Can Woolly Worms predict Winter Weather? Just Ask the Wooly Worm!

Wooly Worm 2012

Many people in the Appalachian mountains have used the wooly worm to predict the upcoming winter weather for generations. The wooly worm caterpillar is the larva stage of the Isabella tiger moth.  The woolly worm has 13 alternating black and reddish brown stripes and each stripe corresponds to one of the 13 weeks of winter, from December to March. 

According to the wooly worm, the prediction for the 2012-13 winter in the High Country in North Carolina:

• Beginning on December 22, winter will open with 4 weeks of snowy, cold weather.

• Week 5 (Jan. 20, 2013, to Jan. 26, 2013) of winter will feature light snow and cool temperatures.

• Weeks 6 through 11 (Jan. 27, 2013, to March 9, 2013) will bring normal temperatures.

• Week 12 (March 10, 2013, to March 16, 2013) will be unusual, with an ice storm possible.

• The final week of winter, week 13 (March 17, 2013, to March 23, 2013), will be cold and snowy.

We found this wooly worm crawling outside our house and is seems that this caterpillar's segments correspond to the official wooly worm's prediction from the Wooly Worm Festival in Banner Elk. We will just have to wait and see how the winter unfolds as the mountains have already seen snow and it's still fall.