What moons produce cold weather?

Friday 14th March 2008

Aphelion

Aphelion, the True Midwinter’s Day, is always in the first week in July. This is the day when the Sun is furthest from Earth for the year. Perihelion is the reverse situation, when the Sun is closest to Earth for the year. Both vary slightly from year to year but the range is, for January and July, 2^nd to 7^th. The difference in the Sun’s distance from Earth from Perihelion to Aphelion, e.g. January 4^th to July 4^th, is about 9 million miles. In 2001, Aphelion occurred on July 5^th, in 2002 on July 6^th, in 2003 July 4th, and in 2004 it will be back to July 5^th. Cooler temperatures come to NZ around Aphelion Day and it is the why the first week in July is cold enough for ski-fields to open the season. On July 5^th, 2001, Aphelion Day, -12.2°C was recorded at Hanmer Forest, which turned out to be the lowest air temperature for that winter. On Aphelion Day in 1976, Coronet Peak had its best snow for nearly a decade.

New moon
Another Cold-Maker is the coupling of New moon and Northern Declination. The lunar declination is the north-to-south and back again cycle of around 27.3 days which is different from the phase cycle of 29.5 days of New moon-to-next-New moon. The July New moon usually coincides with the Northern Declination.(Let us refer to it as NM+ND). At the time of this conjunction the double gravitational pull of Sun and Moon on the Earth results in the formation of a cyclonic front to the upper left of the North Island, which builds as the Moon treks south from its northern position. At the southern end of this cyclonic swirl, just as two enmeshed gear wheels turn each other in different directions, an anticyclonic swirl is created which kicks colder air northward from the poles and onto NZ.
On July 15^th/16^th 1939, the same day of NM+ND, snow flurries were recorded in both Northland and Auckland, an extremely rare event.
On July 20^th, 1971, again the day of NM+ND, light snow fell on the Bombay hills in Auckland.

Full moon
Winter Full moon in our winter normally coincides with the Southern Declination, the Moon’s southernmost point each month (FM+SD). Skiers all over the world know that the Full moon typically brings snow. They are correct. Full moon always occurs in the hemisphere of the country experiencing winter. So during the southern hemisphere winter, just after SD, the Moon begins its northward trek and in the same way as waves on the ocean, by gravitational pull on the mass of the atmosphere, huge airflow swells or currents are hauled north from the southern polar regions. These become southerlies by the time they hit NZ. The exact reverse happens in the northern hemisphere winter, where the polar air this time flows from the Arctic.
FM+SD on July 21^st, 1976 saw 100mph gale force winds lash Kaikoura coast, the Waikato became flooded, much of Wairarapa was carpeted with snow and Nelson had its heaviest snowfall for 38 years.
July 20^th 1978 saw a bad FM+SD storm and winds so violent winds that an Auckland house blew off its foundations and a train with carriages was blown off a railway bridge in Te Aroha.

Aphelion + (NM+ND)
Sometimes Aphelion Day exactly or roughly coincides with the NM+ND day. Example is June/July 2003, as NM+ND occurs June 30^th and Aphelion only 4 days later. A doubly cold spell will be the result.

The coldest temperature ever recorded in NZ was at Ophir in Central Otago on July 2, 1943, which was Aphelion Day and also the exact day of the Moon's NM+ND. Temperatures plunged to -20°C.

July 2^nd 2004 will see perigee, FM+SD all on same day, just 3 days from aphelion. Will it be cold then? You decide...

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So what causes cold? The main factors include Aphelion, Full and New moons, also perigees and apogee. In the picture too are the astrological aspects of some of the major planets, but they are relatively minor compared with Moon position correlations.

Here now are a few other extreme cold instances in history. It is no coincidence that all correlate to the Moon. Only a sample list, but they were selected by a search engine when I requested "coldest weather".

Record cold weather in Australia
July 4, 1984 the day after aphelion and also day after perigee. Snow fell in Tamworth, in the Atherton tablelands in N QSLD, in the Snowy mountains in S NSW, also in parts of SA, VIC, and TAS. Overnight temp readings of -6degC were recorded in Mareeba, Malanda, Mutchilba, Emerald Creek, Bilwon and Koah districts. Snow fell also at Ballarat, Castlemaine, Maryborough, Toowoomba, Highfield, Centenary Heights and Ararat. (July 4th was also the day after 1st Quarter, and the Moon was about to cross the equator. The previous coldest maximum for Melbourne was 7.2°C on July 7 1973, also day of 1st Quarter and Moon just crossed the equator). July 4th was Melbourne's coldest day since 1901. Farmers in the Mallee were thrilled because the cold snap ended the mice plague. Snowstorms also hit Chile and Argentina on this day. This July was Sydney's coldest July since 1896. 3 days after July 4th 1984, snow fell on NZ's skifields

Highest wind speed ever recorded in the British Isles was on 20th March 1986: a gust of 173mph in the Cairngorms. Within a day of moon's N declination and moon's N node.

Most deadly natural disaster in the USA was the Galveston Hurricane of 8th September 1900, perigee (3rd closest for year), full moon and moon crossing equator all nearly on same day, storm thought to have killed between 10,000 and 12,000 people. All planets in N dec.

Lowest temperature recorded in the World was on Full moon and moon's N node day, in Vostok in Antarctica on the 21/07/1983, when it dropped to minus 89°C.

Coldest day on record for California: 23 December 2002. 3 days after FM.

Coldest Day in Texas..The Texas Almanac recorded February 12, 1899 as the coldest in Texas history (New moon and perigee on 10th).

Coldest day ever for Minnesota -60°, Tower, February 2, 1996. Day of apogee, S dec of ecliptic, 3 days before FM. All planets in S dec. According to Metservice data for Christchurch, NZ, that day, the maximum reached 34.7°C, the hottest day on record. The previous day had been 24.2°C and the following day the temperature dropped again to 30.7°C. The wind direction was 310 deg from north, the beginning day of a bout of norwesters. On the previous day the wind had been 70° from N.

Coldest day of last winter in Britain: January 7 2003 -20°C (-4°F). 6 planets in S dec.