Ya'll know what this is, and what it means, doncha???

[Big Muddy]

11178

[BarryBobPosthole]

Man I hope so! We haven’t had a real winter in five years around here.

BKB

[Big Muddy]

Looks like ya might get your wish. ;)

[Thumper]

A soybean ultrasound? You gonna be a daddy? ;)

[Big Muddy]

Ha, dang city dwellers, can’t tell a soybean from a persimmon seed. ;)

[Thumper]

Ha! Yep, a new one on me. I do remember my grandfather saying something about persimmon seeds tellin’ him how the winter will be, but I don’t remember the details. ‘Course, he also believed the Farmer’s Almanac. I’m not sure what he thought about Groundhog Day or “ring around the moon” meaning “rain soon”. ;)

[Big Muddy]

"""According to folklore, if you crack open a persimmon seed from a ripe fruit and look at the shape inside (called a cotyledon), it can forecast the winter weather: Fork shape = winter will be mild; Spoon shape = there will be a lot of snow; Knife shape = winter will be bitingly cold that “cuts like a knife.”"""

The Farmer's Almanac has an 82% accuracy rate.....I farmed for 43 years and planted 43 crops, according to the Farmer's Almanac weather forecasts and predictions.....the Good Lord blessed me with 42 successful crop years.....we had one year with a really bad flood, followed by a drought.....

[BarryBobPosthole]

Folks used to pay attention to stuff like this because like Muddy, they had to. My parent’s parents generation had lots of things that they saw that they used to forecast weather. A sun dog means a big change is coming, mares tails clouds means its gonna rain, that red sky at morning stuff really works, and wooly worms, and persimmon seeds, and so forth.
And its a lead pipe cinch that when the oak leaves are as big as a squirrels ear e crappie will be on the banks.

There’s a million of them!

BKB

[Thumper]

The Farmer's Almanac has an 82% accuracy rate.....I farmed for 43 years and planted 43 crops, according to the Farmer's Almanac weather forecasts and predictions.....the Good Lord blessed me with 42 successful crop years.....we had one year with a really bad flood, followed by a drought.....

Ha ha ha! You OLD farts humor me. That's like asking Trump how many people attend his rallies! Those 80+% accuracy rates come from .... wait for it ... the almanac publisher itself. ;)

In 2008, the Almanac stated that the earth had entered a global cooling period that would probably last decades. I hope that's true, just because I'd like to see Al Gore and his ilk squirm a little. ;)

From Wiki:


Accuracy

A number of analyses have concluded that the forecasts in The Old Farmer's Almanac are not very accurate. For example, USA Today states that "according to numerous media analyses neither the Old Farmer's Almanac nor the Farmers' Almanac gets it right. "John Walsh at the University of Illinois reviewed five years of monthly forecasts and found 50.7% of the temperature forecasts and 51.9% of precipitation forecasts were in the correct direction, whereas a randomly generated forecast would be correct 50% of the time.

In its bicentennial edition, the Almanac stated, "neither we nor anyone else has as yet gained sufficient insight into the mysteries of the universe to predict weather with anything resembling total accuracy."

All that aside, I guess it could be a fun thing ... kinda like Gypsy palm readers, soothsayers and clairvoyants ... or in the south, you could always read tea leaves. :D

Here's a pretty decent article from a few years back.

https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/15/health/old-farmers-almanac-weather-prediction-accuracy/index.html

[Big Muddy]

Well, they’ve been pretty accurate for my neck of the woods. ;)

[Thumper]

Mine too ... warm and dry in the winter and hot with afternoon rains in the summer. ;)

[quercus alba]

I'm an Arkansas weather prophet. I foresee that it will be hot in the summer, cold in the winter, rain when you need it the least and windy when I go fishing,

100% accurate

[BarryBobPosthole]

And corollary b: People will complain about the weather in all four seasons and yearn for the next one to get here.

BKB

[Thumper]

I never, EVER complain about the winters and yearn for the next season here! ;)

[HideHunter]

Neat..