“The twelve days beginning on Christmas day, each one of which is said to govern the weather for one month of the following year. 1905 Miles Spirit of Mts 107 But he and Arth do not disagree about certain weather signs their mother had taught them when they were “shirt-tail boys,” signs about Groundhog Day, for example, and the Ruling Days, the twelve days from the twenty-fifth of December to Old Christmas, each of which rules the weather of a month of the coming year.”
—Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English
I’m not sure how I first learned the folklore of ruling days. I know it wasn’t from Pap and Granny. It might have been from Lonnie Dockery or I might have come across the information as I researched the mountains of Appalachia for this blog.
One year I tried to keep track of the 12 days and then compare them to the months of the year. We had a lot of rain during the 12 ruling days and that year turned out to be a wet year too.
Over the years I’ve mentioned ruling days a few times. Here’s additional information shared by various readers including Lonnie.
Kimberly: I have heard of the tradition of the the 12 days indicating what the weather will be for each upcoming month, but I have not heard it called “Ruling Days.” I always mean to track the weather and see if it works out that way in the upcoming year, but I always forget!
Wanda in NoAla: My Grandma used to keep a journal of the weather on the twelve days of Christmas; never heard it called ‘Ruling Days’. Very interesting.
Barbara Gantt: My Dads side of the family talked about Ruling Days. I remember the older women discussing it.
Susie Swanson: I remember The Ruling Days Tipper. My mom and dad and the older generation always went by them.
Ethelene Dyer Jones: My daddy who was a fair “weather predictor” of our upcoming weather kept a record of the “Ruling Days” of weather as it pertained to the coming months. It was interesting, as I remember, to see whether the weather proved this long-standing predictor. Whether this gives us clues, the method is, nonetheless, interesting.
Lonnie Dockery: Mother would draw twelve circles on a sheet of paper and write in the weather for each day. I don’t remember ever checking to see if it worked later in the year, but I’m sure she did.
Ray Davies: Mama and Grandpa used to mark the calendar for the first 12 days.
Robert: Yes, always noted ruling days in our household; but it started with New Year’s day and the next 11. I suspect that my Pa remembered it from his early day’s and somewhere, at the orphanage or elsewhere, it got switched from the days between Christmas and Old Christmas to New Year’s.
Ed Ammons: I heard Mommy and Grandma speak of the Ruling Days but like the young fool I was, I didn’t pay it no mind. For close to half a century I hadn’t thought of it until I started reading your post. Thank you for awakening ancient memories!
Miss Cindy: I’ve heard of the Ruling Days but can’t say I know much about them. Sure enough, if Christmas day is cold January we will continue having cold weather. I can’t quite get a fix in my mind about how the ruling days would work since it’s usually always cold this time of year. There must be some way to grade it on a curve, so to speak.
Gina S: I remember John Parris writing about ruling days. Seems to me that he got his forecast from a lady who used the first twelve days of January for her forecast, though. No matter what the new year brings us weather wise, I wish you the best of times.
I echo Gina’s thought—I wish you the best of times!
Last night’s video: New Year’s Day at Celebrating Appalachia 2025 – Cinnamon Orange Bread Might Cure Matt!
Tipper
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I used to work with a woman who kept track of the weather for the 12 days starting January 1. She went a step further recording the weather every 6 hours around the clock says that would forecast each week of the month.
i never heard them called ruling days but i was always told the first 12 days of the year predicted the overall weather for the corresponding month ie if New Years Day was warm then we’d have a warm January etc…at the rate its going this year here in east TN we’re gonna have an average January, cold February and a wet March so far …guess we’ll have to wait and see..
Gosh! I sure hope it’s not true that the rest of the year is foretold by the first 12 days from Christmas, or up here in Michigan, we’ll never see the ground again. I do know that the signs all point to a snowy winter as the mast crops for all native plants and trees was huge this fall. Up here, I put more stock in what the Native Americans said about coming seasons. I didn’t see any wooly bears so I have to go with other parts of nature.
“No matter what the new year brings us weather wise, I wish you the best of times.”
Amen! May God pour out great blessings on the woman who wrote this, and upon Tipper, her family, and the readers of Tipper’s blog as well.
I have never heard of the Ruling Days but find it very interesting!! I remember older folks watching for certain signs and behaviors in animals that would indicate something was about to change with the weather.
I hope all of you that have been sick are feeling better. It surely is going around from the crud, strep throat and stomach flu.
Never heard of ruling days but we have snow flurries in Anderson County Tennessee this morning.
When your living comes directly from plants and animals, as in farming and ranching, an ability to understand “weather” over time and across the landscape is both basic and critical. So it makes sense people would look for guides to help. They didn’t have to be 100% accurate but they did need to be better than 50%. The need to know was always present so always got attention and was honed by experience. Seems to me most any weather lore was considered unless/until experience showed it to be unreliable. Just the volume of weather lore shows how important it was. And it continues to be, though now with different tools.
I’ve never heard of Ruling Days, but I agree with you and Gina. I wish y’all the very best for 2025! Much love to you all and prayers for you all, from SC, Jane.
First, I I love the story Randy mentioned in his post. He wrote about the farmer giving city people a tour of his farm and how he told them how he could tell what the next few days of weather would be. The ending was hilarious!
I’ve never heard of the 12 rules of Christmas. I vaguely remember my people talking about how many days it thundered or lightning during winter was how much rain we would get in summer, but I may have that backwards. Maybe it’s how many days we get thunder and lightning in summer is how much snow we would get. Hopefully you or someone else can straighten me out on that old saying. My mom always went by the groundhog. I’d like to learn more about the 12 rules of Christmas and exactly which day one starts counting them. Is it the first day of December or is it 12 days before December 25? Or is it 12 days starting on what y’all call Old Christmas? I’ve only heard some people talk about Old Christmas, but I’ve never heard them say what date it starts on in January or when it ends. I’ll check back on this blog in case you or someone else answers.
Very interesting. Haven’t heard of this before. Happy New Year everyone.
I have never heard of this but my folks used the farmers almanac.
I’ve heard of the “12 days of Christmas” but nothing about them being predictors of the coming year’s weather. It would be interesting to see if there’s any connection.
My mom always said if some of the cows were lying down and some standing up it would be partly sunny!
Karen, I reckon that could also be true. Notice I said cows and not bulls, maybe the cows couldn’t make up their minds! Y’all ladies can draw straws to see which one of you gets to kill me.
The first I heard of Ruling Days was from The Blind Pig and the Acorn, but I can remember when I very first learned that the 12 Days of Christmas referred to December 26 through January 6. And that January 6, Old Christmas, is known as Epiphany. With all the stuff I seem to forget as time goes on, I think I manage to recall that because I love the word “epiphany.”
Good morning Tipper and all. In our mountainous area of north central WV, we have a winter storm warning of 3-12 inches of snow and 45 mph wind gusts all day and night. If “ruling days” predictions work, September 2025 ought be a doozy! I sure wish I could send you some snow. Your orange bread looked sooo yummy last evening—I just have to make it soon.
Good morning!!!
I’m not familiar with Ruling Days – very interesting.
Reading in the almanac, I came across fog in January means a wet spring.
Everyone have a good Friday.
I do not remember anyone paying any attention to the ruling days and really never heard of them before Tipper mention them. My Grandaddy Kirby would watch the birds, animals and his chickens and was pretty good at predicting the weather for the next couple of days. The next week to 10 days predicted to be cold with below average temperatures, I hope that means the summer won’t be as hot and dry as it has been for the last several years.
I have read of a diary farmer telling a tour bus group of northern city tourist visiting his farm that he could tell the weather by watching his cows, if they were laying down it meant bad stormy weather, if they were standing up it would be warm and sunny. One of the tourist stood up and said to him when our bus came in some of the cows were standing up and some were laying down, what does that mean? The farmer thought about it for a few second and told them it just means some of them are right and some of them are wrong, just like all weathermen!
Gotta love a smart farmer! 🙂
Love the dairy farmer weather prediction. Very funny!!