For those of you who don’t know what it is, a “storm bottle” is a sealed glass tube, about 1" in diameter, about 6" long. Inside, it is filled with a saturated solution of alcohol, water, camphor, and potassium chloride. It is claimed that the crystallization patters predict weather changes. I’ve been watching mine, and it does appear that the device responds to changes in atmosperic pressure…when a storm approches, you can see crystals growing on the top of the solution, and also on the bottom. In addition, I can see seed crystals floating in the solution…they must be of equal density to the liquid, because they appear to hang motionless without settling to the bottom.
In appearence, the crystals are beautiful, dendritic groths, which look like little spruce trees. And, the growth of these crystals speeds up (with a drop in barometric pressure), even if the ambient temperature increases (something I didn’t expect).
Anybody have any observations about these things? Do they work in very cold weather? 