#MEwx Today's Weather Proverb

“Mackerel skies and mares’ tails make tall ships carry low sails.”

“Mackerel” in this proverb is referring to altocumulus clouds, while “mares’ tails” is referring to cirrus clouds. Seeing these in the sky can mean a low pressure system is coming. In the immediate future (24 hours or so), you’ll see good weather. But the mackerels and mares’ tails are the first visible signs of an approaching warm front, which provides the ingredients for storms. As the system rolls in, the clouds will become thicker and thicker until the rain starts to fall.

So when a ship would see these signs, they’d lower the sails and batten down the hatches in preparation of incoming bad weather.