Counting Cricket Chirps to Determine the Temperature
Posted on August 11, 2012
Counting the amount of chirps crickets make per second can apparently be used to give you a fairly accurate temperature reading. Accuweather says the metabolic rates of crickets are linked closely to the temperature and they chirp faster in warmer weather. The Old Farmer's Almanac has this formula: count the chirps in 14 seconds and then add the number 40 to get the current outdoor temperature in Fahrenheit.
Accuweather's Adrienne Veilleux tested the above formula using some crickets she bought at a pet store and she came close to the actual temperature. A Snopes.com article says an experiment by a scientist in 2007 found that using the chirps in 13 second plus 40 calculation gives you a fairly accurate temperature reading. Take a look: