Blog for adaysouting.com

I was hiking across a field early in the morning and started thinking about the clouds above me. The sky was a beautiful red and it reminded me of a jingle my father would say when there was a brilliant sunrise, “Red sky at morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight.” Being one of those great old sayings, I was sure there was truth to it, but I wasn’t exactly sure why.

Here’s what I found out…..Weather systems typically move from west to east.  The red clouds result when the sun shines on their undersides at either sunset or sunrise.  If the morning skies are red, it is because clear skies to the east permit the sun to light the undersides of moisture-bearing clouds coming in from the west.  Since most storms come from the west, a storm is probably heading your direction.

For a red sky at night, clouds have to have moved away from the western horizon - illuminating moisture-bearing clouds heading to the east.  With the storm moving east, clear skies are coming your way.

So it’s true… “Red sky at morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight.”