What Was That Weather Contraption That Had Everyone On The Morning Show Laughing?
KPIX 5 Morning Weather Anchor Roberta Gonzales answers the questions you never get to ask on-air.
Q: Just had to send you a shout out for making everyone on set lose it this morning over your Vermont Weather Stick's feeling frisky. How does it work? - Neil Lepley, San Jose
A: I seriously did not think I was going to recover! For those of you who missed it, here's the clip:
A Weather Stick (WS) has always been a part of my life. My mother, of American Indian decent, swore by it. My father, Mexican American, depends on it.
Weather Sticks have been sold for many generations from shops in the Northeast like Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. It is believed the Northeast's Abenaki Indians invented the Weather Stick. If you look at my picture in the video, the stick is slender and consists of a tapered debarked branch. From base to tip it is about 16 inches in length. When purchased, the WS comes with a small, narrow nail to hang it securely in an outdoor sheltered area. The tip will move plus or minus 7 to 9 inches between wet weather and very dry sunny conditions. An accurate Weather Stick will point downward before rain or snow arrive and arches up before clearing, dry weather.
Does it really predict the weather? In the last 20 years I have owned two WS. The first one lasted 18 years until it fell victim of a raccoon scaling my fence and snapping it in two. The second one is in the picture I showed on TV.
I believe the Weather Stick works so well because when there is moisture (relative humidity) in the air, that in turn affects the wood and causes it to change its dimensions. Whatever contributes to the Weather Sticks movements, I want to hear your thoughts! Also, do you own a WS or any weather equipment? If so, you can become one of our KPIX Weather Watchers by visiting: http://kpix.com/weatherwatchers
Enjoy your day!
