Collegiate weathervanes are not only a great way to show school spirit, but tell the weather as well.
No matter where you live or which team you call your own, chances are good that collegiate weathervanes should be in your extended forecast.
Easy to install on the roof of any building, these historic pieces of weather fortunetelling will tell all what color the sky is in your world, whether it's crimson tide, Syracuse orange, or Gator blue.
If you're in Iowa State, collegiate weathervanes will let you know if Cyclones are in season.
You won't be able to miss which direction they're going either.
Just follow the line of cars heading to the stadium.
When it's football season in Tennessee, you'll find plenty of Volunteers adding collegiate weathervanes to their homes.
And in the City of Angels, you can bet your bottom dollar that a well placed weathervane will tell you what's Bruins at UCLA.
Summer is the season for big blows coming off the Atlantic, but fall is Hurricanes season in Miami and collegiate weathervanes let fans there show their school pride.
March may go out like a lamb, but it comes in like a Nittany Lion in Penn State.
And everyone in Alabama knows when the Crimson Tide is set to come in.
Experts believe it has something to do with the hundreds of collegiate weathervanes that suddenly point SEC every September.
In the rainy Northwest, the Washington Huskies know when the winter snows are on their way, thanks to their collegiate weathervanes.
As soon as the Oregon Ducks arrive, they also know it's about to rain down pretty hard on them, at least in recent years.
And in Arizona, the Sun Devils really cook in the desert heat as the collegiate weathervanes in town show there's a change in the wind.
Finding the ideal weathervane is relatively easy these days, especially if you're an alumni, student or supporter of a major college or university.
Most of the collegiate weathervanes sold are made of the finest materials, whether they are reproduced in brass, copper, wrought iron or sport the school's official colors.
While you can't really tell how the season is going to go, you can actually do some basic weather forecasting with your weathervane.
o For example, in California, wind from the east or northeast during the fall can mean the coming of the dreaded "Santa Ana" winds, which bring hot, dry and strong winds to the area.
o In the Northwest, winds coming from the north or northwest in winter usually means cold weather as an artic mass makes its way down from Alaska or Canada.
In the summer, this same direction brings warm weather from the Pacific.
o In the Northeast, a wind from the south can mean a Nor'easter is on its way.
Like a hurricanes (not the Miami kind), these storms rotate counter-clockwise, drawing strong winds from the Northeast.
By observing the direction collegiate weathervanes are blowing and correlating these with the weather that arrives, you can become pretty good at your own local forecasts.