Jym's wisdom

Red sky at night

Red sky at night

Dwight Derstine, Holmes-Wayne Electric Cooperative

Q. Hi, Chip: I enjoyed your article in the December 2021 issue of Ohio Cooperative Living magazine about meteorologist Jym Ganahl’s weather-folklore predictions. I was wondering if I could possibly contact Jym personally or somehow find out how I could obtain a copy of all the weather folklore rhymes he has. I remember my dad quoting various rhymes during my years of growing up on our farm, and I would like to have my own collection for personal-interest’s sake. I know some people probably think that it’s all a bunch of nonsense and would rather watch TV for their weather, but I think folklore is still valuable for observing the way nature predicts itself and seeing the orderly patterns that God has put in place. Thanks in advance…

A. Thanks for your question, Dwight. I, too, find weather folklore fascinating, which is one of the reasons I chose to do the story featuring Jym Ganahl. And like you, I assumed that Jym had a written list of weather folklore sayings, but surprisingly he does not. The ones he related to me were from his memory, so my magazine story is the best I can do as far as generating any type of list.