Flight 19: The Lost Squadron - Part Three

Taylor was evidently disorientated and his situation was made more difficult due to a number of influencing factors.  His instruments were malfunctioning, or at least he believed they were.  He didn't have a clock or a watch, meaning he had little idea of how long the squadron had been in the air.  His radio channel was experiencing interference from nearby Cuban radio stations and, due to the fear of losing contact with the rest of his flight, Taylor was deterred from changing his frequency to the undisturbed emergency channel.  He took his flight first in one direction, then another and, as night fell, the weather and the sea grew rough.

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At around 5:50pm, an approximate fix was obtained on Flight 19, placing them within a 100 mile radius of 29°, 15 minutes north, 79°, 80 minutes west.  The squadron were somewhere north of the Bahamas and east of New Smyma, Florida.  If Taylor could be informed of this, he would only need to head west and Flight 19 would make land.  Unfortunately, the radio signal became progressively worse and Port Everglades were unable to reach the squadron to give them this information.  From this point onwards, Flight 19's progress could no longer be charted and the rescue mission, while executed, was unable to determine the final location of the flight.

At 6:05pm radio operaters expected the flight to be confirming that the shoreline lights were in sight.  Instead, they overheard flight transmissions indicating that there was no land in sight and Taylor was becoming increasingly worried.  He insisted that the flight must be in the Gulf of Mexico and that their westerly heading, which had been their course for the last 55 minutes, was taking them further from land.  At this point he suggested that Powers should turn the flight east again.  However, there is no evidence to suggest that Powers followed this recommendation, perhaps becuase the rest of the squadron knew that there had been no land behind them for at least half an hour.

Added to this mystery was a high frequency fix, which placed the fix around 225 miles northeast of Fort Lauderdale, or roughly 150 to 200 miles off the east coast of Florida, between New Smyrna Beach and Jacksonville.  This indicated that Flight 19 had flown much further into the Atlantic than was thought and that, while they believed they had been heading west or northwest for around an hour, they had actually been flying north.

It became apparant that this flight was not what would be considered typical for a lost flight, with some personnel at the bases becoming convinced that none of Flight 19's equipment was working correctly.  This belief has been sustained by examination of several puzzling statements made by the flight.  Their westward heading, even according to Powers' compasses, seemed to take them north instead of west, with the flight dialogue being noteworthy due to the undertone of mild panic which was present even early in the flight when there seemed to be little reason for it.

Flight 19 by Boober61

Instrument malfunction, which seems to have included compasses, fuel gauges, airspeed indicators, and perhaps altimeters, is potentially suggested by some of the following recorded dialogue.  Not long after Taylor announced that they were lost, he expressed a degree of frustration and impatience when he commented, 'We don't seem to be getting far,' in relation to their speed and the amount of ground they had covered.  When Taylor explained to Cox how he believed they'd become lost, he said, 'We were out on a navigational hop and on the second leg I thought they were going wrong, so I took over and was flying them back to the right position, but I'm sure now that neither one of my compasses are working.'

Both of Taylor's compasses were probably in perfect working order.  However, Taylor was compensating for 30 to 40 mph winds, with the TBM facing winds of up to 87 mph.  He turned into the third leg of the exercise before crossing the checkpoint, probably die to strong headwinds and, when they failed to arrive at Fort Lauderdale at the expected time, Taylor decided that his compasses were faulty.  It seems strange and mystifying that, given the circumstances, none of the other pilots bothered to correct Taylor by telling him that they were actually on the right course to being with.  Instead they seemed as surprised or unsure as Taylor was when he asked for a compass comparison.

There were also no IFF signals received from other planes despite confirmation from the flight that they were on IFF.  Nor did their ZBX instrument, or homing device, detect the beacon at Fort Lauderdale.  Another interesting comment made by one of the pilots at 5:55pm was, 'We may have to ditch any minute,' which would indicate that they were low on fuel, although they should have had more than enough at this point.

Newspaper Report

Throughout the final hour of contact between the flight and base, messages were fragmented and strained.  At 6:30pm, Taylor tried desperately to keep his flight together.  He was heard announcing, 'All planes close up tight... we will have to ditch unless landfall... when the first plane drops to 10 gallons we all go down together.'  He was also heard repeatedly asking, 'What course are we on now?', which was the last thing Fort Lauderdale heard from him at 6:37pm.  These faint transmissions faded out completely at 7:04pm, when Ensign Rossi was heard repeating his call sign, 'Fox Tare Three... For Tare Three... Fox Tare Three...'  This came over the radio clearly before ending abruptly.  It is assumed that sometime over the next hour the five bombers descended into the tubulent seas below, with experts commenting that a TBM would sink in under a minute.

Flight 19's fuel endurance was questionable when it was estimated to be exhausted by 6:30pm, the 7pm, and finally 8pm that night.  These estimates did not take into account the possibility of the pilots adjusting their control settings and throttling back, which would allow them to stagger their fuel, prolonging their already extensive fuel range.  This action would, however, slow their cruising speed potentially accounting for the statement that they didn't seem to be making much progress.  It wouldn't, however, explain how they came to be so far north to begin with.  Some TBM Avenger pilots have commented that they could have extended their flight time to seven or eight hours in total, giving them roughly two hours of extra flight time after the last brief message was heard at 7:04pm.

Over the years many questions have been asked as to how this disaster could have happened, with some arguing that the Navy had tried to conceal certain facts that would indicate that Flight 19 had been captured or destroyed by aliens.  This was due to the report having remained classified for more than three decades.  In actual fact, the reasons for this extended classification can be discerned when we look at how the inefficiency of the rescue units as well as how the situation was dealt with in the beginning.  How did they become so completely lost, and why, when  it became apparent that they were lost, did the involved stations not react as quickly as they could have?

For those that hadn't see the official report, the facts given would make it seem that the flight should have never become lost in the first place.  The weather was fine to average; the airmen had experience - especially Taylor.  The flight plan was routine.  But in truth, while the weather was fine at the start of the flight, it rapidly deteriorated during the flight, with search crafts later reporting unsafe flying conditions and tremendous seas.  During his testimony, Cox, when asked if he had observed the state of the sea, commented: 'The sea was very rough.  It was covered with white caps and long white streamers.  The visibility was very good  in all directions, except directly west.'  WhileTaylor was experienced, he was the exceotion, with other crew members only having around 60 hours flight experience in TBM-type aircraft.  They were students in training.  However, Taylor's experience didn't change the fact that he had only recently moved to Fort Lauderdale from Miami and was unfamiliar with the area, never having flown the route taken by Flight 19.  The 'routine' flight was only routine in the sense that it was a well established training exercise at Fort Lauderdale.  It was actually meant to be a complicated navigation exercise.

One of the Official Accident Reports

 Adding to the problems caused by his disorientation was Taylor's refusal to change his radio frequency to the emergency channel, resulting in his inability to maintain radio contact with the ground stations.  While he feared losing contact with the other planes in his flight, transferring to 3000 kilocycles would have provided an undisturbed channel, free of the interference of Cuban radio stations and enabling stations closer to the flight to remain in contact with them.  It would have also allowed the direction-finding stations to find the flight's position much earlier.  Again, it seems that Taylor had forgotten his training , with an important part of okane procedure being the switch over to the emergency frequency.  This is something Taylor should have done when he first suspected that his squadron were lost.

It is also interesting to note that before the flight took place, Taylor requested that another instructor take his place, giving no reason other that not wanting to take the navigational hop.  While Lieutenant Arthur A. Curtis, who took the request, noticed no strange behaviour, Taylor's judgement throughout the entire flight seemed adversely affected and all available evidence suggests that his actions were the opposite to everything he knew he should have done.  It seems unlikely that the investigators would not have persued this matter if there was any possibility that Taylor was impaired, emotionally or physically.  But could they have been wrong?  According to his room mate, Taylor was very upset about a letter he had received just before the scheduled take off.  He told no one about the contents of the letter and took it with him on the flight.  Is is possible that whatever the letter contained may have contributed to Taylor's anxiety and concentration throughout the exercise.

Hours after the flight was estimated to have exhausted their fuel supply, search pilots are said to have heard the delayed call letters, 'FT... FT...'  This has been dismissed as wishful thinking, although if the flight had throttled back, the letters were potentially from Flight 19, adding yet another layer of mystery.  Where had they been during the hours of radio silence?  One interesting revelation that was not revealed until later was that, at the point Taylor requested the planes close formation, one pilot evidently realized that their heading was taking them further out to sea.  That man, although it is unclear which, defied regulations and broke away from the formation.  He started to fly west towards land.  It remains unknown where this pilot and his plane ended up.

Flight 19 by Spiros Karkavelas

Another interesting fact came to light during the subsequent search for Flight 19.  Captain J. D. Morrison, an Eastern pilot, spotted red flares rising from the sky while flying 10 miles south of Melbourne, Fla.  He knew they were coming from a small island and agreed to lead the search team to the site.  However, the search effoty left a lot to be desired.  Morrison witnessed the Navy's 'careful search of the island' which consisted of a single helicopter that flew three passes over one island which was surrounded by marshy terrain.  There were no ground units involved and the marshes could quite easily conceal any airmen or planes that had crashed, especially if the men were unconscioua or injured to the extent they were unable to signal for help.  The Board of Inquiry criticized the individuals in charge of the search operations, with several high-ranking officers being demoted, including one admiral.  It seems that throughout the entire episode incompetence reigned.

In a formal statement the Fort Lauderdale NAS commanding officer said, 'What happened is unbelievable.  Only fifteen minutes before the squadron of Avengers left our base at 2:10pm that Wednesday, another flight of five similar planes took off, flew exactly the same course and returned safely without incident.'  It encountered no unusual weather conditions,except the wind picked up ten or fifteen knots.  Some of the search pilots believe they hadn't searched far enough north, with orders to search as far as Jacksonville, Florida.  However, if the flight had been any further north, the Gulf Stream's northern current would drag any debris beyond the search area.  Admiral F. D. Wagner added one final note to the report, stating, 'The leaders of the flight became so hopelessly confused as to have suffered something akin to a mental aberration.

Bruce Gernon, another pilot, believes Flight 19 flew into an electromagnetic storm.  Interestingly, electromagnetism can cause several of the problems which some believe were suffered by the squadron.  This includes instrument malfunctions, confusion and disorientation.  Gernon commented, 'I'm convinced that Flight 19 entered this storm at about 3:30, and exited it less that ten minutes later jist before Charles Taylor made his first distress call.  I suspect that Flight 19 penetrated too deeply into the storm and into a field of electromagnetic energy, which had a dramatic effect on the outcome of the flight.'  While there is no definitive proof that the squadron entered an electromagnetic storm, or even that such a storm could affect the minds of the pilots, we do know that storm conditions were present during the flight, that Taylor believed his compasses malfunctioned and that his thinking seemed illogical, confused and disorientated.  This theory is one that has gained popularity over the years and is now a view shared by many.  In a June 1974 issue of 'Sealife', Howard L. Rosenberg writes, 'If the planes were flying through a magnetic storm, all compasses could possibly malfunction.  Actually, men's knowledge of magnetism is limited.  We know how to live with it and escape it by going into space, but we really don't know what exactly it is.'

Many different factors prevented the squadron from returning to land: the failure of the radio channel which Cox needed to communicate with the flight, bad radio reception, the delay in sending the rescue plane out, bad weather, an inability to locate the flight quickly, and the delay in relaying the estimated location once it was known, amongst many other factors.  The most tragic part of the entire incident is that, when Taylor first reported that he was having difficulties, he was probably over the reefs and kays just north of the Bahamas, with the flight being almost exactly on course when the pilots decided they were lost.  Many continue to search for the planes that made up Flight 19 and perhaps they will one day be found to give us the last pieces of the puzzle that remains.

Useful Resources
Into the Bermuda Triangle: Pursuing the Truth Behind the World's Greatest Mystery by Gian Quasar
The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved by Lawrence David Kusche
Out of this world: Mysteries of mind, space and time
The Fog: A Never Before Published Theory of the Bermuda Triangle Phenomenon by Bruce Gernon and Rob MacGregor
Naval History & Heritage
Historynet.com

Mythology, Legend, and Folklore of the Sky - Part Four - The Weather

                    Know the enemy, know yourself;
                    your victory will never be endangered.
                    Know the ground, know the weather,
                    your victory will then be total.
                                Sun Tzu, The Art of War, c. 400-320 b.c.

Wherever you are in the world, the weather is always a topic of conversation.  In modern times we have a deeper understanding of the what and the why of weather phenomena and can, with some degree of accuracy, predict what is to come.  However, ancient cultures didn't have the same scientific approach to the weather that we have today.  Instead they created folktales and legends, mythological creatures and gods to explain the reasons behind the winds, the rain, storms, snow and the more extreme weather events that we still experience today.

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There are so many gods and goddesses associated with the weather.  It would be impossible to put them all into this post, so I'll just give you a few of the tales found in mythology and legend here.  Many more gods and goddess can be found here.

The Weather in Mythology and Legend

In mythology, legend and folklore there are an uncountable number of deities which have been attributed to the weather.  The ancient Greeks had no fewer than 40 gods and goddesses related to the weather and the climate and they are not the only culture to have a colourful collection of sky deities.

The Bird Whose Wings Made Wind - A North American Indian Tale

The Bird Whose Wings Made WInd

by Duke Sine

     An Indian family resided on the sea-shore. They had two sons, the oldest of whom was married and had a family of small children. They lived principally by fishing, and their favourite food was eels.
     Now it came to pass at a certain time that the weather was so stormy they could not fish. The wind blew fiercely night and day, and they were greatly reduced by hunger. Finally the old father told his boys to walk along the shore, and perhaps they might find a fish that had floated ashore, as   sometimes happened.
     So one of the young men started off to try his luck in this line; when he reached a point where the wind blew so fiercely that he could hardly stand against it, he saw the cause of all the trouble. At the end of the point there was a ledge of rocks, called Rocky Point, extending far out; at low water the rocks were separated from one another by the shallow water, but were nearly all covered when the tide was in. On the farthest rock a large bird, the storm-king, was standing, flapping his wings and    causing all the trouble by the wind he raised. The Indian planned to outwit him.
     He called to the big bird, and addressing him as "my grandfather," said, "Are you cold?" He answered, "No." The man replied, "You are cold; let me carry you ashore on my back." "Do so," was the answer. So the man waded over to the rock on which the bird was sitting, took him on his back, and carefully carried him from rock to rock, wading over the intervening spaces of shoal water. In going down the last rock, he stumbled on purpose, but pretended that it was an accident; and the poor old bird fell and broke one of his wings. The man seemed very sorry, and immediately proceeded to set the bone and bind up the wing. He then directed the old fellow to keep quiet and not move his wings until the wounded one healed. He now inquired if it pained him much, and was told that it did not. "Remain there and I will visit you again soon, and bring you some food."
     He now returned home, and found that the wind had all died away; there was a dead calm, so that before long they were supplied with a great abundance of food, as the eels were plenty and easily taken. But there can be too much even of a good thing. Calm weather continued for a succession of days, causing the salt water to be covered with a sort of scum. The Indians say it is the result of sickness and vomiting among the larger fish; this scum prevents the fishermen from seeing into the water, and consequently is adverse to eel-spearing.
     This took place on the occasion referred to, and so they sought for a remedy. The big bird was visited and his wing examined. It was sufficiently recovered to admit of motion, and he was told to keep both his wings going, but that the motion must be steady and gentle. This produced the desired effect.

Indra, God of Storms and War

In Hindu mythology, Indra, the storm god, was one of the three most important deities.  The Hindu cosmos was made up of three levels - the sky realm above, the earth realm below and in between was the realm of atmosphere, which belonged to Indra.  While the importance of Indra has faded over time, during the Vedic period (1750-500BC) this god was frequently invoked to bring rain and is said to be in constant battle with Vritra, the demon of drought.  According to one myth, the earth was scorched and dry because the rain clouds had been imprisoned by Vritra.  When Indra heard the pleas of the people, he descended from the sky and was offered Soma, his favourite drink.  Pleased with this offering, Indra asked the people how he could help.  On hearing their plight, the god decided to fight the demon and rescue the rains.  Using a divine thunderbolt, Indra struck Vritra between the shoulders, slicing the mountains on which Vritra lay open.  This separated heaven from earth and land from water, freeing the rains which had been stolen and hoarded by Vritra.


The Thunderbird

Thunderbird (Joho) - Kwakiutl

Native American Indian tradition gives us the Thunderbird, a magical form of the eagle and symbolising the power of nature at its most dramatic.  It was believed that the beating of a Thunderbird's wings stirred the wind and made the rumble of thunder and when it blinked, lightning was said to flash from its eyes while individual lightning blots were caused by the glow snakes it was believed to carry with it.  The Miami Indians called it Piasa, meaning 'devourer of man', and believed that it required sacrifices to keep it from attacking the whole community.  The Lakota gave it the name Wakjya, with wakha meaning 'sacred' and kjya meaning 'winged'.

Some tribes viewed the Thunderbird as an omen of war and would constructed war huts of cedar - sacred to the Thunderbird - before taking part in war dances to appease the Thunderbird and to ensure victory in battle.  They would smoke tobacco - also sacred to the Thunderbird - which was said to lift their souls to the heavens where they could meet with the Thunderbird in the spirit-journey, further preparing them for battle and ensuring victory.

Thunderbird by Frank Gruber

Other tribes saw the Thunderbird as a nature spirit and solar animal, whose eyes were the sun and gave the people night and day simply by opening or shutting its eyes.  To Northwestern tribes, the Thunderbird is known as the Skyamsen and the rain-bringer, and countless ceremonies are conducted to honor and appease it.  For more information on the Thunderbird, this is a great web page and this one is tremendously helpful.

The Origin of the Thunderbird - A Passamaquoddy Legend
    This is a legend of long, long ago times.  Two Indians desired to find the origin of thunder.  They travelled north and came to a high mountain.  These mountains performed magically.  They drew apart, back and forth, then closed together very quickly.
    One Indian said, 'I will leap through the cleft before it closes.  If I am caught, you continue to find the origin of thunder.”  The first one succeeded in going through the cleft before it closed, but the second one was caught and squashed.
    On the other side, the first Indian saw a large plain with a group of wigwams, and a number of Indians playing a ball game.  After a little while, these players said to each other, “It is time to go.” They disappeared into their wigwams to put on wings, and came out with their bows and arrows and flew away over the mountains to the south. This was how the Passamaquoddy Indian discovered the homes of the thunderbirds.
    The remaining old men of that tribe asked the Passamaquoddy Indian, “What do you want? Who are you?” He replied with the story of his mission.  The old men deliberated how they could help him.
    They decided to put the lone Indian into a large mortar, and they pounded him until all of his bones were broken.  They molded him into a new body with wings like thunderbird, and gave him a bow and some arrows and sent him away in flight.  They warned him not to fly close to trees, as he would fly so fast he could not stop in time to avoid them, and he would be killed.
    The lone Indian could not reach his home because the huge enemy bird, Wochowsen, at that time made such a damaging wind.  Thunderbird is an Indian and he or his lightning would never harm another Indian. But Wochowsen, great bird from the south, tried hard to rival Thunderbird.  So Passamaquoddies feared Wochowsen, whose wings Glooscap once had broken, because he used too much power.
    A result was that for a long time air became stagnant, the sea was full of slime, and all of the fish died.  But Glooscap saw what was happening to his people and repaired the wings of Wochowsen to the extent of controlling and alternating strong winds with calm.
    Legend tells us this is how the new Passamaquoddy thunderbird, the lone Indian who passed through the cleft, in time became the great and powerful Thunderbird, who always has kept a watchful eye upon the good Indians.

Inkanyamba by Kate Rowland

The Rainbow Bridge in Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold, 

directed by Otto Schenk (1990)

Kormt and Ormt and the Kerlaugs twain
Shall Thor each day wade through,
(When dooms to give he forth shall go
To the ash-tree Yggdrasil;)
For heaven's bridge burns all in flame,
And the sacred waters seethe.
                    - Poetic Edda

In Norse legend, the rainbow is a sacred and well known symbol.  It is referred to as Asabru, meaning 'Bridge of Gods' or, commonly Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge, and is the connection between Midgard (the realm of humankind) and Asgard (the realm of the Gods).  The Rainbow Bridge was created with fire, water, and air.
 
'Now snatch'd by harpies to the dreary coast,
Sunk is the hero, and his glory lost...'

In Greek mythology we find the Harpies, daughters of Electra and Thaumas, whose names are usually given as Aello, Calaeno, Ocypete, and Podarge.  The Harpies, whose name means 'snatchers' in Greek, are depicted as winged women or as monstrous, clawed women.  They personify the storm winds and, in mythology, they are often found with other deities of the wind and air.

A medieval depiction of a harpy

Tawhiri, God of Wind and Storms - A Maori Tale

It happened that the brother's of Tawhiri agreed that their parents Rangi (the Sky) and Papa (the Earth) should be separated.  Tawhiri disagreed and was furious.  He hid himself in the sky and planned the perfect revenge.  From his place in the sky, Tawhiri sent thunderstorms and hurricanes to his brother Tane-mahute, the god of the forests.  The storms left destruction and devastation in their path.  Tawhiri sent storms across the oceans to punish his brother Tangaroa, the god of the sea and the storms made whirlpools and giant waves which upset the oceans.  He sent storms to his brothers Haurnia-tikitiki and Rongo-ma-tane, the gods of food, but they were protected by the Earth mother and were unharmed.  Tu-matauenga, the final brother, withstood the winds and rains of the storm.  He was the god of fierce humans.  Tawhiri went on to have thirteen cloud children who lived in the sky.  Some were dark and stormy, while others were light and puffy.  He also became the father of rain, mist, and fog.

In the mythology of Hawaii there are four goddesses associated with snow, called the Snow Maidens of Mauna Kea.  Always described with their white mantles, the goddesses are as follows:

• Lilinoe, sometimes known as the goddess of the mountain Haleakala.  She is said to have the power to stop the mountain from erupting and is also known as the goddess of dead fires and desolation.  'She sometimes clothed the long summit of the mountain with a glorious garment of snow several miles in length.'  In some legends Lilinoe is said to be the wife of Nana-Nuu, the great flood survivor.

• Waiau is another of the snow goddesses.  Unfortunately any legends about her are lost in time.  However, there is a like in one of the craters on the summit of a mountain which is called Waiau and it's possible that this lake is connected in some way with the Snow Maiden.

• Kaboupokane is said to have controlled the snows which fall on the desolate summits of the mountain Hualalai.  Again, there don't seem to be any surviving myths of legends containing this Snow Maiden.

• The best known is Poliahu, who loved the eastern cliffs of Hawaii and is often described wearing a mantle of pure white kapa.  And for this Snow Maiden, we have a suriviving myth of which I can relate to you.

Pele and the Snow Goddess - A Hawaiian Legend

Poliahu by Herb Kane 

Poliahu and her friends had come down Mauna Kea to a sloping hillside south of Hamakua.  Suddenly in their midst appeared a stranger of surpassing beauty.  Poliahu welcomed her and the races (race of sleds) were continued... Pele, the maiden of volcanic fires, was angered by the superiority of Poliahu.  The ground began to grow warm and Poliahu knew her enemy.
Pele threw off all disguise and called for the forces of fire to burst open the doors of the subterranean caverns of Mauna Kea.  Up toward the mountain she marshalled her fire-fountains.  Poliahu fled toward the summit.  The snow-mantle was seized by the outbursting lava and began to burn up.  Poliahu grasped the robe, dragging it away and carrying it with her.  Soon she regained strength and threw the mantle over the mountain.

Weather Lore: Fact or Fiction?

Weather Lore can be traced back over thousands of years.  Farmers and sailors were and are dependent on the weather, and for good reason.  Their very survival is at stake.  Doubtless, we've looked up at the sky many a time, trying to discern the signs of what may lay ahead and this action has probably occurred since the first men walked the earth. 
The following weather rhymes  have been handed down from generation to generation and have science to back them up. 

Red sky at night, sailor's/ shepherd's delight.
Red sky in the morning sailor's/ shepherd's warning.

This rhyme goes all the way back to the last quarter of the 1st century where, in Matthew XVI: 2-3, it says - When in evening, ye say, it will be fair weather: For sky is red.  And in the morning, it will be foul weather today; for the sky is red and lowering.
A deep red sunset is often associated with high pressure and calm, dry weather.  It may indicate a prolonged time of good weather if the sky is red around the sun, which is more important than any clouds which may be around the sun. A red sky in the morning needs slightly different interpretation as it's not so much the sky, but the clouds coming from the west that might be lit red by the sun.  If this is the case, it may indicate rain that will arrive some time in the near future, hence the warning.

If a circle forms 'round the moon
'twill rain or snow soon.

A halo around the moon is caused by light refraction caused by the ice crystals of high clouds.  While these clouds carry no rain, they are known to predict low pressure and undesirable weather.

Rainbow to windward, foul fall the day;
Rainbow to leeward, rain runs away.If the wind is blowing from the direction of the rainbow it's possible that rain is on the way.  If the wind is blowing towards the rainbow, the rain has passed you - unless there's more on the way...

 

Mare's tails and mackerel scales
Make tall ships carry low sails.

Mares tales are high cirrus clouds which have been shaped by the wind and can indicate that poor weather is approaching.  Markerel scales are cirrocumulus clouds, which like mare's tails, are shaped by winds moving at high speed and shifting directions, are typical of approaching low pressure weather fronts.

That's it for now.  Next time: The mythology and legend natural disasters.


Useful Resources

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/wind/what-causes-wind
http://weatherbreak2.creighton.edu/?p=1635
http://markturnersmysteriousworld.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/thunderbird-legends-sightings-evidence.html
https://plus.google.com/110520715489205190628/posts/hA1wFWkrPis
http://www.timothystephany.com/thunderbird.html
http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Go-Hi/Hinduism-and-Mythology.html
http://www.ancientindia.co.uk/staff/resources/background/bg32/bg32pdf.pdf
http://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/planets/Earth/weather_myths.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Matthew#CITEREFDaviesAllison2004
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14087734
http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/weather_proverbs.htm
http://farmersalmanac.com/weather/2009/02/23/top-4-folklore-favorites/

Tales of te North American Indian by Stith Thompson
Dictionary of Nature Myths: Legends of Earth, Sea, and Sky by Tamra Andrews
The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature: K-Z, Volume 2 - Edited by Bron Taylor
The Odyssey of Homer - Translated by Alexander Pope
Fabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters, and Animal Power Symbols: A Handbook by Cassandra Eason
Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes by William Westervelt.