10/14/2021 7:00:00 AM
One of the first sightings of a Woolly Bear Caterpillar occurred earlier this week in WNY. With it comes a prediction of our upcoming winter weather.
The Woolly Bear Caterpillar, also commonly known as "woolly worms," was spotted with a few black bands near its head, a wide middle section of brown and ended with black again. According to folklore, the more black on a woolly worm in the fall means a longer, colder, and possibly snowier winter to come. If there is more brown, that's a sign of a mild winter.
So, this might mean a cold and snowy start to winter, followed by a mild stretch in the middle with a cold and snowy end to the season. Apparently, the 13 bands typically found on an average-sized woolly worm equates to the 13 weeks of a normal winter.
So specifically, according to the Wooly spotted this week, this winter will start off cold and snowy for the first five weeks, followed by six weeks of mild weather, then two weeks of cold at the tail end.