What are Las Cabañuelas?

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As mentioned yesterday, Las Cabañuelas is an ancient method for forecasting the weather that goes back centuries. From what I have been able to read, it seems that the tradition started in Spain, but some campesinos in Colombia still use this interesting predictive invention.

No matter the origin, it has the following procedure for forecasting the the weather.

The first 12 days of January are the considered the ESPEJO (Mirror) of the year. If the day is hot, then the corresponding month will be generally hot. If the day is cold, then the corresponding month will be generally cold. If it is rainy, then the corresponding month will be generally rainy. You get the idea.

The 1st of January represents what the weather will be like throughout the month of January. The 2nd of January represents the weather for the month of February, the 3rd = March, etc. Until we reach the 12th which represents December. However, the predictive ability of the Cabañuelas does not stop there. It starts again, only this time it goes backward -- the 13th represents December, the 14th November, etc.

Then, the 25th will represent January and February, the 26th March and April, etc. The last day of January will be divided into 2 hour periods -- January = 12:00 - 1:59, February = 2:00 - 3:59, etc.

The results are averaged and a determination of future weather patterns is made. If I tried to use this system, it might mean snow all year :). Thank heaven it doesn't work here. I think that the reason that this system came into use at all is because there are few seasonal changes in a place like Colombia. There are in essence two seasons -- rain and no rain. Sometimes they can both occur in the same month, week or even day.

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