A weather vane only works if wind can flow freely and is not obstructed. This is why these instruments are usually placed at the highest point on a structure like a church or a house. They are used to show the direction from which wind blows. In the past, farmers relied on weathervanes whereas today technological advances have given us instruments to accurately measure wind speed and direction.
The Greek astronomer, Andronicus, was recorded as building the first weather vane. It sat on top of a tower in Athens. It was built in honor of Triton, Greek god of the sea, and was half human, half fish. Triton held a wand that showed the direction in which wind was blowing. The ancient Romans also used weather vanes.
With the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, a rooster began to appear on church steeples. It reminded believers of the need to be watchful because Jesus prophesied that Peter would deny him before the cock crowed three times. The tail of a rooster is just the right shape to catch the wind and its force is greater on the tail than the head. It gets pushed away so the head turns into the wind. This is probably why the rooster design remains so popular to this day. It also has symbolic relevance in that it welcomes the dawn and the triumph of light over darkness.
The weather vane is shaped aerodynamically. The one end of its pointer is thicker than the other and has a larger surface area. This enables it to catch wind and turn the pointer. The large end points to where wind is going and the small end to where it is coming from.
A wind vane must be precisely balanced in order to be able to turn freely. Otherwise, it can topple or not move at all. To spin freely, weight has to be distributed equally on both sides of its axis. Some modern weather vanes are made purely for ornamental reasons and do not have this type of balance. They do not show wind direction because they lack this balance.
Beneath the point on a wind vane, it usually has fixed markers. There are four markers for each direction of the compass. If the arrow points toward the marker for south on the vane, it shows that wind is blowing from the south. If it is pointing to the west, wind is blowing from the west and towards the east.
When people see wind direction, they start noticing patterns and when they put this together with knowledge about the local climate, they start being able to make simple forecasts. They may notice, for example, that wind from a certain direction usually brings rain or that wind from another direction may mean that a storm is coming.
Farmers relied on weather vanes to help them know more about the weather. This was important when making such decisions as to when and where to plant crops and whether to plant windbreakers. They put the information about the wind together with other knowledge to make these decisions. Today, we do not use weather vanes in the same way. They are still popular and many people have them on their houses or barns but they are used more for ornamental and sentimental reasons.
The Greek astronomer, Andronicus, was recorded as building the first weather vane. It sat on top of a tower in Athens. It was built in honor of Triton, Greek god of the sea, and was half human, half fish. Triton held a wand that showed the direction in which wind was blowing. The ancient Romans also used weather vanes.
With the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, a rooster began to appear on church steeples. It reminded believers of the need to be watchful because Jesus prophesied that Peter would deny him before the cock crowed three times. The tail of a rooster is just the right shape to catch the wind and its force is greater on the tail than the head. It gets pushed away so the head turns into the wind. This is probably why the rooster design remains so popular to this day. It also has symbolic relevance in that it welcomes the dawn and the triumph of light over darkness.
The weather vane is shaped aerodynamically. The one end of its pointer is thicker than the other and has a larger surface area. This enables it to catch wind and turn the pointer. The large end points to where wind is going and the small end to where it is coming from.
A wind vane must be precisely balanced in order to be able to turn freely. Otherwise, it can topple or not move at all. To spin freely, weight has to be distributed equally on both sides of its axis. Some modern weather vanes are made purely for ornamental reasons and do not have this type of balance. They do not show wind direction because they lack this balance.
Beneath the point on a wind vane, it usually has fixed markers. There are four markers for each direction of the compass. If the arrow points toward the marker for south on the vane, it shows that wind is blowing from the south. If it is pointing to the west, wind is blowing from the west and towards the east.
When people see wind direction, they start noticing patterns and when they put this together with knowledge about the local climate, they start being able to make simple forecasts. They may notice, for example, that wind from a certain direction usually brings rain or that wind from another direction may mean that a storm is coming.
Farmers relied on weather vanes to help them know more about the weather. This was important when making such decisions as to when and where to plant crops and whether to plant windbreakers. They put the information about the wind together with other knowledge to make these decisions. Today, we do not use weather vanes in the same way. They are still popular and many people have them on their houses or barns but they are used more for ornamental and sentimental reasons.
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