Weather forecasting has always been an important and necessary aspect of our everyday lives. So many seasonal and daily activities, including travel, farming, work activities and leisure time happenings, are dependent on the weather.

Weather predictions can be traced back thousands of years. As an example, the adage “Red sunset at night, sailor delight; red sunset in morning, sailor’s warning” can be traced to a similar quote contained in the Bible.

Before today’s scientific means of forecasting the weather, utilizing satellites, computers, radars and empirical data, many old folklore and wives’ tales associated with insects and animals were used for making predictions. Some of the more common fables used in predicting harsh or mild winters included; the height where hornets built their nests; the height of growing weeds; the increased thickness of fur on dogs, cats and cows; the depth where oysters bedded themselves in the river bottom; increases in the size and number of spider webs, and the number of brown segments on wooly bear caterpillars.

Groton was not without its own celebrated weather prophets or forecasters.

The renowned New England Almanac and Farmers’ Friend, which contained “judgements of weather,” was relied upon by many of its readers, including those involved in fishing, agriculture or other outdoor activities. This publication can be traced back to about 1750, when it was published in the Connecticut Gazette by T. Green and Sons in New London.

In 1773, [Master] Nathan Daboll of Groton, a self-taught and distinguished mathematician, began a series of almanacs titled “Daboll’s New England Almanac,” which was also published by T. Green and Sons. The weather predictions that appeared in both the Green and Daboll almanacs were made by Daboll, utilizing mathematical and astrological formulas and methods.

In 1818, a few years before his death, Daboll’s son, Nathan, known as the “Squire,” took over compiling the almanac. The almanac, which had an annual circulation of over 30,000, continued as a Groton family publication until 1967, when no Daboll family member was willing to carry on the business. The almanac was subsequently sold to the Yankee Magazine.

One of the more interesting and bizarre stories relative to weather prediction made by Daboll occurred in the 1819 edition of the almanac. An unnoticed typographical error in the weather entry for July 4 appeared that year. The entry should have read “Expect rain”; instead, it read “Expect snow.” Although many readers in Connecticut had a good deal of fun resulting from the error, they suddenly became stunned when a surprising snow squall fell from the cold skies that day.

Another Groton weather prophet was Irvin H. Poppe.

Poppe, who operated a general store and tailor business on Thames Street, now the home of Paul’s Pasta, began to predict seasonal weather in the mid-1930s. The method he used was called the “Equinox System” — the direction of the prevailing wind at the exact time the sun crosses the equator. There are two equinoxes each year: the vernal equinox in the spring, when the sun is on its way north, and the autumnal equinox in the fall when the sun is on its was south.

The theory of the Equinox System was that the wind which is blowing at the time the sun crosses the [equator] line will be the prevailing wind for the ensuing six months. A northeast wind will usually result in cold and stormy weather, and a southeast wind will bring mild rainy weather. A northwest wind can bring clear and cold weather and a southwest wind, which was considered the best wind, most often meant fair and warm weather.

On the dates of the equinoxes, especially when they occurred during the early morning hours, Mr. Poppe would employ the services of the local policeman on duty. He would instruct the officer to go up onto the ramparts at Groton’s Fort Griswold and, at the exact time of the equinox, to moisten his finger in his mouth and then raise it into the air and determine the exact direction of the wind. Based upon the report of the officer, Poppe would make his [general] weather prediction for the upcoming season.

According to one account, his prediction in 1934 drew so much attention that it appeared in a release by the Associated Press, and was subsequently published in newspapers from coast to coast, and in Hawaii which, at the time, was a territory of the United States.

It has been said that Mr. Poppe’s batting average for his weather predictions was 1,000. Many local fishermen and farmers had a great deal of confidence in his predictions, and could be found gathered in the back room of Poppe’s business the day after the equinox to learn of his forecast.

Even though most of us rely upon the weather forecasts provided by local, state and national media stations, we often criticize their predictions when they are not as accurate as we would like. I, for one, still enjoy listening to and comparing some of the old folklore theories with the weather we are experiencing.

Jim Streeter is Groton’s town historian.