Wednesday 30 July 2014

Mackerel Sky

Not long ago I read on one of the Pommy blogs (I can’t remember which one) that a Mackerel Sky has a saying about the weather, but I couldn’t remember what it was.  Mind you, before I had read the blog post I didn’t even know what a Mackerel Sky was.

Well, there was a beautiful Mackerel Sky when I left work on Monday afternoon.

July 2014 121

It had changed by the time I arrived home.

July 2014 122

And then again shortly afterwards.  Rather lovely.

July 2014 123

I asked Mum what it meant and she wasn’t sure either, so I looked it up on good old Wikipedia.  It appears that a Mackeral Sky is an old, disintegrating frontal system.  Little, if any rain most often follows a mackerel sky.

There seems to be a few sayings about a Mackerel Sky. "Mackerel sky, mackerel sky. Never long wet and never long dry" seems to be the most popular.  “Mackerel in the sky, three days dry” is another and the one that was on the Pommy blog was “Mackerel Sky, not twenty four hours dry”.  So, take your pick from that lot.

The verdict is that we have had beautiful warm, though breezy days on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but apparently Friday is going to be somewhat feral. So maybe the first two sayings are the most accurate (at least on this occasion).

4 comments:

Chookyblue...... said...

supposed to be glorious again tomorrow then a fair bit cooler Fri and feral Sat...........nice sky pics and I never her that reference for the sky.......

Anonymous said...

Hi Janice what a pretty sky and i hadnt heard of those sayings either,enjoy your evening.xx

loulee said...

So after all your research you also know that it is so called because the cloud formations resemble mackerel skin.
Lovely pictures.
We had a very pink sky this morning. Don't think I'll try doing the laundry today!

Rachaeldaisy said...

I had a friend show me photos of the sky too, it looks so spectacular. I'd never heard of a mackeral sky before or the rhyme. Thanks to you I'll know when I see one that there be rain to follow.