Mackerel Sky

"Mackerel sky, snow close by" was one of my dad's sayings, and probably needs an explanation. The type of clouds in the photo (untinkered-with, by the way--this is exactly what the sky looked like over the house) herald a change in the weather. I say the saying comes from the sky's resemblance to the grain of a filet of mackerel (fish); Bill thinks there's no resemblance. But anyway, in winter the sky like this means a weather front is moving in and (in New England, anyway) it is likely to snow in the next one to three days. On the other hand the sky can look like this in July, in which case the saying would probably go "mackerel sky, stand by for change."

Dad's version was better.

Jeanine