Pine Cones and Precipitation!

Clouds are not the only indication of what kind of weather we can expect. There are all sorts of other clues scattered within our natural surroundings that help us to predict the forecast. One of which is something we can find all over the place here in New England. Pine cones!

​Helping Predict Precipitation

Precipitation is any kind of water released from clouds. It can be in the form of rain, ice, or snow! Some of nature’s most reliable tools for telling us if there is going to be precipitation are pine cones. Pine cones are hard structures, which are usually cone shaped, that protect the reproductive parts of pine trees. Over time, pine cones become the outer casings of pine tree seeds, also known as pine nuts! Each scale of the pinecone has one seed growing near the center of the cone where they all connect!

You're probably curious how a pine cone can tell us about the weather. Well, not only does the pine cone protect the pine nuts, but it is also responsible for the seed dispersal of the tree. When the cones are open, pine seeds can get blown away from the parent tree by the wind, but when the pine cones are closed, the seeds are trapped.

Seed Dispersal: The movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant.

Because the pine cone wants to ensure that the majority of the seeds will get an opportunity to grow into their own pine trees, it is very selective about when it opens and closes. If there is moisture in the air, the pine cone will close to prevent the seeds from falling out and being drowned by too much water, and if the air is dry, the pine cone will open, allowing the seeds to be picked up by gusts of wind and even light breezes.

If you see closed pine cones on a tree, you should expect precipitation in the future, but if you see that the pine cones on a tree are all open, you can anticipate dry weather in the forecast!
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Closed pine cone indicating rain or precipitation in the forecast

Open pine cone indicating dry weather in the future