Wive's tales, weather and cicadas

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) -- Some parts of the country had swarms of cicadas this summer. Here in KELOLAND they could be a sign of an early frost.

There are several wives tales that are used to predict weather. Some people say the width of the middle band on a woolly caterpillar can indicate the severity of the upcoming winter.

It's also said that 90 days after fog there's rain or snow.

A couple of lesser-known wife's tales involve cicadas. If you hear them, some people say there's going to be dry weather, and 6 weeks after cicadas chirp you may have the first frost.

I noticed cicadas a week ago. So adding five weeks, puts us at an August 23rd frost, which is a little earlier than average.

When you look at data gathered by SDSU Extension from 1991 to 2020, of low temperatures falling below 28 degrees,

The top 10% earliest frosts come between September 7th, which you can see in dark purple, to the first week of October, which is dark green.

The latest 10% of first frosts come the second week of October, in dark purple, to the first week of November, in dark green.

But on average the first frost c...