Red Sky At Morning,
Sailors Take Warning!
~
Red Sky At Night,
Sailors Delight!

Over the years I have heard a number of explanations for the meaning of this piece of folklore, but the best that I have heard (and in my opinion, the one that is probably closest to true) is that it dates back to the days when the majority of the sailing in the world was done along the western coast of Europe, and in the Mediterranean.

I have heard (and experienced) that the biggest contributor to the red in the sunset and sunrise is the presence of water vapor or dust in the atmosphere. If this origin for the saying is correct, then the reason for it is that if the storms are off to your east, they are over land and unlikely to affect you.

We've had storms every day for the past five days, some of them extremely harsh! We had hail and rain at the rate of an inch per hour on Friday. We even lost power in my neighborhood for about an hour. But in the end, it is great. We are getting some great water and we need it.

The mornings are lovely and cool, the evenings are hot and muggy… What more could you want from a fine summer day?

Wherever you are, I hope that you've had a beautiful weekend!

Don Bergquist – July 11, 2011 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA