Babylonians: Cloud Patterns and Astrology

• Babylonians used cloud patterns for weather forecasting.Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  The earliest known weather forecasting techniques were practiced in the Babylonian empire nearly 4,000 years ago. Priests doubled as weather forecasters. They calculated the positions of heavenly bodies and observed cloud patterns. They then combined this data with myth and legend to predict what the weather would be. This form of weather forecasting is only one step away from pure astrology, but it marked the start of scientific data collection for weather prediction purposes.
  
  

Greece: Meteorologica

• Aristotle penned one of the earliest documents on weather forecasting. It was written in 300 BCE and took a scientific approach to weather forecasting. Prior to that, it was more common to attribute weather to the whims of the gods. Aristotle explored the way earth, fire, air and water interacted to try to explain weather patterns. His student, Theophrastus, collected weather lore and ways to forecast and put it in a text called "The Book of Signs." These signs included sky colors, sound, and rings and halos spotted in the sky.
  
  

Chinese: Solar Calendar and Observations

• The flight of a dragonfly was one method for predicting rain.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  The Chinese developed a solar calendar that was based on weather patterns. They also developed methods of predicting the weather based on animal behavior and nature observations. For example, ancient Chinese said that if they could hear a cricket chirping clearly at night, the next day's weather would be pleasant. If a dragonfly is flying vertically rather than horizontally, it's a sign there will be heavy rain. They predicted thunderstorms when an anthill closed.
  
  Predictions based on nature often had to do with the shape of clouds or the color of the sky at night or first thing in the morning.
  
  

Middle East: Islamic Astrolabe

• Astrolabes were a tool for navigation and weather forecasting.Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
  
  Weather prediction in Arab lands was based on wind patterns. They identified four cardinal winds and associated different weather patterns with each one. The earliest recording of this form of weather forecasting is in Islamic texts, but it is thought to pre-date Islam. Islamic astrolabes were developed according to wind theory.