How to Read “Morning clouds mean clear weather, evening clouds mean rain”
Asa gumori wa hare, yū gumori wa ame
Meaning of “Morning clouds mean clear weather, evening clouds mean rain”
This proverb expresses a weather prediction rule based on experience. Morning cloudy skies tend to clear up, while evening cloudy skies often bring rain.
It teaches that the same cloudy sky has different meanings depending on when it appears.
Even when it’s cloudy in the morning, the clouds often clear as the sun rises. This means the day will likely have good weather.
On the other hand, when the sky becomes cloudy in the evening, there’s a high chance of rain the next day.
This proverb has been used when planning farm work or outdoor activities. People would look at morning clouds and decide “It will clear up, so we can work today.”
Or they would see evening clouds and predict “It will rain tomorrow, so let’s prepare.” Even today, this wisdom helps people read the weather by observing the sky.
Origin and Etymology
This proverb comes from weather observation knowledge accumulated over many years in Japanese farming communities. No specific written source has been identified.
However, weather prediction was a matter of life and death for farmers. They passed down techniques for reading weather from the sky to determine when to plant seeds or harvest crops.
The observation that morning and evening clouds have different meanings reflects actual weather mechanisms. Morning clouds often form from fog created by nighttime cooling.
These clouds disappear as the sun’s heat warms the air. Evening clouds, however, often signal an approaching low-pressure system or atmospheric instability, frequently bringing rain.
This weather-reading wisdom represents the crystallized knowledge of ancestors who carefully observed natural phenomena. They had no weather instruments.
The discovery that the same “cloudy” condition has different meanings depending on time of day shows deep insight into nature.
Such practical weather prediction wisdom was expressed in proverb form and became widely shared throughout society.
Usage Examples
- It was cloudy this morning, but they say morning clouds mean clear weather, so it should be safe to hang laundry outside
- It suddenly got cloudy this evening. Morning clouds mean clear weather, evening clouds mean rain, so I’ll take an umbrella tomorrow
Universal Wisdom
This proverb teaches a profound truth: the same phenomenon can have different meanings depending on context.
A cloudy sky that looks the same predicts completely different futures in morning versus evening. This insight applies not just to weather, but to all aspects of life.
People tend to judge events by their surface appearance alone. But our ancestors knew that reading the timing and flow around a phenomenon leads to more accurate predictions.
The perspective that distinguishes morning clouds from evening clouds shows an attitude of observing things from multiple angles.
This wisdom has been passed down for generations because it contains universal lessons beyond simple weather prediction.
In relationships and work, we must read not just surface situations but the context and flow that created them. The same words or attitudes can mean very different things depending on when they appear.
Our ancestors developed the ability to see the essence of things by observing nature.
They showed flexibility in viewing one phenomenon from different angles, and humility in continuing to learn from experience. This proverb condenses such human wisdom.
When AI Hears This
The atmosphere is a giant heat engine that receives energy from the sun every day.
Morning clouds clearing can be seen as a process where solar energy enters and organizes the atmosphere. Water vapor that cooled and drifted randomly overnight gets warmed by solar heat.
This creates updrafts, and the air forms vertical layer structures. This is actually a local decrease in entropy, meaning increased order.
However, this only happens because energy is supplied from the external source of the sun.
Meanwhile, evening clouds bringing rain represents the atmosphere moving toward disorder after receiving solar energy all day without new energy supply.
Heat energy accumulated during the day disperses through the atmosphere, and temperature differences shrink. Updrafts weaken, air layer structures collapse, and water vapor condenses more easily.
This is exactly entropy increase, the natural flow toward disorder.
What’s interesting is that the same cloudy condition leads in opposite directions depending on whether it’s a time when energy enters or exits the system.
Morning is the path to order, evening is the path to disorder. The arrow of time is carved into weather prediction.
The second law of thermodynamics teaches that “entropy always increases in isolated systems.” But Earth’s atmosphere is an open system connected to the sun, a massive energy source.
That’s why different predictions work for morning and evening.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people the importance of context in making judgments.
We face various information and events daily, but we often judge based only on surface appearances. What truly matters is understanding the flow in which something occurs.
In business, the same sales decline means completely different things depending on whether it happens during a growth phase or maturity phase.
In relationships, misunderstandings arise when we receive someone’s words or attitudes without considering their situation or mental state.
This proverb gives us the perspective to view things as lines, not points.
Rather than reacting emotionally to immediate phenomena, we should calmly observe where they fit in the overall flow.
This enables more accurate judgment and appropriate action choices.
The wisdom our ancestors learned by looking at the sky has even greater value in today’s information-overloaded society.
Let’s cultivate the ability to read context without being misled by superficial information.
Comments