Our friends in Hanover, Germany, emailed us last night. They've been following Hurricane Irene and said they were happy to see that the "weather frogs" may have over-stated the storm's ferocity.
We share their relief, sad about all the flooding of course, and thank them for providing the German slang term for weather forecasters: "Wetterfrösche," translated as weather frogs.
Derivation? We surmise that frogs, with their remarkably sensitive skins, are first to anticipate changes in the environment, and hence are the original weathermen??
That's just our guess, of course.
A subsequent check with the Mother Nature Network produced this nugget:
Frogs
These loud amphibians are said to croak even longer and louder than usual when bad weather is on the horizon. When you hear their volume increase, you can assume a storm is brewing.=====
So they heard them croaking all the way to Hanover.
