The resident astrology weather forecast gnome, Godric, recently seemed very pleased with himself. I asked why, and he pointed to this post, where he predicted the storms off of Florida, namely Tropical Storm Fay. Since I believe in instilling astrological humility, I asked Godric whether he could also predict the name of the storm in advance. He looked ashamed and ran off. I believe he’s working on the name prediction method right now. Despite his hard work on this, with the help of an airy sylph spirit, Godric was able to put together the following forecast for the U.S.

California weather for September 2008:

August 30 – Nice, cool weather, with fog or clouds. Saturn in the Midheaven with Jupiter conspire for classic autumn weather.

September 7 – Dry and mild, with some west wind.

September 15 – More western wind, still with fair weather. Mars, Mercury, and Venus in Libra conspire for autumnal weather.

September 22 – Western wind but the weather should be fair and warm. More Mars, Mercury, and Venus influence.

USA weather through September 22, 2008:

West Coast & Western Midwest: Fine, seasonal weather, with nothing out of the ordinary. Starting on September 22, we will see some winds and fair, warm weather, as indicated by Venus on the Ascendant, combined with Mercury and Mars in Libra.

Midwest (Minnesota down to the Gulf): Hot, but not insanely hot. Expect some moisture, too, especially in the north, but not heavy rain. Showers and clouds should be enough. Starting on September 22, you will see more seasonal weather, much like what you’d expect this time of year.

East Coast: Clouds, rain, and storms. Saturn, Mercury, and Venus in Virgo are all in the Midheaven, promising clouds, winds, and rain respectively. Because all planets are in a Mercury-ruled sign, wind is especially emphasized. The Caribbean is not going to have a good time. The clouds and/or cool weather will continue past September 22.

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The long-term weather forecast gnome is back forecasting California weather (at least in the San Francisco Bay area) for July 08. He has been on hiatus in the last few months, but this summer’s quite unusual weather forecast for California roused him out of his gnomish slumber.

California has been having hundreds and hundreds of wildfires, most of them started on June 20 and 21st by dry thunderstorms that swept through Northern California. Since the vegetation in that area is normally so dry this time of year, many wildfires started due to lightning with no rain. A smoky haze has been hanging over this area for a week, with little wind to disperse the smoke. The weather forecast gnome suspected something like this when he first examined the Cancer ingress chart earlier in the year, yet he was quite surprised by the sheer magnitude of the Northern California wildfires.

The Cancer ingress chart shows fire quite clearly, as it has Mars in Leo, a fire signs on the midheaven. Mars normally indicates heat, but in California in the summer, hot temperatures very easily translate to lots of fires. The fact that Leo is a fixed sign with all the angles of the chart in fixed signs, adds to the persistent nature of the fires. Not to mention the unwholesome smoke hovering everywhere.

The obscured Sun specifically is indicated by the Saturn-Sun sextile, and the smoky haze is brought by Saturn sextile Venus. Saturn-influenced hazes and winds are always unhealthy and cause breathing problems.

Amazingly, the full Moon before the Cancer ingress 25 Leo ascending, dramatically highlighting the Mars-Midheaven combination in the ingress chart.

From the ingress chart, we can see that June 22 was going to be especially critical with regard to the promised fires.

July Long-Term Weather Forecast

June 26 — July 2, 2008. The unpleasant smoky haze brought by the ingress on June 20 persists. Saturn continues to sextile the Sun, thereby obscuring its light.

July 2 — July 9, 2008. Pleasant weather, with some clouds and much-needed rain. Some isolated thunderstorms with intense winds.  Look for increased clouds/rain or cooler temperatures around the 5th.

July 9 — July 18, 2008. More thunderstorms and wind, mostly on the dry side.  The Moon will trigger some of this around the 12th of July.

July 18 — July 25, 2008. Possible rain, with cooler temperatures early in the week, especially near the 20th. Later in the week, isolated dry and windy thunderstorms. Some fires may result, but nowhere near the grand scale seen at the start of summer.

July 25 — August 1, 2008. More thunderstorms right around the 26th, continuing the conditions seen during the previous week; cloudy and unpleasant. The end of the week, around the 1st, will bring nicer weather.

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California weather in winter is usually mild, and more or less rainy. The main question when doing long-term weather forecasts for California winters is how much rain will there be. So far this year, we have had several major storms, which caused flooding and widespread damage. The extra rain was a relief, since last winter was very dry, and California was starting to run out of water. For a major agricultural state (California is the world’s fifth largest food/agricultural supplier), this is a problem.

I wish I had been posting on my blog around the start of winter, because the seasonal chart (the Capricorn ingress of the Sun) promised wet, stormy, violent weather in California But, from an astrological perspective, all is not lost. The rest of the season promises to be just as rainy as the start, particularly the last month. Below is a horoscope set for San Francisco, California, for the astronomical start of winter.

Note the Moon-Saturn square close to the angles. Despite Saturn being a dry planet in a dry sign, the Moon’s moisture adds a strong testimony of rainy weather. Mars’s aspect to Saturn gives all this rain a violent and over-the-top character (Mars is in the watery sign Cancer). Since Mars is involved, all of the planets aspecting it (Mercury, Jupiter, and the Sun) must also get involved. Mercury brings winds, the Sun and Jupiter promise more rain and thunderstorms. The only planet that deigns not to get involved is Venus.

Below is a chart for December 30, which preceded the worst storm northern California had in five years (on January 4, 2008). Note the close activation of the ingress planets and angles by the lunation angles, and by the opposition between Mars and Jupiter, with a very moist Moon contacting all of the angles also.

We will see a milder reprise of some of this intense weather during the last month of winter, when the Sun is in Pisces. The Pisces ingress horoscope Saturn is conjunct the ascendant of the Capricorn ingress, and this chart also shows very wet and windy weather, as evidenced by the Moon and Mercury contact. Without Mars and Saturn directly involved, I don’t think it will be as dangerously stormy as at the start of winter, but I certainly would not break out the sunbathing gear yet!

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This is going to be a pretty wet week, according to our resident long term weather forecast gnome. First, in the interior western states (Nevada and the like), the New Moon in Cancer, a moist sign, falls right on the ascendant. When I was traveling in Europe a few weeks ago, I experienced firsthand the meaning of a lunation in a moist sign (Gemini) falling on angles: it rained torrentially much of the time. At least I was somewhat prepared!

The horoscope for the New Moon of July 14, set for San Francisco, California, is below: 

At the very least, depending on the locale, there will be fog or clouds, and for any locations where summer rain is at least a possibility, it will very likely manifest at this time. The old texts say that the last 10° of Cancer are actually very dry, so perhaps the forecast isn’t quite as gloomy as all that. However, it doesn’t get any moister than Cancer. The wetness will peak on July 17 and 18th, when the transiting Moon conjoins the Cancer Ingress ascendant, and the lunation fourth house cusp, respectively. At least these two dates don’t fall on a weekend.

The second interesting element here is Mercury in Cancer on the ascendant, just leaving second station. Mercury in Cancer would bring us colder winds, especially around the 21st of July, when it conjoins the ascendant of this lunation horoscope. Mercury also rules the all-important fourth house cusp, further underscoring its influence for the week.

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As expected last week, the weather warmed up a bit toward the end of the last lunar cycle. San Francisco hit a sweltering – for San Francisco – 77F (25C) on Wednesday, thanks to hot Venus in Leo on the 4^th house cusp in the last lunation horoscope.

The horoscope for the upcoming lunation is below:

The New Moon (Moon conjunct Sun) in Gemini is inside the 7^th house cusp, bringing us some moisture. The New Moon is in a moist sign, so we may get some rain, or at the very least, more clouds/humidity/fog. This depends on the type of moisture typical in your location. The connection to Mars in Aries, which also rules the important 4^th house, may bring some unsettled weather. The old authorities say that Mars in Aries causes wind, but not rain, as well as thunder and lightning. So there will be an increase in moisture this week, “restless” weather, and possible – though not probable – thunderstorms.

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Summer is nearly upon us, but weather in much of the West has been relatively cool and windy this Spring (as shown in the Aries Ingress horoscope for 2007). Let us see what this coming week holds, and whether the colder weather will continue. The lunation horoscope set for San Francisco, California, is below:

We have a very warm, occidental Venus in Leo near the 4^th house cusp, so that will be our chief weather factor for the West this week. Venus in Leo will give a warm, pleasant temperature, and a stillness in the air, with occassional warm breezes. Rain is unlikely. During the coming week, it will be especially warm around June 13^th, with transiting Venus conjoining the lunation’s 4^th house cusp, and the transiting Moon conjoining the Ascendant on the same day, triggering this pattern.

Read the Summer Weather Forecast for 2007

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The Sun enters the sign of Cancer on June 21, 2007, which inaugurates the Summer season worldwide. The positions of the planets are the same the world over for the moment of the ingress, so the important features here are house positions and house rulerships, which will vary by location.

For this season, we will still give priority to our Aries ingress horoscope from the spring. This is for two reasons: one, the Aries ingress addresses the conditions for the entire year, so it is an “umbrella” chart that we must consult before making more specific predictions. Two, the old astrologers used to say that when the Aries ingress ascendant is in a mutable sign, we need to look at the Aries ingress and the Libra ingress only, to get a good feeling for each half of the upcoming year. This Spring, we had Virgo ascending here in the West during the Aries Ingress, so the Aries and Libra ingress is this year will be most important. So the Cancer ingress might be helpful, but it is not that important in a year such as this one.

The Cancer Ingress horoscope for San Francisco, California, is below:

Our Aries ingress indicated that it was going to be windy and temperate in 2007, due to Mercury in Pisces conjunct the seventh house cusp. So we have to keep this in mind as we look at the Cancer ingress horoscope. In this chart, we see that Jupiter rules the fourth house cusp, which would give us a warm and dry summer (no surprise there), though nothing extreme, due to Jupiter’s benefic nature. Also, Jupiter is trine Venus in Leo, which gives another hint of a warm but not unpleasant season. Last year’s deadly heat wave is not likely to return this year (it was indicated by the Sun near the ascendant in that year’s Cancer ingress, by the way).

Most likely, we will have a pretty breezy summer, due to Mercury’s continuing influence. For those of us in the earthquake-prone San Francisco Bay area, July may well give us a little bit of a rattle, as Mercury rules both winds and earthquakes.

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It certainly has warmed up in the last couple days, and the haze and fog has largely gone away (for a little while, anyway). Now that the Sun has moved away past the Aries ingress midheaven, it will cool off again.

Well, folks, I think we are in for more of the same. The upcoming week is going to be pretty dry, and I doubt it’s going to be as hazy as the previous week. For this quarter Moon, we have the ruler of the fourth house, Jupiter, trine Saturn, which gives us a sense that the dryness will persist, whether we like it or not. There are few indications of moisture for this week.  The lunation chart, set for San Francisco, is below: 

Transiting Moon will conjoin the lunation ascendant on the 23rd, but this will bring in more wind than rain, and perhaps some haze. The Moon will also activate our angular Mercury in the Aries ingress chart, further emphasizing the windy theme of this spring. The following few days, especially the 23rd through the 25th, will continue to be fairly windy. This is because the transiting Sun will square the Aries ingress Mercury, and then the Aries ingress ascendant.

In the next few days, I will be preparing the summer forecast for the West, which promises to be interesting, though not quite as much as this upcoming winter! In any case, if I have already posted the Summer 2007 weather forecast, and you miss it, just click the astrometeorology or weather links on the left to pull all the weather related posts.

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The Aries Ingress chart for this Spring indicated a cooler, more windy Spring than usual. It certainly has been windier than normal so far! This week will be dry, even oppressively so, but with persistent mist, clouds, or humidity (depending on your location). The Lunar phase chart for the US West coast has Saturn in Leo on the Ascendant, with our usually-ignored friend Neptune in opposition on the 7^th house cusp (yes, the outers seem to influence weather). Hot Mars in Aries trines the Ingress IC, and rules the Lunation chart IC, warming up the air and drying things out even more, so we wouldn’t expect rain.

Sunday the 21^st and Monday the 22^nd will be particularly warm and dry, as the Sun transits over the Ingress MC. Maybe even the mist won’t make an appearance on these days. Still, the unpleasant influence of Saturn in hot, dry Leo (which also squares the Lunation 4^th house cusp) will stubbornly make itself felt as the week goes on, so make sure your plants and pets have enough water. With Saturn in play, we might even end up on the warm, dry side of a low-pressure front.

The chart for our current lunation is below:

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In the San Francisco Bay area, our spring will be cooler and wetter than usual. This is due to Jupiter trining Saturn out of the fourth house, a combination which usually cools the air down a little. We also see cold Mercury placed in Pisces, a cold and moist sign, on an angle. This itself will bring more coolness and rain than we are used to, and due to Mercury’s close sextile to Venus in Taurus, we can be sure the weather will be pleasantly moderate, with some gentle breezes.

We also notice that the fixed star Fomalhaut (“the mouth of the fish”) is conjunct the seventh house cusp and Mercury, which we take as additional evidence of a wet spring.

Let us take a look at some salient Arabian Parts. The Part of Weather and Winds is at 21 Gemini, opposite Jupiter in Sagittarius. This combination would bring warm and dry winds, while Jupiter is trine Saturn would add a slightly stormy or unpleasant element to the wind. The dispositor is that cool and windy Mercury in Pisces, yet more evidence of a breezy spring. The Part of Fire and Heat is at 23 Cancer, and is not activated by close aspects. Its dispositor is the Moon in Aries, which itself is not aspected, so we would not expect freakishly hot weather. This is in keeping with the rest of the chart.

The Part of Clouds is at 5° Pisces, right on the descendant and conjunct Mercury, so we can expect fast-moving clouds with wind. The Part of Rains is at 11 Virgo is not closely aspected, but is again disposited by this very wet Mercury. We can expect lots of rain. The Part of Cold is at 20 Aquarius, contacted by a nasty Mars-Saturn opposition, and disposited by a detrimented Saturn. It will be a cold spring, indeed.

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