Snow Lore – What signs point to snow?

Will it snow? Here are some signs from nature you may want to look for.

Winter means snow. Years ago farmers desperately needed to determine how long, cold, and snowy the winter might be, as that would both help them plan but also suggest which crops would do best the following summer. Today many of you look to weather lore to see if nature agrees with our weather forecast

Each year when we share our 20 Signs of a Hard Winter, we get people commenting and questioning what signs might mean snow is on the way. Relying on unique indicators such as the shape inside persimmon seeds, the width of woolly bear caterpillar stripes, or the thickness of farm animals’ fur, many of our readers and friends share their insight and predictions for what the upcoming winter may bring.

Over the years, we’ve listed many of the most widely known bits of weather folklore for predicting everything from a rainstorm to a hard winter. Now that winter is nearly upon us, though, the biggest question most people have is, “How much snow are we going to get?” With that in mind, here’s a look at some folklore sayings that are specific to snow:

Snow Lore

  • As many days old as is the Moon on the first snow, there will be that many snowfalls by crop planting time.
  • If ant hills are high in July, winter will be snowy.
  • If the first week in August is unusually warm, the coming winter will be snowy and long.
  • The first snowfall comes six weeks after the last thunderstorm in September.
  • For every fog in August, there will be a snowfall the following winter.
  • Squirrels gathering nuts in a flurry will cause snow to gather in a hurry.
  • As high as the weeds grow, so will the bank of snow.
  • A green Christmas = a white Easter.
  • If the first snowfall lands on unfrozen ground, winter will be mild.
  • If there is thunder in winter, it will snow seven days later.
  • See how high the hornet’s nest, ’twill tell how high the snow will rest.
  • The higher muskrats’ holes are on the riverbank, the higher the snow will be.
  • A halo ’round the moon means ’twill rain or snow soon.
  • Mushrooms galore, much snow in store. No mushrooms at all, no snow will fall.
  • The day of the month on which the first snowstorm comes gives the number of storms you can expect in the following winter.

What are your favorite signs for predicting that a big snow is on the way?

December weather lore

What does weather lore say about hurricanes?

Snow myths and odd facts

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Stock photography - Shutterstock
Caleb Weatherbee

Caleb Weatherbee is the official forecaster for the Farmers' Almanac. His name is actually a pseudonym that has been passed down through generations of Almanac prognosticators and has been used to conceal the true identity of the men and women behind our predictions.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

75 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
AK Gunning

Loved the article, but the miss spelled word were a bit irritating. Need a proofreader? I work from home, let me know!!

Pat

Only one word?

Joanna Sorensen

My grandfather always pointed out a “Snow Sun” to me. The full sun has a mysterious glare to it the day before a snowstorm. It proved true today. Again!

William Michael TRAUBERT

. In one of the coldest decades of the Little Ice Age in Boston, Reverend Joseph Green wrote in his diary as early as September 6, 1703: “Snow at night 2 inches.” In Salisbury, Massachusetts, Reverend John Pike saw the first snow fall September 28, 1703 the diarist date October 31, 1703 as the beginning of Winter. Think about it snow in September?
Winter for Halloween?
I was writing about “Blood Snow” this time last year trust me no one would listen …. an omen found in the puritan writings of Reverend Cotton Mather was being cited in 2019 across the world before Covid-19 was ever known. Trust me no one would listen.
It is site to behold “Watermelon Snow”

Marilyn Long

I was always told whatever day the first snow that is how many measurable snows you are going to have. Our first was on 28th..we have had 25 snows, 2 ice with another forecast before the weekend.

Jody

I was told if a cat can see its footprints in the first snow storm, that date would predict the number of bad storms with large amounts of snow.

First snowstorm in 2021 was today (November 2) it was a dusting, but enough snow, on the ground, for a cat to see its footprints. Did you ever hear this?

3movs

My great grandmother said, Thunder in January (or February, forget which) snow in May. In the St. Louis snow storm of 85 or 86, it thundered, and in May there was still snow on the ground. Not sure if that counts for lore to be true, but I found it interesting.

janey

My mother grew up in the 1930’s inTennessee and would say the fire is tromping snow when the fire made a a regular, whooshing sound. I never heard any weather connections. It was just a sound presumably caused by the wind across the chimney.

bob

hi

Aleta Sullivan

Old mountain saying: the fire is tromping snow. My granny in the North Georgia mountains used this when sparkles ignited in the air outside of the wood heater, just after opening the door to replenish wood. These just happened in central Mississippi. We’ll see if snow follows. It is predicted for us.

Geoff

Handed down, over many generations: “If you see the birds a flockin’, in six weeks the snow comes a knockin’.” I’m usually pretty amazed by how accurate that ends up being. This was from a southern Minnesota perspective for forecasting the first snow of the year.

Drew Chandler

What is the first date of snowfall for 2017?

Rooty-Kazootie

My born & raised Bostonian Mom always said, “When it snows like sand, it will cover the land. If it’s big as a feather, it won’t last forever.” Works EVERY time!

Angela

Found this page on a hunt to know: what does it mean when hundreds of robins are going crazy in our yard after a big snowstorm? Hundreds. Flitting all about the trees, landing on the deck railings to drink the melting snow, flying into our windows too. I’m guessing they were holed up during the storm and are excited to get out and find food and water today?

Gene

This is a winter snow guide from farmers almanac! Enjoy

mary knight

Here in Oklahoma, I’ve watched the small black birds that show up in late summer or fall. If they swarm in large numbers, but make no calling sounds, a cold dry front is coming. If they also make sounds, there will be some precipitation with it.

David Dalton

My mother always said: If the flakes at the beginning of a storm are very tiny, you are in for a big one, If large, you will have flurries or a light accumulation
Both of these proved true in this Snowcopolyse (friday, sat, and sun of last week), and the one on wednesday before then. Large flakes wednesday evening resulted in less than an inch, and beginning friday, well, we on the east coast know about that one, which started as real tiny flakes for about 1 to 2 hours.

Samantha Gray

In the winter months on Long Island people often say that a “snow sky” is a cloudy sky appearing to have a pink tinge. I’ve noticed that for years and it always snows when that happens.

donna

my grandpa used to say..if you see a flock of birds flying but you never see the end of the group, it’s going to be a bad winter…so far i have seen 3 bigs groups without seeing an end to them..so we on the east coast have seen 1 bad storm, 2 more to go before the warm weather starts in probably mid-may, cause around here april can have some chilly days.

M.Conroy

Native Americans always knew. by how big, the, White mans , wood pile is,

Myrna

I was told that the date of the first tracking snow (snow that is deep enough to see your tracks) is how many snowfalls that Winter. i.e. if the first snow is on the 3rd day of the month, it will snow 3 more times that Winter, with enough snowfall to see your tracks.

Kathy Hill

I have heard that if it thunders in Janurary it will flood in July.I also have seen this happen several times.

Darcel Hunter

They say, an abundance of acorns means a harsh winter. There were tons of acorns last year, more than we have ever gotten in Northern California. So far we have had the much needed rain that California needs.

Ronnie Thomas

Pigs gathering sticks…really? A narrow orange band on the wooley worm indicates heavy snow, while, wide band indicates bitter cold winter. Dismissed this theory as that I have seen many of both in the same season…of course, could have had a little of both.

Ronnie Thomas

God gave the animals immaculate instincts…If you observe a very large amount of song birds feeding frantically, this could be a sign of snow or ice. Just an observation over the past decades.

Neil Wisler

Have any of them proven to be true? Have any of these calims been investigated?

Thomas Wayne

Also, “a green January, a full cemetery” and “green Christmas/full graveyard” were things the elders used to say around here; and “if you get your April in February, you’ll get your February in April.”

Thomas Wayne

Help me out: My dad used to call snow that only stuck to the tops of the grass (here in Ohio) “rabbit tide,” and to this day I do not know why.

nason

What does it mean when it thunders while it’s snowing?

Tam

I watch our evergreens. The more pinecone it produces the more terrible winter we are gonna have. However, being from Ontario Canada,you can bet we are going to see a lot of snow and blistering cold. Meh. We just deal with it. And when Tim Hortons introduces the annual Roll up the Rim, we know Spring is around the corner. Eventually.

Jenny Taylor

My grandfather used to say that if the snow didn’t melt all over and there were patches lingering it was waiting on more.

vicki spleas

Lots of birds in the yard looking for food

Debi Thornton

Thunder in February frost in May.

Lorraine Peckham

The saying I was raised with is,Snow calling Snow.The longer the Snow laid in the ground,the longer it was calling for Snow again.I have said this saying many times my self . True or not,I love the old saying’s,they had a purpose .

R. Land

When are the 3 ice kings may. These are the last frost days

Kyle King

I’ve always been told to watch the persimmon trees if there alot of persimmons then alot of snow if there’s fewer then less snow

Margaet Prior Boyer

My dad, Ed. Prior was usually always right in that from the date of first snow on the ground count backwards to the last new moon. However many days is how many snows there will be during the winter.

Lou Lipschitz

If a squirrels tail is really bushy, then expect a cold winter.

Giny Bagwell Gi

I love snow! I hope you all are right about about a lot of robins in your yard means snow’s coming. This afternoon I counted TWENTY ONE robins in my backyard at the same time and the front yard was full also. Local weather calling for snow tonight in Greensboro.

Joycee

Lynie, I always heard that if you see a fuzzy black caterpiller that means snow and the more you see the more snow you’ll have. I guess everyone has there own folklore that someone goes by. We watch the birds but this year they have been confused. You can see robins in abundance in the trees here in the Heartland. Don’t know what to make of it.

Chris Wight

One of my favorite indicators of big snow is that many kinds of birds leave the area. Where do they go? Surely it is someplace where they can get to berries and other food readily. They will return when they can feast in your area once again.

Pat Fox

A friend of mine told me that her grandmother always said that if the snow lays on the ground here in SC for three days, there will be more snow soon. I believe that might be true….it snowed pretty heavily in SC statewide on December 26. Then again on January 10, so much that it stayed on the ground for over five days….we’ll see what happens next.

Jef Narog

From Sherry Thornton: If the oak trees produce a lot of acorns, there will be a hard winter. This is absolutely true. I have a 150-year-old oak tree in my yard, and every time it produces a bumper crop of acorns, we get a LOT of snow. We got more acorns from this tree than ever before this year, and we’ve had record snowfall here in Connecticut.

Betty Hopkins

I would like to know what a solid white wolly worm means cause I have seen several of them in the fall this past year.

Tami

What does a twirling of the snow like a tornado in an open field mean…

Karen Renfroe-Gielgens

I always watch to see how high up in the trees the squirrels make their nests. If they are at the top of the tree you can be sure snow will come that winter. It hasn’t failed me yet. We live in Seattle, Wa.

Leanne

We raise sheep and if we’re going to have a significant snow fall they’re on their feet all day eating. They never rest.
We just recently had snow but it was only 1 1/2 inches and I don’t recall seeing them panic.
Interesting.

Cherie A. Dodds

I have always been told ” Thunder in January, snow in February”. Hasn’t me failed yet.

Shelly Fair

If you hear the sound of feet tromping (like walking in the snow) from the wood burning in the fire place, it’s fixin to snow!

shiloah

Just the other day when my husband took out our birdseed there were 18 deer in our backyard feeding and feeding for hours.. the next day it snowed 9 inches…they would normally come and stay a while then leave..They are born with that instinct God gave them..

Audrey, NY

The thickness of the onion skins determines the severity of winter. Thick skin, alot of snow and cold. Thin skin, mild winter

cindy

LOL (Robin Hood) I’ve always been told that the earlier the squirrels start to gather their winters bounty the snowier it will be, but the wild life here in Kansas has been very strange and hard to read this season, as the robins are still abundant as I speak, used to be we did’nt see them until the first sign of spring and we have 8ins. of snow on the ground, they did’nt fly south this year I hav’nt seen anything like it before.

Plan Your Day. Grow Your Life.

Enter your email address to receive our free Newsletter!