The effect of full moons on our weather

Su Campu

M.T. Cranium wrote: »

I would say there is at least a 50-50 chance now and perhaps more like 70-30 that a significant snowfall event will occur around 30-31 Dec into 1 Jan.

I was leaning towards rain south, sleet central and snow north if the event came in earlier and failed to capitalize on the energy peak 31 Dec 19z (full moon event) which from research would focus this developing Channel low and give it more of a thermal gradient squeeze.

But seeing the models now starting to trend more towards what would represent a "classic" timing line solution to this puzzle, with the low southeast of Ireland at event time, it could become a major snow producer.

Have to wait and see how the models evolve -- one thing that could go wrong is if the trend continues to change in the slower and more westerly direction bringing a stronger low up over southern Ireland. That would push the snow chances to the far north.

As for the longer term, this is obviously going to be a prolonged cold spell with this one brief interruption on the 26th. As it locks in, we are only just approaching now the coldest part of winter and SST values are sure to keep falling in this pattern. Could this perhaps be a winter to rival the big ones of the past? It needs more snow but already it is impressing with the cold.

M.T. Cranium posted this reply in another thread this evening. I have heard some people say that a full moon can have an effect on the weather - maybe making frosts harsher, and as he suggests above focusing lows and enhancing thermal gradients.

I find it hard to understand how this can happen. If anyone has an more info on the physics behind it then I'd be interested to read it.

Thanks, and have a Merry Christmas!

Calibos

After reading the thread title, my first thought was some looper from the paranormal or CT forum was posting in weather by mistake. After reading your quote it sounds like one of our resident experts and it sounds less loopy. Hey what do I know about the moons gravity affect on the atmosphere or indirectly via the tides or something.

But as an amatuer astronomer I will say one thing. The full moon definately has an effect on the weather. During a full moon its always clear which means cold in the Winter and sunbathing weather in the Summer.. You see, we astronomers crave clear skies for obvious reasons. Full moon is the one time of the month where it really isn't worth dragging out the telescope. The light from the full moon washes out all the galaxies and nebulas and makes them much harder to see and while the moon is a wonderful astronomical observing target itself when waxing or waning it isn't worth looking at when full.

So we can go all month with 100% cloud cover but guess when the 4 or 5 days of clear skies always arrive? Full moon!!

Su Campu

Calibos wrote: »

During a full moon its always clear which means cold in the Winter and sunbathing weather in the Summer.. You see, we astronomers crave clear skies for obvious reasons. Full moon is the one time of the month where it really isn't worth dragging out the telescope. The light from the full moon washes out all the galaxies and nebulas and makes them much harder to see and while the moon is a wonderful astronomical observing target itself when waxing or waning it isn't worth looking at when full.

So we can go all month with 100% cloud cover but guess when the 4 or 5 days of clear skies always arrive? Full moon!!

Hmmm, with that reasoning then there should be no cloud at all on satellite pictures anywhere on earth for those few days!!? :P Personally I would say that there's as much chance as having a cloudy sky around the full moon as any other time. I have missed plenty of them due to cloud. It'd be interesting to see cloudcover stats to see if it's true though!

I would imagine a feasible theory would be to do with tidal effects, as the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned. But I just don't understand the physics of how that can effect cloud cover and pressure!

Mothman

SC, wade yourself through the recent Ken Ring thread
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055720835

Its all in there

Iancar29

So ya think dublin would get some snow this time?... by the looks of it i think thesouth are only gonna get something the white stuff. But i really hope im wrong, hating this cold without any snow by now!

Gene Derm

Su Campu wrote: »

Hmmm, with that reasoning then there should be no cloud at all on satellite pictures anywhere on earth for those few days!!? :P Personally I would say that there's as much chance as having a cloudy sky around the full moon as any other time. I have missed plenty of them due to cloud. It'd be interesting to see cloudcover stats to see if it's true though!

I would imagine a feasible theory would be to do with tidal effects, as the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned. But I just don't understand the physics of how that can effect cloud cover and pressure!

That's not quite how it works, Su. Some on this thread have alread noticed that full moon nights are typically clear, and an ancient mariners saying is that the full moon eats clouds. This is indeed what I have noticed over nearly 40 years of observation. Let's first examine the logic. Either the moon has an effect or it doesn't. If it does then it always does. The moon is not sometimes in the sky and sometimes not. The weather is not sometimes there and sometimes not. So we cannot say that the moon sometimes affects the weather for instance only on full moon nights, and not at other times just because noticeable influence might be less obvious to us. In the same way we cannot say that the tide sometimes comes in at and sometimes doesn't, and the moon sometimes affects this. We know the moon pulls the tides 24/7. What we don't realize is that the air is joined to the sea and the air/sea is one system, interactive, interfacing, and interdependent. As the sea is subject to tidal action, so is air or 'the atmosphere'. And if so, then there must be cycles involved, and the potential for prediction.
How it works is that the air tide is "in" when the moon is overhead and "out" when the moon is under our feet on the opposite side of the planet. When it is in, there is more height to the air and when it is out there is less air between ground and sky because a greater volume of air is now in the other hemisphere. That is also how it is with the ocean tides.
More air on our side in the evening would mean colder evening air from space is blocked from reaching the ground. Therefore on the full moon night, when the moon rises at sunset, and the air height increases, less cold from space can reach the earth's lower atmosphere which means less clouds will condense to become visible and to drop their load as rain. That means full moon nights are generally clear.
But that does not mean that there should be no cloud at all on satellite pictures anywhere on earth, because we are talking about a trend, and topographical factors change the trend for every location. There are some places that always have cloud, e.g. valleys, higher elevations, and high latitude islands. In such instances full moon nights would probably bring lessened cloud. In order to determine the full moon effect responsibly one would have to measure cloud density for one location around the clock for say 10 years, using instrumentation that has not thus far been invented, and disregarding other variables such as the well-tabulated Saturn effect (which induces clouds) and Neptune (which induces fog/mist) and others from aspects to do with angles of the sun and the larger planets like Jupiter that we simply have not thus far more intensely considered. Otherwise the experiment would not be not scientific, and it would be too easy to think one is dismissing the moon's effect, when in actual fact one would be only displaying experiential ineptitude and jumping to a conclusion based on some anti-lunar bias.
Ken Ring
www.predictweather.com
(author of the 440-page Predict Weather Almanac for Ireland for 2010)

Calibos

Su Campu wrote: »

Hmmm, with that reasoning then there should be no cloud at all on satellite pictures anywhere on earth for those few days!!? :P Personally I would say that there's as much chance as having a cloudy sky around the full moon as any other time. I have missed plenty of them due to cloud. It'd be interesting to see cloudcover stats to see if it's true though!

I would imagine a feasible theory would be to do with tidal effects, as the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned. But I just don't understand the physics of how that can effect cloud cover and pressure!

Dude, my post wasn't meant to be a feasible theory! It was merely my anecdote highlighting my own confirmation bias. I'm less likely to remember the cloudy full moons and more likely to remember the clear ones when I look up, see a clear sky but a full moon and raise my arm and shake my fist at it

Gene Derm

Calibos wrote: »

Dude, my post wasn't meant to be a feasible theory! It was merely my anecdote highlighting my own confirmation bias. I'm less likely to remember the cloudy full moons and more likely to remember the clear ones when I look up, see a clear sky but a full moon and raise my arm and shake my fist at it

I think it is a feasible theory. It's easy to look ahead to the next full moons, which are on the 31 December and then on 30 January.
For 31 December, much daytime precipitation is expected for Armagh, Cavan, Clare, Donegal, Fermanagh, Galway, Limerick, and Monaghan. But the night-time in those counties should see relatively clearer skies.
The 30 January should be less of a day/night dramatic difference, being cloudy but dry during the day for most of the country, with less cloud at night.
Ken Ring

Su Campu

Gene Derm wrote: »

I think it is a feasible theory. It's easy to look ahead to the next full moons, which are on the 31 December and then on 30 January.
For 31 December, much daytime precipitation is expected for Armagh, Cavan, Clare, Donegal, Fermanagh, Galway, Limerick, and Monaghan. But the night-time in those counties should see relatively clearer skies.
The 30 January should be less of a day/night dramatic difference, being cloudy but dry during the day for most of the country, with less cloud at night.
Ken Ring

Hi Ken, I'm only new to boards.ie so I hadn't seen the previous thread/discussion/argument/mud-slinging match that was on this forum about a month ago. Having read basically all of it now it certainly has opened my eyes to something I hadn't really given much thought to before.

Let me state where I am coming from. I've a background in physics and chemistry and a healthy/obsessive! interest in meteorology. I have studied mainstream meteorology to a good degree and would consider myself relatively well up to speed on it. But I'm always open to new theories and will never reject one without first giving it full scrutiny.

I have heard of you before and listened to you a few months ago (on RTE radio I think?). Anyway, I haven't done any accuracy verification on your forecasts so cannot comment one way or the other.

I do have a problem though. You said above

More air on our side in the evening would mean colder evening air from space is blocked from reaching the ground. Therefore on the full moon night, when the moon rises at sunset, and the air height increases, less cold from space can reach the earth's lower atmosphere which means less clouds will condense to become visible and to drop their load as rain. That means full moon nights are generally clear.

It has been said that you are not willing to divulge your methods publicly (unless someone buys the 440 page book) yet on the other hand you criticise those that criticise you for not doing so; leaving you open to the tag of clairvoyant, eccentric/con-artist, etc. (I'm not labelling you as anything though, just so you know). The description above seems a very simple and non-scientific attempt at describing the physics at play, as if it were from a 9 year old school pupil. I would even go as far as to say that you don't really understand the atmosphere if that's the idea you have of it. It follows from that then that if you don't understand the atmosphere then how can you say

For 31 December, much daytime precipitation is expected for Armagh, Cavan, Clare, Donegal, Fermanagh, Galway, Limerick, and Monaghan. But the night-time in those counties should see relatively clearer skies.
The 30 January should be less of a day/night dramatic difference, being cloudy but dry during the day for most of the country, with less cloud at night.

in such detail without taking a sneaky look at conventional forecasts that are available for those dates now (except January 31st of course). Then at the other extreme you give intricately detailed local forecasts for specific days and counties 6 months out, which is impossible, I don't care what you say. Unless of course the 18 year 10 day thing is at play.

Now that I've given some thought to the idea of the moon-atmosphere system, I'm fairly sure there is a link, though to a negligible degree, certainly not enough to over-ride the other huge factors at play. There is a difference between marine and atmopsheric tides. Marine tides are many times larger due to the hydrogen bonding forces between water molecules, which is unusually high and gives water some curious properties. So the moon's gravitational forces are magnified throughout the ocean as if it were one body (like pulling a blanket off a bed). The molecules of the atmosphere, however, are infinitely farther spaced apart, especially at the altitude you say matters for your theory. So you don't have that same effect as with the ocean, and hence the tides are nigh on impossible to measure.

I have no problem with you doing what you do, but I do feel you would be better served divulging your methods publicly. If they are as good as you say, then why not let us all learn them and put them to use? You won't mind me saying you're not the youngest of gentlemen, and sooner or later the inevitable will happen. Would you like your methods to also die with you? Why not publish them and let us all judge for ourselves. Otherwise you will always be seen in a bad light by some. If they're as you say they are then you will be seen as a genius and those conventional meteorologists with whom you share a mutual hate will be quietened.

I for one will be keeping a close eye on your forecasts from now on and when they're right I'll admit it, when they're wrong, equally so.

Gene Derm

Su Campu wrote: »

"It has been said that you are not willing to divulge your methods publicly (unless someone buys the 440 page book) yet on the other hand you criticise those that criticise you for not doing so; leaving you open to the tag of clairvoyant, eccentric/con-artist, etc. (I'm not labelling you as anything though, just so you know)".

This is simply untrue. I have a free 230-page e-book called Predicting Weather By The Moon book available on my website for anyone to download. If I was secretive I would not make that available. I have repeatedly said there is more than one method, just as there is more than one way to get to Dublin. Some cultures (and Piers Corbyn) use sunspots, some use the zodiac, I use the moon. All are interconnected, like a giant clock in the sky. If it wasn't all connected with equations to describe the interdependencies they couldn't make astronomical models of it for planetaria. Ancient societies used them all. The Chinese had sunspots under observation, Stonehenge/New Grange-ites had both Moon and Zodiac, and the NZ Maori only Moon.




"The description above seems a very simple and non-scientific attempt at describing the physics at play, as if it were from a 9 year old school pupil."

I find 9 year olds often more receptive to simple concepts than adults who have fixed ideas. I try to use simple language because I think scientists like to employ high-falluting language intending to confuse and prevent understanding. In that way they preserve elitishness. I believe that ancient societies knew more about astronomy than we do today. But they did not have our words to describe it.

"I would even go as far as to say that you don't really understand the atmosphere if that's the idea you have of it. It follows from that then that if you don't understand the atmosphere then how can you say..
in such detail without taking a sneaky look at conventional forecasts that are available for those dates now (except January 31st of course). Then at the other extreme you give intricately detailed local forecasts for specific days and counties 6 months out, which is impossible"

Well, I have not had any sneaky look at anyone else'e work and would not waste my time with what conventional forecasts say about it as they will probably be wrong, as they were over their "barbecue summer" predictions at the beginning of the year. What I said for 31 December is based on the Moon's movements over the country, specifically its angles to the Sun. On 31 December the Moon will be the furthest north(N declination), full moon and perigee #5(5th closest to Earth for the year). The declination(angle to the north)dictates the temperatures and barometric pressure, the full moon dictates the timing of precipitation - daytime, and the perigee dictates the turbulance and intensity. There are other things going on, e.g.the Moon squaring Saturn, and opposing Venus and Pluto, which also spell out extreme conditions re-precipitation, but just for now let's stick to the Moon. But the 30 January is a different story, the full moon and perigee are on the date but the northern declination already passed.

"Now that I've given some thought to the idea of the moon-atmosphere system, I'm fairly sure there is a link, though to a negligible degree, certainly not enough to over-ride the other huge factors at play. There is a difference between marine and atmopsheric tides. Marine tides are many times larger due to the hydrogen bonding forces between water molecules, which is unusually high and gives water some curious properties. So the moon's gravitational forces are magnified throughout the ocean as if it were one body (like pulling a blanket off a bed). The molecules of the atmosphere, however, are infinitely farther spaced apart, especially at the altitude you say matters for your theory. So you don't have that same effect as with the ocean, and hence the tides are nigh on impossible to measure".

Well, my understanding of tides differs from yours. Newton's original work talked of angles of extraterrestrial bodies to earth and on everything on earth, like air, water and land, and what happens at multiples of 15degrees to horizon, in terms of gravitational pull. These are force corridors that nullify or magnify gravitation. Newton was an astrologer. Tides are very possible to measure, ask any fisherman. There is also a Land or Earth Tide in which the ground rises and falls by between 8"-18" per day to meet the transiting Moon. Google it to find out more. It is also measurable.

"I have no problem with you doing what you do, but I do feel you would be better served divulging your methods publicly. If they are as good as you say, then why not let us all learn them and put them to use? You won't mind me saying you're not the youngest of gentlemen, and sooner or later the inevitable will happen. Would you like your methods to also die with you? Why not publish them and let us all judge for ourselves. Otherwise you will always be seen in a bad light by some".

It is one thing to put out books explaining what I do (Predicting Weather By The Moon, The Lunar Code, Secrets of the Moon, Weather Handbook), and the many articles on my website. But you would have to actually read them rather than only read what others say about me, and to be fair you would have to study the Moon over a few cycles and watch weather and match it to cycles for any one location. You also have to be prepared to switch between several methods depending on conditions. It is wasting time complaining that I must be a charlatan because all this seems strange and new, better to just make a start by reading my free book.
http://www.predictweather.co.nz/assets/pdf/PredictWeather.pdf

And for my beginners gude to understanding the old astrology and constellations, and how they impact on weather, see
https://www.predictweather.co.nz/assets/articles/article_resources.php?id=165

cheers
Ken Ring

snow ghost

It may not yet be proven scientific fact, but I think it is reasonable to assume that if a full moon can change someone into a howling werewolf then it can equally affect the weather.

M.T. Cranium

Well, I guess this thread is about my comment, so I should try to explain something about my reasoning. As Mothman said, "it's all in the other thread."

First thing, Ken Ring (who posts as Gene Derm) has an independently worked out theory that I only learned about in recent years but my research into these connections goes back about thirty years and has only evolved in detail (considerably) from an original concept which is somewhat different from Ken's. I have been looking at the overlap to see if perhaps this is a case of two independent co-discoverers of the same process, but at this point, I have concluded that our theories are different (not opposite though).

Rather than trying to explain the differences, I'll just mention what my theory entails and why I made those comments about this period.

Starting with some research in eastern North America where I was then living (1980s) I developed a system of timing lines around the northern hemisphere, where "events" (low pressure systems) could be expected to occur at astronomical event times. These included but were not confined to the full and new moons. Some of the other predictable events were what I call northern and southern max (related to the moon's declination) and times of conjunction between the moon and Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and a few other significant sources of gravitational force.

The mechanism involved here appeared to be more complex than just Newtonian physics as the best equation of fit for mass and distance in studying these effects looked like it involved much less augmented values of distance and mass, something like sixth root of mass over third root of distance. I've been trying to do further research on the pure physics of this and gotten bogged down in a lack of similar findings anywhere in the literature, but I suspect that if the system is real, it is actually some sort of interference pattern in the earth's atmosphere set up in the magnetic field.

The timing lines tend to run from northwest to southeast, radiating out from a point closer to the North Magnetic Pole than the north pole, but as that difference has been decreasing in recent years, the grid itself is slowly moving around on the earth's surface. As mentioned, I identified nine timing lines and in a rather brief study of the southern hemisphere I found that these extended through the equatorial regions into the southern hemisphere where they all converge on the south magnetic pole region. The circulation around Antarctica is more cyclonic than in the arctic for reasons of the topographic barriers of the ice plateau, so it would take some further work to establish where the actual centre of the southern circulation is for practical purposes.

Now, if you've followed this so far, you'll understand that I found signals indicating that low pressure systems were crossing timing line one (located in the western Great Lakes and extending southeast towards the South Carolina coast) at predictable times. The latitude at which they crossed seemed partially dependent on the Moon's declination but there was some independent factor at work, which eventually I came to ascribe to influences of the solar system's magnetic field sectors on our atmosphere (through our magnetic field). This is the main reason why my system is not entirely predictable from lunar orbital variables alone. But to expand my understanding, I started to study British Isles weather in more detail to see how the systems worked on "timing line three" which runs through southwest Ireland in that same NW-SE direction. My general findings, about the same as for timing line one (as well as another study of western N America involving timing line eight, I number them west to east).

So my comments were based on this situation -- my long-range forecast for the winter (published elsewhere on the forum) was calling for cold spells in late December and early to mid January separated by a milder stormy period when the strong low expected from full moon (combined with northern max at this time of year) crossed timing line three. The pattern is, however, so suppressed by the Greenland blocking high (which was generally expected) that the low is tracking a bit south of my estimate in the LRF and is going to get further suppressed when it finishes occluding tonight, so the track is not supporting a brief warm-up except of very modest proportions and I was speculating that as it ran past Ireland to the south now, it could help change sleet back to snow along with the northeast flow sinking south to meet what's left of the low by Wednesday night.

Since there was quite a discussion going on about Ken's work, I undertook to crunch some pressure stats for Malin Head (no particular reason for Malin Head except that it is closer to the average storm track near Ireland than most other sources of data, however, any station in Ireland would likely show the same results) ... and for the period of mid-December to late January, you can see (over in that "Ken Ring" thread) that there are definitely pressure falls of 10-15 mbs around the times of full and new moon at these times when full and new moon are reinforced by northern and southern max. This applied to the period 1974 to 2009. I have been working on the rest of the year in my spare time to see what the effects are; so far I have only had time to put in about half the necessary data and it looks a bit like my North American research findings so far. The separate time series of 29.53 days and 27.32 days start to make the pressure signals weaker through the spring, then somewhat stronger again in summer (but summer low pressure systems are generally weaker) then it goes to a four-wave pattern in the autumn.

We've been speculating among several interested parties about the possible effects of the Jan. 30 full moon which has perigee support. By then, northern max is about 2-3 days earlier (unlike the current case of about 8 hours). So if we stay in this very cold, suppressed upper pattern, I would expect to see a couple of rather strong lows attacking along the southern route again. If the blocking has faded out by then and things are back to normal, which is somewhat more what I'm expecting, then two fairly strong lows should develop to the west of Ireland around the 25th and 28th and cross Scotland around the 28th and 31st. In the meantime, I would be looking for more disturbed weather patterns around the 9th, 15th and 22nd from other components of the model.

Now when Ken talks about the full moon having a drying influence on the weather, that is clearly another aspect of the theory, he's obviously referring to the correlation in the system being developed, that if you have timing lines at certain locations, then in between those timing lines you would normally find ridges of high pressure at event times (the interference pattern). Now I happen to think the timing lines are close enough to Ireland to give the nod to stormy weather at full moon as I would for climate regions like Japan (timing line six), the outer west coast of B.C. here (timing line eight is offshore and the observed lag is about a day, so the high pressure influence is more notable in eastern B.C. at event times), and the zone between Chicago and Atlanta in the eastern U.S., but New England would be more likely to be under fading high pressure as the full moon or other predictable storms developed to their west.

A complicating factor in this would be as follows -- in blocking patterns, the lows may be steered so far north or south that high pressure could take up residence over a timing line and in fact stay there through several events. And another complication is that the system of timing lines has an east-west oscillation factor based on the angular momentum of the solar system, so at certain times, timing line three (for example) drifts a bit further west and delays the effect for Ireland, while at other times it drifts a bit east and runs through Scotland and the North Sea. At the moment, I have been observing and expecting from theory that the timing lines from 1 to 4 would be shifting west. This is part of overall retrogression at work and also a factor in slowing down easterly motion of systems and inducing more stalls and loops. This tendency often flips back to normal and then swings the other direction a few months later as the retrograde systems make their way around to the other side of the hemisphere.

So I do see some merit to all the various concepts advanced, they are not necessarily contradictory, it's all a matter of positioning. When Ken implies that effects are "universal" (and I don't want to put words in his mouth on this detail) I think he means, generally true for specific locations. To summarize, I would expect lower pressures at event times near timing lines and higher pressures in between them (and being 40 degrees apart on average, there is a lot of room for ridges and troughs).

Hope this clears up some of the mysterious elements of my comments, but as I say, the research is a work in progress (in my case) and there are several other systems at play besides the ones I have described here. I do, however, have extensive evidence from the vicinity of timing line one for the processes and it's really better left to other workers given my age to search through extensive data for Europe to verify the same effects near timing line three.

Su Campu

Thanks for the post MT, a very good read and just shows what a lot of research you've done over the years. It's put some meat on the bones for me and has really opened my eyes to what you and Ken are doing. The way you describe it I'm sure you're on to something and in the future the theory will be expanded upon and put into good use.

Well done, and thanks again.

Regarding Ken's work, I haven't gotten around to reading the material on his website but it's certainly worthy of a read and something i must do before going back to work Monday!

snow ghost

su campu,

I'm genuienly interested to make an objective opinion of the varying points of view on this matter and would welcome a cogent agument in support of the differing viewpoints. I don't see that here.

From my own perspective - i'd view weather forecasting like medicine - i.e. I respect western medicine and science, and also equally respect the basis behind the traditional healing methods of ancient cultures, e.g. aboriginal beliefs that the western drugs derive a lot of medicines from.

I personally believe that each has its place and the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

Much western medicine has its base in traditional healing and plants used in ancient cultures to heal. I believe that the weather is much the same.

Gene Derm

snow ghost wrote: »

su campu,

I'm genuienly interested to make an objective opinion of the varying points of view on this matter and would welcome a cogent agument in support of the differing viewpoints. I don't see that here.

From my own perspective - i'd view weather forecasting like medicine - i.e. I respect western medicine and science, and also equally respect the basis behind the traditional healing methods of ancient cultures, e.g. aboriginal beliefs that the western drugs derive a lot of medicines from.

I personally believe that each has its place and the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

Much western medicine has its base in traditional healing and plants used in ancient cultures to heal. I believe that the weather is much the same.

I think that is a valid viewpoint, because there are so many factors. But all science is like that, and we do what we can with the variables we are aware of. My work is derived essentially from my experience of living right at the seashore for 10 years and observing the correlation between tides and stormy weather. I still think we overlook the role that the ocean plays in weather, as the sea and air are surely one system. I think the day will probably come when we can calculate coming weather from the frequency of wavelets reaching the shoreline. I did notice some years ago that there was a correlation, when rain is about, with the frequency of the showers and waves at the same location, but I did not pursue it further at the time. The sea and air are subject to the same dynamics, and it would be more weird if this were not the case.
If I am understanding it correctly what MTC is proposing is a kind of unified field theory of the gravitational and magnetic factors that the sun moon Earth and planets comprise. My view is that parts always symbolize the whole, and studying sunspots in isolation, lunar factors, astrological aspects or even just watching changes at ground level, will all render workable weather prediction systems, because everything is interconnected.
It is like having a choice of watches. One is tuned to the passage of days, one to hours, one to minutes and one to seconds. All will tell the time, but with the first, one only has to look occasionally, whereas with the last, one has to keep watching more intently. The moon moves very quickly, not only between signs, which are just functional positions around the ecliptic, but with respect to its combinations, threefold between declination, phase and aspidal line, providing quite a vast variety of possibilities that translate into weather events at particular locations. I invoke as many cycles as I can, and I find that all are actually multiples of one mathematical lunar base, so it matters less which cycle is employed - the same trends will still show up in all of them. The conclusion that I reach is that there is a geomagnetic standard upon which the orbits of planets and stars derive their motions.
There is no doubt in my mind that the earth with its magnetic poles north and south is similar to the wound core of a solenoid, and the way the moon keeps cutting the lines of force as it changes hemispheres is akin to the workings of a dynamo, which is why lunar equinoxes often induce electrical storms, and North and South declinations represent current changes, and atmospheric surgence. The incidence of earthquakes at these times is testament to geomagnetic instability.
The combination of the moon and sun's mass, their distances from and angles to each other, and their declinations, probably contain much of the whole story. It remains for computer programs to be developed that employ these factors. Until then any system of weather prediction that anyone has noticed, developed, or that any ancient culture has for a long time employed, is probably worthy of consideration, rather like getting into a swimming pool. It matters not where one gets in, as long as one takes the plunge and discovers one's own swimming rules as they progress forwards.
Ken Ring

Joe Public

This evening we have a blue moon and a lunar eclipse whereby the earth will cause a partial shadow on the moon around 7 to 8pm peaking at 7.20pm. I imagine in the astrology world this is a very unusual combination where you have New Year's also thrown into the hat. Will this have any affect on weather patterns?

Gene Derm

Joe Public wrote: »

This evening we have a blue moon and a lunar eclipse whereby the earth will cause a partial shadow on the moon around 7 to 8pm peaking at 7.20pm. I imagine in the astrology world this is a very unusual combination where you have New Year's also thrown into the hat. Will this have any affect on weather patterns?

The blue moon means nothing, it is calendric. New Year also means nothing to the moon. An eclipse is always relevant, as it means the moon is at node position. Nodes focus moisture and are typically followed by fronts.
Ken Ring

Joe Public

Gene Derm wrote: »

The blue moon means nothing, it is calendric. New Year also means nothing to the moon. An eclipse is always relevant, as it means the moon is at node position. Nodes focus moisture and are typically followed by fronts.
Ken Ring

Thanks for the clarification Ken, people have said to me that a blue moon means bad weather and I have wondered where's the connection.

Joe Public

Seeing as the snow showers have died off here's a few photos of the lunar eclipse this evening.

http://www.celbridgetidytowns.com/misc/lunar-eclipse-31-dec-2009/moon1.jpg

http://www.celbridgetidytowns.com/misc/lunar-eclipse-31-dec-2009/moon2.jpg

http://www.celbridgetidytowns.com/misc/lunar-eclipse-31-dec-2009/moon3.jpg

http://www.celbridgetidytowns.com/misc/lunar-eclipse-31-dec-2009/moon4.jpg

Gene Derm

The full moon effect will be that minimum temperatures should rise in the second week of January, then drop around Jan 16th, rise again, then drop around 22nd-25th (this is independent of specific lunar cycles).
cheers
Ken Ring