This morning we had a spectacular red sunrise and I said what I’ve been trained to say since I was a wee child, “Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning.” And my husband responded, “Why? Nothing ever happens.” And, much to my chagrin, he’s right. The forecast for today is cloudy. The forecast for tomorrow is cloudy. The forecast for the weekend is cloudy with a chance of rain. There are no typhoons, hurricaines, monsoons, or tropical storms at all in the forecast. Can I assume that the weather is much, much worse at the coast or are sailors just overly cautious (ie, paranoid)?
Why is a red sunrise supposed to be indicative of foul weather? Or a red sunset indicative of fair? (“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.”)
Back in the day Dad would take me sailing and embarrass himself (excellent sailor, just had a little trouble getting into the tender when people were watching… ahhh what i wouldn’t give to have had a camcorder then…)
Anyway, point is he knew a lot about this sort of thing.
“Red Sky at night, sailors delight” as it was explained to me meant that a low pressure system was passing and the clouds it created were on their way out, the setting sun refracts through it and making a loverly scene
“Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning” is a sign that a low-pressure front is coming towards you, the light is refracting through the clouds of the approaching nastyness.
Hope that helps. Another great one i picked up from Pop was “beer before liquor, you never been sicker, liquor before beer and you’re in the clear” I don’t mind sailing in the rain, but i hate puking on a boat (and the rain just makes it harsh. Incidentally, always remember to puke over the LEE side, trust me on this one)
Upham
Weather generally (not universally) moves from west to east. Therefore, a red sky (which is a cloudless one) in the west (i.e., at evening) means that cloudless (fair) weather is moving towards us: “Red sky at night, sailors’ delight”.
As to the other part of the warning, it refers, by constrast, to a cloudy morning (but not completely overcast, so that we can see the redidsh light of dawn reflect off the clouds). The morning clouds mean that bad weather is here: “Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning”.
Yoshke haNetzor quoted the rabbis, saying: "When it is evening, you say ‘It will be fair weather; for the sky is red’. And in the morning, “It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening’” (Matthew 16:2-3, RSV; emphasis added). The saying goes back a couples millennia.