying here in TX regarding August weather, “hot today, hot tamale”. This actually usually starts in June and continues until November. Snow would be nice for a change!
After reading all your comments I am afraid to say this my peeps, We have birds bunching up, Our fruit trees are full and happy, we have dense fog every Morning….even the nut trees are flourishing…..so all I have to say is, if you like skiing and winter activities…come on up, over, or where ever you live cause we apparently are going to have snow here in Vermont!!! LOL
Very warm (hot) first week of August with a lot of foggy mornings in the southern Appalachians (SW of Asheville). Mild winter last year so maybe a return to a real winter this year.
Chilly and foggy this morning in Sayre Pa. It’s a valley between two river, the Chemung and Susquehanna. It’s foggy here a lot.
Fog in Vidor, Texas this August 18th am. We could use some cold weather!
Hrmph, no fog yet here in Roanoke,VA. However,I will still hold out hope for a couple of big ones and many light ones(caroling).
Here in Central Ohio until August our spring and summer season was just days marked on the calendar. Our nights were actually cold, could have used the furnace but I just wore warmer close and kept the winter blankets on my bed. Finally August is showing some very warm days, but still a “little” chilly at night. With such different summer days and nights most gardens aren’t producing as usual. Here in Newark Ohio we need rain, seems to always go south. Having trouble with the green tomatoes ripening, although I do like fried green tomatoes but they do need to warm nights, we do have lots of lightening bugs/fire flies to pollenate. Guess the weather man never really pleases all of us.
My persimmon tress do not have persimmons this year. Does this mean a mild winter in NC?
Hi Carol Corl, We checked with Melissa the Persimmon Lady (also from NC) and she says, “It is still too early for fruits. We have very small green ones about the size of marbles now. I’m thinking maybe they will be ready for reading at the end of the month. The tree may also be experiencing a drop in nutrients or even be dying unfortunately. Persimmons can suffer fruit loss if they experienced a late frost last spring and suffered damage. They also do not do well under sweltering conditions or drought. Both the American and Oriental persimmon are biannual bearers, like pecans, one year a bumper crop, the next a barren barely there year.” Hope that helps!
To get a decent ammount of fruit my grandfather would put bone meal around the trees twice a year to give the proper nutrients and would always have enough (or some cases wayyyyyyyyyyyy too much!) Persimmons for jams jellies and desserts.
If she needs more info NC State is the place to check out. They have some of the most brilliant ag-geared minds in our state! Or even an arborist would best be suited for this one!
my grandpa would say if you see the beginning of a group of birds flying but you never see the end, it’s going to be a hard winter. the same thing can be said of trees with berries, if they are loaded with berries, it will be a hard winter. if not many berries it will be a warm winter
What a lot of tree frogs? I have pool and I don’t remember so many in the past.
What about tons of tree frogs, my pool is full frogs this year.
In Washington they say if a cloud is above the peak of Mt. Rainier, it will rain the next day.
In Cheyenne, Wyoming we have had a considerable amount of rain. Low 40s at night high 80s during the day. Which I am told long hard cold winter…….. So let it snow let it snow, let it snow
My father always said that if acorns fall early it is,a sign of a,bad winter. They have been falling for 3 weeks.
If it is foggy in the morning, it will be sunny in the afternoon! Has always been true so far !
Here in West Cumbria( The Lake District)
It rains, just rains
My saying is ‘If it’s raining today, it will probably rain tomorrow and the day after and the day after that….
If it isn’t raining today, it will probably rain tomorrow ….. ☺️
Not buying this one. Last August, I had a job that had me out the door by 5 am. Saw lots of fog in the mornings, but that same winter was one of the driest on record, and we are in the beginnings of a drought. So much for snow.
My mother has repeated what her mother used to tell, “Sunshine and rain means more rain to come.”This has been a true statement.
My dad always said”thunder in January, floods in June.” have been seeing that here in IL.
We live in AL and my Grandpa says, ” if it rains on the 1st day of the month, it will rain at least half the month.” I have always tried to pay attention to this and it seems to hold true most of the time.
Here in Seattle we say:
“If you can see The Mountain (Mt. Rainier) its going to rain”….
What about East Tennessee near the Smoky Mtns it always has some fog
We live in East Tennessee near the Smoky Mtns. How do you predict there since the Smoky always have some form of fog
If it thunders in February, it will frost (or be very cool) in April on the same date.
My farmer husband knows all kinds of weather folklore.
His favourite is ‘if you can see the underside of the leaves it means it’s going to rain’.
My Grandma said it was to be a thick fog and 90 days you will see moisture. Give or take a couple of days.
My Grandma said it was to be a thick fog and 90 days you will see moisture.
No fog here yesterday. Does it matter if it’s a light fog or thick fog…or does it just mean any fog at all? Thanks for sharing.
I live in texas and would like to know the formula to count the number of fogs till the next rain? thanks, sheldon
I have forgotten to count the foggy mornings in August as I have a lot of drama in the last 4 months. Heart attacks and pacemaker installed. How many foggy mornings have we had in central N. C. near Boone, N.C.?
We had a lot of hot, humid wx last summer. It was unseasonably warm til Thansgiving. Then we had one of the coldest Decembers on record, and we are still in the deep freeze here in the secondary snowbelt of NE Ohio. We sincerely hope someone will soon buy our home so that we can move out West for health reasons!
(Southern Ontario, Can) We’ve had a heat wave to beat the band! Over 100F every day since the beginning of August. It looks like it finally broke tho and now 80F feels cool. There have been thick fogs in the mornings too. I love fog but I hate snow! Guess I’d better get some serious snow tires for this winter!
Here in central PA we have had one hot & steamy summer and the first week in August has been no exception. I hope that means mega snow storms! Our Corgis and us just love the snow!
We have a very hot summer here in Indiana. Noticing lots of spider webs around deck area, bushes and house. So far ( 3 ) heavy fogs this month. Could be a interesting winter again. Last year in December we had a ice storm that left us with out electricity for 11 days.
It has been record hot here in central Illinois the first week in August. Maybe I should get a bigger snow blower.
We too have had a cool summer with several mornings with fog so thick we can’t see the hills around us. I live in Kelso Washington. About 45 miles from Portland, Oregon
We have had a very warm and humid summer so far here in Northern Michigan. The air conditioners have gotten a workout this year ! I wonder if that means we are in for a lot of snow this winter ? Hope so !
We live on the pacific coast of Oregon and are having a very cool summer and lots of fog that doesn’t burn off until late in the day and hangs around the beach shore all day. What’s up with that? Are we in for another bad winter like 2008. Same summer pattern as this year.
We are experiencing an especially cool summer, what is the folklore on that?
Benicia, CA