Bluegrass songs use weather the way poets do — as setting, as metaphor, as commentary on how things are going. “Cold Sheets of Rain” is heartbreak with weather built inside. “Footprints in the Snow” makes courtship out of a winter walk. CCR’s “Bad Moon Rising” turned weather into omen, and the bluegrass repertoire picked it up. “Christmas Time’s A-Coming,” “Cold Virginia Rain,” “It’s Raining Here this Morning” — these songs span every kind of sky, from soft summer rain to the storms that wreck the boat or the harvest.

Each song’s page on Picker’s Guide has chord charts, lyrics, recordings, and song history.