Trust The Westerly Wind

As a fisherman, the weather app has become my best friend. I check it nonstop, knowing how fast a squall can kick up. Luckily, with modern technology, staying ahead of poor weather systems has become a breeze. Pardon the pun. But what if I didn't have modern technology to keep me off the water? What then?

Rewind to last Thursday. A couple buddies and I were fishing with this as our backdrop.

While everyone was watching the sunset in awe, I was thinking. Thinking about how for two millennia sailors and fisherman alike have carelessly rested their fate on a just a couple of words so cleverly strung together.

William Shakespeare even mentioned the proverb in a poem he wrote in 1593.
Venus and Adonis — 1593

Like a red morn that ever yet betokened,
Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field,
Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds,
Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen and to herds.

Does some truth lie behind the proverb? Has it actually been keeping people safe for thousands of years? Or, is it just a cute saying with no actual implications in the real world?

Let's take a look

Red Sky at Night

Red clouds in the evening, sunlight must have a clear path from the west, so therefore the prevailing westerly wind must be bringing clear skies.

Red Sky in Morning

Clear skies over the horizon to the east permit the sun to light the undersides of moisture-bearing clouds. With more such clouds are coming in from the west bringing rain.

Conclusion

Due to the different prevailing wind patterns around the globe, the traditional rhyme is generally not correct at lower latitudes of both hemispheres, where prevailing winds are from east to west. But the rhyme is generally correct at mid-latitudes where, due to the rotation of the Earth, prevailing winds travel west to east. So next time you're presented with a beautiful sunset or sunrise, don't just watch..think!

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To see my latest blog about a BLUE LOBSTER click here!
https://steemit.com/adventure/@modernsuperior/the-time-we-caught-a-blue-lobster-one-in-two-million-chance

Credits:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_sky_at_morning
https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/weather-sailor.html