Can Woolly Bear Caterpillars Really Predict Winter Weather In NJ?
Gone are the warm fall days where we've seen temperatures in the 80s here in the Garden State. It officially feels like fall. You know what means... winter will be here very soon. Are you ready for winter coats and hats?
If you've begun to lose faith in your favorite meteorologists over the past few seasons, there may be another way to determine whether or not New Jersey is in for a rough winter this year.
Have you ever heard of the Woolly Bear Caterpillar?
This may sound a bit strange but is actually pretty cool — woolly caterpillars, also known as hedgehog caterpillars, are low-key famous for their forecasting abilities when it comes to winter weather!
The Old Farmer’s Almanac shares an interesting piece of folklore surrounding these little furry creepy crawlers. If you’ve ever seen a woolly caterpillar, you probably noticed that they have these distinctive black and brown markings. It may seem like just a way for them to blend in, but believe it or not, people once believed these markings actually held the key to predicting how wild the winter would be.
Woolly Bear Caterpillars So-Called "Weather Predicting" Patterns
According to popular belief, the pattern of a woolly caterpillar's bands lets us in on the secret of what’s coming.
When you look at these things, you'll notice they have three sections: two black bands on each end and a fuzzy brown band in the middle. The folklore claims that if the black ends are longer, we’re in for a long and chilly winter filled with plenty of snow. On the other hand, if that brown middle band is wider, it suggests that the winter ahead might not be so harsh — maybe just a cozy season with some chilly days here and there.
The idea is that the caterpillars can “sense” the weather ahead, so the bigger the brown patch, the milder the season to come. And if it’s a super dense and bristly woolly bear with long black bands? Well, you might want to grab an extra quilt for those frigid nights!
Note that while these little guys are fun omens, they aren’t scientifically proven weather forecasters. Real meteorologists rely on data, radar, and models to make weather predictions. But how neat is it to think that nature might hold some magic and wisdom?
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