Living in a part of the world where folklore is also known as fact brought to light the "Woolley Worm Festival" that took place last weekend in Boone, NC.
This is from woollyworm.com
"Eleven-year-old Olivia King of Raleigh, NC and her father Tom are the proud owners/winners of Armstrong, the woolly worm who outpaced 1,400 other caterpillars Saturday for the honor of proclaiming the official winter weather forecast at the 30th annual Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk.
Mountain folk use the brown and black stripes on the woolly worm to predict the severity of the coming winter.
According to Armstrong, the first four weeks of winter will be cold and snowy. The 5th and 6th weeks will be cold, while weeks 7 and 8 will be cold with light snow. Armstrong says to expect a mild spell during weeks 10 and 11 with a cold an snowy close to the winter in weeks 12 and 13.
The winter weather forecast is an important subject for the people of Banner Elk, a one-stop-light village nestled between the three largest ski slopes in the High South. For 30 years they have raced the black and brown striped worms to determine which one worm deserves the honor of making the winter weather forecast. Tradition says that the black stripes predict cold and snowy weather while brown stripes point toward milder conditions. Over thirty years, the woolly worm has been all or mostly correct eighty-five percent of the time."
woohoo! Last winter was so warm here that Asher never even got to play in the snow! I would love it if we could have a reason to celebrate the cold rathe than curse it!
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