myth or true?
Today is Dormouse Day – what this old farmer’s saying means for the weather
“If the edible dormice is wet, it rains non-stop,” says an old farmer’s saying. The hit rate for this day is not even particularly high.
© Ralf Hirschberger / DPA
June 27th is Dormouse Day. Friends of farmer’s rules pay particular attention to the weather on this day. This day is not even that important for the meteorologists.
“If it rains on Dormouse Day, the rain won’t give way for seven weeks” is an old farmer’s rule. But that’s not entirely true. After all, there are now many different variants of the farmer’s rule and one of them is: “The weather on Dormouse Day will remain for another seven weeks like.”
Strictly speaking, it’s not just about rain, but about the overall weather situation. On the other hand, the date is also incorrect due to the Gregorian calendar reform of 1582, which involved a shift of about eleven days. The actual dormouse day would therefore be July 8th.
Dormouse is not just a day
According to meteorologists, however, it is not just the individual day that is decisive for the weather rule of the edible dormouse, but the entire period from the end of June to the beginning of July. In fact, according to the German Weather Service (DWD), the probability of a summer that is too cool and too damp is relatively high if the air pressure over Central Europe as a whole is below normal during these days, i.e. if bad weather predominates during this period.
Incidentally, the hit rate of the pawn rule is not even particularly high. For the dormouse inland it is only about 55 to 60 percent, in the foothills of the Alps it is about 70 percent. But only if you don’t interpret the rule particularly narrowly, i.e. not seven weeks, but perhaps only three or four. In contrast, computer-aided modern forecasts have a significantly higher probability of being hit.
Incidentally, the name does not go back to the animal of the same name, but to an old legend about seven sleeping brothers. The young men who were persecuted because of their Christian faith are said to have fled to a cave near Ephesus (today’s Turkey) in 251 and were walled in there. After almost 200 years of sleep, they are said to have been discovered alive.
And this is how the weather will be on today’s Seven Sleepers’ Day
Large parts of the country are starting the last week of June very hot. Up to 36 degrees are expected for Monday in eastern Germany, as the German weather service (DWD) in Offenbach predicted in the morning. In the afternoon and evening then “in the south and east, sometimes violent thunderstorms with large hail, gusts of wind to heavy gusts of wind and heavy rain of 20 to 40 liters per square meter in one hour”, according to the DWD forecast.
In the north and west as well as over the middle there will be a lot of clouds and initially heavy showery and sometimes thundery rain. During the course of Monday, individual strong thunderstorms with heavy rain, hail and squalls are also possible in the north. The large temperature differences are striking: In western Germany, only just over 20 degrees are reached in places.
In the night of Tuesday there will be some strong thunderstorms from the Baltic Sea to the Alps at first, later there will be showery, sometimes thundery rain in some areas, heavy rain is also possible.
Live map: This is the weather in Germany
The interactive map below shows where it is particularly stormy at the moment. In addition, you can use the timeline at the bottom of the graphic to call up the forecast for a later point in time. At the top right, the displayed level can also be switched to rain or snow, for example.
If the graphic is not displayed, please click here.
The service is provided by Windy.com. The makers use the model from the “European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts” for their representations and forecasts.
Watch the video: May 11th to 15th is the time of the “ice saints” – also called “strict gentlemen” or “ice men”. According to a historical rule, there should be frost these days. But what is the pawn rule all about?
Source: “German Weather Service“