Weather rock

Weather rock

A weather stone at the Craven Arms pub and cruck barn, Barden, Craven, North Yorkshire, reputedly more accurate than Paul Hudson, the BBC weather man
A Pond at a nature reserve in Kinsey Heath, Audlem, Cheshire, with a tripod from which a weather rock hangs.
Other names	Weather stone
Classification	Weather joke
Uses	Weather forecasting

The weather rock or weather stone is a humour display that pokes fun at the intricate technology used in modern weather forecasts, as well as the fact that their accuracy is less than perfect. A rock is typically hung from a tripod and accompanied by a sign indicating how to read it. A portable example of such a display, "the famous Maine Weather Stone" of Audubon Camp, Hog Island, was described in late 1981.

Instructions

Some examples of the instructions commonly provided for "reading" a weather rock include:

• If the rock is wet, it's raining.
• If the rock is swinging, the wind is blowing.
• If the rock casts a shadow, the sun is shining.
• If the rock does not cast a shadow and is not wet, the sky is cloudy.
• If the rock is difficult to see, it is foggy.
• If the rock is white, it is snowing.
• If the rock is coated with ice, there is a frost.
• If the ice is thick, it's a heavy frost.
• If the rock is bouncing, there is an earthquake.
• If the rock is under water, there is a flood.
• If the rock is warm, it is sunny.
• If the rock is missing, there was a tornado.
• If the rock is wet and swinging violently, there is a hurricane.
• If the rock can be felt but not seen, it is night time.
• If the rock has white splats on it, watch out for birds!!

Weather rocks will sometimes include rules for proper maintenance of the system such as, "Please do not disturb the weather rock, it is a finely tuned instrument!"

String variation

In certain circumstances the string may be incorporated into the saying:

• If the string is on fire then there is a bushfire.
• If the string is cut a Wendigo has passed by.

Locations

Milestone Weather Forecasting Stone, Newtown St Boswells, Scottish Borders

Weather rocks are located all over the world. Some examples include:

• United States
  • The weather rock at Fort Drum, a US military site in New York.
  • In the Nature Area at Camp Rotary, a Boy Scout summer camp located in Clare, Michigan
  • Camp Wolfeboro, a Boy Scout summer camp in Arnold, California
  • Camp Yawgoog, a Boy Scout summer camp at the Yawgoog Scout Reservation in Rockville, Rhode Island
  • Camp Geronimo, a Boy Scout summer camp in northern Arizona near the Mogollon Rim
  • The Donner's Pass Historic Site, near Lake Tahoe, CA
  • Elliot's Weather Rock in Clearfield, PA.
  • Bloomington Zoo in Central Illinois
  • In Rhododendron, Oregon, near the Zigzag River off Road 10
  • On Spangler Road near Highway 213 in Oregon City, Oregon.
  • Boron, California, in front of Domingo's Mexican and Seafood Restaurant, a famous astronaut hangout near Edwards Air Force Base
  • Seven Ranges Boy Scout Reservation in Kensington, Ohio
  • Firelands Scout Reservation in Wakeman, Ohio
  • Nature Camp in Vesuvius, Virginia
  • Whippi Dip ice cream store, at the Pontaluna road in Spring Lake, MI, near Hoffmaster State Park
  • Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Farmington Hills, MI.
  • Lynnhaven Inlet Fishing Pier in Virginia Beach
  • The Kia Kima Scout Reservation in Hardy, Arkansas
  • Casa Sul Lago
  • Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Minnesota
• Canada
  • At the Pancake Bay Trading Post, near Pancake Bay Provincial Park, Ontario
• Australia
  • Outside the McDonald's restaurant in Lithgow, NSW
  • Tenterfield in NSW
  • Ficks crossing near Kingaroy QLD
  • Pannawonica in WA.
• Netherlands
  • Oostdorp
• United Kingdom
  • Lobster Pot Tea-room on the island of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
  • Humber Lifeboat Station on Spurn Point in the East Riding of Yorkshire
• South Africa
  • The Halyards Hotel in Port Alfred
• Argentina
  • Glaciarium Museum, El Calafate
• Japan
  • The Kiseki Museum of World Stones, Shizuoka Prefecture.
• Ireland
  • In Dublin's Brazen Head Pub there's a weather forecasting stone.
• France
  • Airport Le Touquet-Paris-Plage

See also

• Nowcasting (meteorology)