Weather rock

Template:Short description Template:Infobox tool The weather rock or weather stone is a humorous display that pokes fun at the intricate technology used in modern weather forecasts, as well as the fact that their accuracy is less than perfect. A rock is typically hung from a tripod and accompanied by a sign indicating how to read it.<ref>Eric Shackle, Found - World's Oldest Weather Stone, Open Writing, March 26, 2006, retrieved February 11, 2011.</ref> A portable example of such a display, "the famous Maine Weather Stone" of Audubon Camp, Hog Island, was described in late 1981.<ref>Robert Deis, Leave the Kids and Radio to Home, Down East: The Magazine of Maine, April 1982, retrieved September 11, 2022.</ref>

Instructions

Some examples of the instructions commonly provided for "reading" a weather rock include:

• If the rock is wet, it's raining.
• If the rock is swinging, the wind is blowing.
• If the rock casts a shadow, the sun is shining.
• If the rock does not cast a shadow and is not wet, the sky is cloudy.
• If the rock is difficult to see, it is foggy.
• If the rock is white, it is snowing.
• If the rock is coated with ice, there is a frost.
• If the ice is thick, it's a heavy frost.
• If the rock is bouncing, there is an earthquake.
• If the rock is under water, there is a flood.
• If the rock is warm, it is sunny.
• If the rock is missing, there is a tornado.
• If the rock is wet and swinging violently, there is a hurricane.
• If the rock can be felt but not seen, it is night time.
• If the rock has white splats on it, watch out for birds.
• If the rock is levitating, you're stoned.
• If there are two rocks, you're drunk.

Weather rocks will sometimes include rules for proper maintenance of the system such as, "Please do not disturb the weather rock, it is a finely tuned instrument!"

String variation

In certain circumstances the string may be incorporated into the saying:

• If the string is on fire then there is a bushfire.
• If the string is cut a Wendigo has passed by.

Locations

File:The Milestone weather forecasting stone - geograph.org.uk - 1708774.jpg

Milestone Weather Forecasting Stone, Newtown St Boswells, Scottish Borders

Weather rocks are located all over the world. Some examples include:

• United States
  • The weather rock at Fort Drum, a US military site in New York.<ref>The Weather Rock, Guardlife volume 27 number 2, retrieved September 8, 2011.</ref>
  • In the Nature Area at Camp Rotary, a Boy Scout summer camp located in Clare, MichiganTemplate:Citation needed
  • Camp Wolfeboro, a Boy Scout summer camp in Arnold, California
  • Camp Yawgoog, a Boy Scout summer camp at the Yawgoog Scout Reservation in Rockville, Rhode Island
  • Camp Geronimo, a Boy Scout summer camp in northern Arizona near the Mogollon Rim
  • The Donner's Pass Historic Site, near Lake Tahoe, CA
  • Elliot's Weather Rock in Clearfield, PA.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• • Bloomington Zoo in Central Illinois
  • In Rhododendron, Oregon, near the Zigzag River off Road 10
  • On Spangler Road near Highway 213 in Oregon City, Oregon.<ref>[1], Google Maps Street View</ref>
  • Boron, California, in front of Domingo's Mexican and Seafood Restaurant, a famous astronaut hangout near Edwards Air Force BaseTemplate:Citation needed
  • Seven Ranges Boy Scout Reservation in Kensington, Ohio
  • Firelands Scout Reservation in Wakeman, Ohio
  • Nature Camp in Vesuvius, Virginia
  • Whippi Dip ice cream store, at the Pontaluna road in Spring Lake, MI, near Hoffmaster State Park
  • Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Farmington Hills, MI.<ref>[2], Google Maps Street View</ref>
  • Lynnhaven Inlet Fishing Pier in Virginia Beach
  • The Kia Kima Scout Reservation in Hardy, Arkansas
  • Casa Sul Lago
  • Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Minnesota
  • Mate Factor Tea Company, Asheville, NC
• Canada
  • At the Pancake Bay Trading Post, near Pancake Bay Provincial Park, Ontario
• Australia
  • Outside the McDonald's restaurant in Lithgow, NSW
  • Tenterfield in NSW
  • Ficks crossing near Kingaroy QLD
  • Pannawonica in WA.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Netherlands
  • Oostdorp
• United Kingdom
  • Lobster Pot Tea-room on the island of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
  • Amy's Place on the Isle of Skye in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
  • Humber Lifeboat Station on Spurn Point in the East Riding of Yorkshire
• South Africa
  • The Halyards Hotel in Port Alfred
• Argentina
  • Glaciarium Museum, El Calafate
• Japan
  • Template:Ill, Shizuoka Prefecture.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• • Rock-Kun, a streaming channel on both YouTube and Twitch.
• South Korea
  • Jeju Island
• Ireland
  • Brazen Head Pub, Dublin
• France
  • Airport Le Touquet-Paris-Plage
• Turkey
  • Gülyalı, Ordu
  • Uzungöl, Trabzon

See also

• Nowcasting (meteorology)