Weather rock

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.^[1] A portable example of such a display, "the famous Maine Weather Stone" of Audubon Camp, Hog Island, was described in late 1981.^[2]

Weather rock

A weather stone at the Craven Arms pub and cruck barn, Barden, Craven, North Yorkshire, reputedly more accurate than Paul Hudson, a local BBC weather man
A Pond at a nature reserve in Kinsey Heath, Audlem, Cheshire, with a tripod from which a weather rock hangs.
Other names	Weather stone
Classification	Weather joke
Uses	Weather forecasting

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

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.^[3]
  • In the Nature Area at Camp Rotary, a Boy Scout summer camp located in Clare, Michigan^{[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.^[4][5]
  • 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.^[6]
  • Boron, California, in front of Domingo's Mexican and Seafood Restaurant, a famous astronaut hangout near Edwards Air Force Base^{[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.^[7]
  • Lynnhaven Inlet Fishing Pier in Virginia Beach
  • The Kia Kima Scout Reservation in Hardy, Arkansas
  • Casa Sul Lago
  • Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Minnesota
• 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.^[8]
• 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
  • The Kiseki Museum of World Stones [ja], Shizuoka Prefecture.^[9]
  • Rock-Kun, a streaming channel on both YouTube and Twitch.
• Ireland
  • Brazen Head Pub, Dublin
• France
  • Airport Le Touquet-Paris-Plage

See also

• Nowcasting (meteorology)