
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 21, 1993                   TAG: 9310210026
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BEATTYVILLE, KY.                                LENGTH: Short

MILD WINTER AHEAD, WOOLLY WORMS PREDICT

Appalachia is in for a mild winter with a cold snap at both ends. That is, if the eastern Kentucky woolly worm can be trusted.

The woolly-worm lady, Rosemary Kilduff, released her 12th annual weather survey Wednesday.

Appalachian folklore holds that winter's severity can be foretold from the color of the Isabella moth caterpillar's "wool."

Kilduff and her spotters counted 393 worms in Lee County this year. There were 111 solid-black worms, indicating the frosty start and finish of winter. Kilduff said a bunch of lighter caterpillars portend a mild middle.

"With 36 light-colored ones, particularly the lime- and celery-colored ones, we will certainly see grass in February as we did last year," she said.

Kilduff acknowledges that the worms sometimes "mess up a little." But she said the inaccuracies can be blamed on such things as a 1991 volcanic eruption in the Philippines and the unusual Pacific Ocean warming known as El Nino.

"That confused the meteorologists," Kilduff said. "So what's a woolly worm to do?"

by CNB