Hi, if you have just joined this newsletter, which looks behind the weather and way ahead, and at the way the MOON creates our climate. These notes will be produced around significant weather.
Declination: at southern declination, meaning furthest point south Sunday evening at 2026 local time. At 23.083 degrees it is still midway between minimum(1996/7) and maximum levels(2005/6).
Apsidal: Apsidal refers to the distance from earth. It is 4 days before apogee. Apogee is the furthest point away from earth for the month. Today the moon is 398,701km from earth
Phase: 3rd quarter. Today the moon is at 1st Quarter, said to be 7 days old, taken from the point of New Moon.
Look in the sky tonight around 9pm and you'll see Mars near the Moon, just to the left of it and down a bit. Mars starts to move away in the next couple of days. In the old astrology, Mars heralded dry weather. The Moon is right now passing through the constellation of Sagittarius, also a dry sign. Then it moves to Capricorn by 27th, which is also dry, then Aquarius by 30th, also dry but changeable, then by the 2nd of next month the Moon will be in Pisces, a wet sign. You don't have to be an absolute astrology nut to notice that this matches up to what's happening right now.
Around southern declination we expect dry spells, followed by southerlies. It is also an earthquake-rich time. Increased winds accompany either S or N declination. Approaching apogee wind force typically remains light. 1st Quarter phase signals the end to unsettled conditions typical of the post-New Moon period. 1st Q is generally the most settled of the month. Any rain occurring during 1st Q comes in the morning only.
As you may have noticed from Freemonth on my website, the 25th-29th will be fine for most of the north of the country, due to anticyclonic conditions. Any outdoor projects should be considered now, as a wet October is coming, especially the first week of it. On 29th there may be showers in the Far North, lower Waikato, Whakapapa and Wellington. Otherwise most districts will be mainly dry for the rest of the month.
October 1st sees much rain to all areas, then clearing in the North Island until 5th/6th but largely hanging around the South Island until 6th. Overall October will be wetter than September. November and December will be wetter still.
Earthquakes occur at four points in the lunar month. These are at either N or S declination or when the moon crosses the equator. A flurry occurred yesterday in many parts of the world, including one in NZ measuring 5+. The next lot will be around the equatorial crossing between 2nd-4th October.
The spring equinox for the Southern hemisphere happened last Saturday. On that day the sun passed into the southern celestial equator and on the 22nd day and night all around the world were of equal length. The sun rises due east and sets due west. Traditionally it is the beginning of spring in places that divide the year into 4 seasons. Equinox is all about the sun, nothing to do with the moon. So-called equinoctial gales only occur when the moon is right on N or S declination or crossing the equator at the same time as the equinox.
The equinoxes and solstices mark these divisions. In reality different areas have different seasonal cutoff points. Down in South Canterbury farmers say the seasons go November-December-January-February summer, March-April for autumn, May-June-July-August for winter, and September-October for spring. In the far North they say there are only two seasons, wet and wetter..
Soon we will be reading about an ozone hole bigger than it's ever been. This happens every spring as wind drift brings the ozone patterns more towards NZ after the dark of the Antarctic winter. And that's when it gets measured. The so-called hole disappears by December, which is when we get our summer beginning. That is why there is no way the ozone hole can be attributed to any increase in skin cancer over the summer months. If you don't want to get burned this summer, just don't go out in the sun during a Full Moon or 3rd Quarter phase day. That's when the sun will be at its strongest.
Tekapo and Pukaki should get plenty of water around October 3rd and the last two days of October.
Drought in Marlborough this summer coming?
Well, the experts are saying that Marlborough will get a repeat dose of drought this summer around. These are the same experts who missed how bad the last one would be. And who missed the severity of the winter. And who didn't know when the hydrolakes would get water. I think there'll be intermittent showers in November plus a big dump a week before Xmas in the marlborough region which should bring soil moisture up. The driest month to watch out for over most areas of NZ will be next April.
Is now available. New format, daily weather predictions two days per page including weather maps and Moon information, for every day of 2002. Individual towns listed for every day, plus inventory for each month and 5-year ahead monthly rainfall projections for all areas up to and including year 2006. 230 pages, A5 paperback size. $NZ27 + 2 postage. To order yours, please send cheque to Ken Ring, P.O.Box 60197 Titirangi, Auckland. Sorry, no credit cards.
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