European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 3, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Daily Magazine George Freier checks weather instruments at the University of a photo for forecasting weather w by Kay Bartlett associated press Hen George Freier was a boy Liv ing on an 80acre farm in he liked to listen to Farmers Swap usually at gatherings after if the Goose honks fair weather if the Goose honks foul the squeak of the Snow will the temperature ditches and manure piles smell stronger before a Freier also noticed that the Richer the the More proverbs he seemed to implying that the successful Farmer is after he became a physics professor at the University of Minnesota in Freier decided to Analyse the Many weather some from the roman others from the Bible and Many from his native mid he set out to determine which ones were based on scientific Freier found that about 90 percent of the proverbs dealing with Short Range weather predictions Are scientifically the Long Range such As squirrels gathering More acorns before a hard Are mostly squirrels gather More acorns when there is a big Acorn Freier on the other the proverb about the geese is they Fly higher before a storm because Birds Are very sensitive to the aerodynamics of flight and seek an optimum air density for when the barometer is High in fair the optimum density is higher in the sky and Birds then Fly when the pressure is As in foul the optimum density is closer to the ground and Birds Fly Freier the Snow does squeak More harshly under car tires or shoes when it is Freier says there Are More High frequencies when it is very cold and one could conceivably learn to distinguish the various sounds and estimate the but some folklore still has Freier like the groundhog Day it holds that if the groundhog comes out and sees his Shadow on there will be six More weeks of if there is no Shadow the harshness of Winter is that darn Preier i find a similar proverb from All countries of the world and i can find no evidence that its True or one proverb that has a Good basis in science dates from the Days of the roman the roman senators would not take a crucial vote if there was lightning in the if the lightning was in the it was business As says the lightning in the West meant that bad weather was coming and people Are not at their Best when the barometer is it affects the molecules in our As anyone with a broken Bone can whats interesting Here is that this was before we knew that weather systems moved from West to the professor they just knew they didst do As in Freier it was Benjamin Franklin who first observed that weather moves from West to he came upon this because of frequent correspondence from his Home in Philadelphia to his brother in he noticed that his brother always got Philadelphia weather a few Days in 18thcentury Freier the Bank of England would not let bookkeepers work if the barometric pressure was what passed for auditors Back then noticed they made too Many mistakes when the atmospheric pressure was How about the notion that fish bite Best before the rain True says Why because the lower pressure makes natural fish food decaying matter on the Lake Bottom Rise to the the fish follow it up and Are ready for your if youre lost in the Woods and want to know the tempera or pretty close to you can listen to a Cricket and find if you count the number of Cricket chirps in 14 seconds and add youll get the science explains it this Way crickets become More Active As the temperature rises and chirp More there is a similar proverb about the which Freier suspects is but admits Hes never had a Chance to Check it weather folklorists claim that when the temperature is 78 the Katydid Katy did As the temperature the Katydid shortens its cry for every 4 at it says at Katy at and at 62 other True weather markers include dandelions Clos ing up before a dogs Hunting better before a and manure and pipes smelling More before the the last two have to do with the hydration of molecules As the barometer which increases a mammals sense of some incorrect predictions include Many about a cold Winter Freier says he has been unable to come up with any basis for the following rabbits fur is thicker before a bitter Winter Cor husks Are heavier chipmunks carry their tails higher tree bark is heaviest on the North wild horses have thicker Coats Holly Bushes have More and carrots grow air traffic controllers observe flocks of migrating Birds navigating their Way around a Freier feels science can explain he feels the Birds can hear the Low frequency sounds that turbulent air produces and navigate that Freier has written a Book containing 600 proverbs and the or Lack of but has been unable to get it published so at Hes retiring from teaching this but will stay on to continue his research into another of his specialities he mourns that no new proverbs Are being written become insensitive to the signs of he we simply listen to the even Farmers and Barge captains and seamen rely on electronic Means or automatic Corn dry ers he it used to be that an Inch of water on the River could make or break a Barge Frier it was the difference whether he could get Over a the same with the if he Cut his wheat before a heavy he could lose his whole in his upcoming Freier says he just might buy a cock and a Hen and keep an Eye on then he would know if the following proverb holds any truth if the cock mounts before the Well have Winter thick and if the Hen mounts before the Well have Winter hard As a True or false stay tuned to George Man of science and Lover of 1985 the stars and stripes Page 13