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Cabanuelas
Mon Dec 15, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
During La Fiesta de las Cabanuelas, Mexican folklore says that weather conditions for the
coming year are revealed. Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook.
"Cabanuelas" derives from the Spanish word "cabana," meaning a small cabin, or shelter.
Weather lore tells us that the twelve days of Cabanuelas house the weather forecast.
Each of the twelve cabins represents a month's worth of weather, and weather at the cabins is
observed for twelve consecutive days. For example, if the first day of Cabanuelas is January
1st, that day's weather foretells the weather for January. January 2nd foretells February, and
so on through the twelve cabins.
So, if the first day of Cabanuelas dawns sunny, becomes hot at midday, and cloudy and cooler
in the afternoon, then January will begin mostly sunny, become warm up through mid-month and
end with cloudy, cool weather.
Cabanuelas has several incarnations across Latin America. One observes the festival from
December 13th to the 24th. These are the cabins to "rights," and are the prime
prognosticators. But starting on Christmas Day, a second set of cabins "rataculas" is used,
working backward: The 25th portends the next December's weather, the 26th, November, and so
on. This second set is used as a quality assurance check on the primary forecast.
Cabanuelas' roots can be found in Arab and Jewish influences on Spanish culture, which came to
the New World with colonization. Similar lore can be found in Cuba, the Dominican Republic,
Central America, and Venezuela, as well as the English "Twelve Days of Christmas."
Thanks to our contributing writer, meteorologist Keith Heidorn. Our show is produced by the
Mount Washington Observatory. We are funded by Subaru and The National Science Foundation.
Special funding comes from Davis weather instruments, at www.davisnet.com.
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