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St. Swithin's Day
"St Swithun’s day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun’s day if thou be fair
For forty days ’twill rain nae mair"
~ Traditional
In days past - before weather apps, satellites, and geoengineering concerns, one could simply look up and read the sky for a hint of upcoming weather. The shape of the clouds, the direction of the wind, the shifting light on the horizon all provided signs that spoke plainly. A mackerel sky or mares’ tails drifting high above often meant a change was coming, and rain might not be far behind.
Rows of rippling clouds, similar to the pattern of lfish scales or curdled buttermilk are known as cirrocumulus or altocumulus formations, and often appear ahead of a warm front and unsettled weather. This tartan captures the soft hues of a Mackerel sky at sunset or sunrise, when it may be tinged with pinks, golds, or purples due to the angle of sunlight.
The belief that the weather on St. Swithin's Day is predictive can be traced back St. Swithin, Bishop of Winchester (852–862), who requested to be buried in the churchyard, beneath open skies. But after his remains were moved inside the cathedral on July 15, 971, legend says a violent storm followed—and so the tradition of weather-watching on this date was born. 💙 💗 💛 🤍 🖤 🌧️ 🌧️ 🌧️ 🌞 🌞 🌞 ☔
St. Swithin is the patron saint of weather, known best for the British weather lore proverb, which says that if it rains on St. Swithun's day, 15 July, it will rain for 40 days.
There is thought to be a scientific basis to the weather pattern behind the legend of St. Swithun's day. Around the middle of July, the jet stream settles into a pattern which, in the majority of years, holds reasonably steady until the end of August. When the jet stream lies north of the British Isles then continental high pressure is able to move in; when it lies across or south of the British Isles, Arctic air and Atlantic weather systems predominate.
By designer Carol A.L. Martin, the Mackerel Sky tartan evokes the colors of a sunrise buttermilk sky.
A mackerel sky is a common term for a sky with rows of cirrocumulus or altocumulus clouds displaying an undulating, rippling pattern similar in appearance to fish scales; this is caused by high altitude atmospheric waves.
Cirrocumulus appears almost exclusively with cirrus some way ahead of a warm front and is a reliable forecaster that the weather is about to change.
The old rhyme:
"Mackerel sky, not twenty-four hours dry" and
"Mares' tails and mackerel scales make lofty ships to carry low sails"
both refer to this long-recognized phenomenon.
This cloud pattern is also sometimes known as a buttermilk sky, particularly the early cirrocumulus stage, in reference to the clouds' "curdled" appearance.
In France it is sometimes called a ciel moutonné (fleecy sky); in Spain a cielo empedrado (cobbled sky); and in Germany it is known as Schäfchenwolken (sheep clouds).
Click the picture below for more spectacular photography from Chip Phillips Photography including this mackerel sky reflected in Lake Trillium, Oregon, at sunrise.