Now you have the science behind the adage. Picture yourself
on a ship in the middle of a mid-latitude ocean.
There the wind (and thus
storm paths) is from west to east. It is morning and you are watching the
sunrise. It is red. Since it is morning you are looking east, and the red
sky indicates that there is high pressure there. Because you are in the
mid-latitudes, the high is moving eastward--away from you. That could only
mean that a low, and very likely an associated storm, is moving toward
you from the west. Sailor take warning! Now picture yourself watching
the sunset from the ship, and the western sky is red. That means
that an area of high pressure is to your west, the westerlies are moving
it toward you, and good weather is on the way--sailor's delight!
Note that this only works in the belt of westerlies,
from about 30 degrees to 60 degrees latitude in both the northern and southern
hemispheres. The region 30 degrees on either side of the equator is characterized
by easterlies (the trade winds). This adage would be opposite in that region.
| page 4 |
|
|
|