Mars triggered the March 18, 2007 Solar Eclipse on February 26th. When outer planets reach the conjunction, square, and opposition of eclipse degrees there is usually a weather reaction over the places where the Sun and Moon were angular.





The Weather Alternative forecast for this period called for inclement weather for the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia in Canada.



The Pacific Northwest has pretty much remained unscathed by any inclement weather during this period. British Columbia, however, has been hit by a pacific frontal system. Here is an example of one of a number of weather warnings posted by Weather - Environment Canada.



WarningsCentral Coast - coastal sections


4:30 AM PST


Tuesday 26 February 2008


Wind warning for Central Coast - coastal sections continued
Southeast winds of 60 to 90 km/h will ease this evening.
This is a warning that potentially damaging winds are expected or occurring in these regions. Monitor weather conditions..Listen for updated statements.

A pacific frontal system approaching the north coast is spreading strong southeast winds of 60 to 90 km/h over the Queen Charlottes and coastal sections of north and central coast this morning. The winds are expected to abate this evening as the front moves inland.



The long-range forecast also called for a moisture-laden air mass to push up over the Southeast into the Ohio Valley prompting storms along the way.

Accuweather reported on the 26th that storms producing damaging winds, hail, and isolated tornadoes would hit the Southeast, especially Florida.

This next Accuweather map for the 26th shows the Ohio Valley being hit by a low pressure system that brought cold winds, heavy snow, rain, and a mix of wintry precipitation to the area.

February 2008 Weather Outlook

March Forecasts

Introduction to the Weather Alternative

How Long-Range Forecasts Are Made

What Enthusiasm Can Do For You

One of the greatest human needs of our time is a weapon to fight mediocrity, one that will teach us how to make use of zest and vitality and the creative forces buried deep within us. What we so desperately need is the capacity for exercising enthusiasm.

Having carefully observed people over many years, I am convinced that the individuals who achieve the most in life are invariably activated by enthusiasm. The men who do the most with their lives are those who approach human existence, its opportunities and its problems—even its rough moments—with a confident attitude and an enthusiastic point of view. Therefore, it seems timely to stress the vital power of enthusiasm and to suggest ways to develop and maintain this powerful and precious motivating force.

Enthusiasm can truly make a difference—the difference in how your life will turn out.

Enthusiasm Makes a Difference by Norman Vincent Peale

Venus Warms the East; Saturn Storms the West

The transit of Venus over the U.S. Northeast in this month's long-range weather forecast was the basis for predicting warmer temperatures over the area between February 24-26.



Accuweather reports today that an area of high pressure will provide tranquil days for the Northeast into Monday (25th). Sunshine will dominate a large part of the region. Since the high has not originated from the Arctic, temperatures will warm to typical late-February values.

On the other end of the nation, the Sun's opposition to Saturn (exact on the 24th) falls along the West Coast in the all-important Solar Ingress chart. This was the basis for predicting a stormy period for the area with rain, higher elevation snows, and cold temperatures. Saturn is living up to its long-established reputation.

Accuweather reports heavy rain and blizzard conditions over northern and central portions of the Sierras. High winds, between 50-70 mph will lash the Bay area on Sunday and push southward to the Los Angeles Basin. Soaking rains are in store for the northern two-thirds of California as well.

The Weather Alternative forecast also calls for severe weather over the Mississippi Valley are between the 23rd and 26th as an intensifying low pressure system sets off severe thunderstorms.

The next Accuweather map shows a low pressure area scheduled to hit tomorrow (25th) over the nations midsection. They foresee a major snow storm that will dump a swath of 3-6 inches of snow from the Midwest to the Northeast.

February 2008 Weather Outlook

March Forecasts

Introduction to the Weather Alternative

How Long-Range Forecasts Are Made

Worry

The word worry derives from an old Anglo-Saxon verb wyrgan, meaning to choke or strangle. If someone were to grasp you around the neck with two hands, pressing as hard as possible, and thereby cutting off your air supply, he would be doing to you dramatically what you gradually do to yourself as a confirmed worrier. Through worry you are actually strangling your creative powers. In an early Anglo-Saxon illustration, worry is graphically depicted as a huge angry wolf with teeth in a man's neck.
Relief from worry is what this book is endeavoring to provide. Even more than relief, it offers a positive cure in the form of vital enthusiasm which can actually cancel worry.

I have always liked that familiar and reassuring statement by Victor Hugo, "When you have accomplished all that you can, lie down and go to sleep. God is awake."

Enthusiasm Makes the Difference - Norman Vincent Peale

March Forecasts

The Capricorn Solar Ingress finishes up its three month tenure on the 19th of March and makes way for the Vernal Equinox chart to begin its reign over our spring weather. There is quite an array of angular planets across the U.S. Of the 10 heavenly bodies, 7 of them are lined up across the a 35 degree span that covers the western U.S., the Rockies, Plains, and East Central States.

The Sun is positioned at 85 degrees west longitude through the Deep South and in close square to Pluto. I'm hoping this will continue to bring needed rain for the Southeast, something that the Capricorn Solar Ingress helped to deliver.

The following forecasts are based on the Solar Ingresses mentioned above. Of course other charts must be consulted as well, such as lunations, eclipses etc. Time permitting, future posts will focus on their role in our 2008 spring season.


March 4-7
Mars now transits over the Mississippi Valley stirring up heat and triggering storms.


March 5-8
Aspects between the Sun and Uranus are known to lower temperatures and bring cold, dry air. The Rockies is the focal point now. Storms are likely to be triggered as the colder air mass moves into the region. A similar setup is shown over the Northeast.


March 11-13
Windy conditions or storms packing dangerous winds are indicated over the Mississippi Valley area.


March 14-16
Another potentially active period over the Mississippi Valley and eastward. Severe thunderstorms are possible.


March 15-19
This will be an active period for the West Coast. Mercury and Venus will perfect their square to Saturn. All of these are located along the California coast and promise a parade of storms over the area between these dates.


March 17-19
A cold front over the Mississippi Valley triggers storms.


March 20-22
A front or low-pressure system tracks through the eastern U.S. bringing storms from Michigan through the Southeast.


March 23-25
The conjunction between Mercury and Venus centers over 99 west longitude. A warm and moist air mass will be pulled northward over Texas and the Plains setting off storms.


March 27-30
Both Mercury and Uranus are considered "cold" planets in astrometeorology. Their conjunction on the 27th will set in motion the Jupiter-Uranus sextile, which is exact the day after. We expect lower temperatures and fair conditions from the Jupiter-Uranus sextile, but Mercury's conjunction to Uranus as well as Venus' conjunction to Uranus on the 28th may add a stormy factor to this set up. The areas to be affected are from the eastern Plains and western Great Lakes southward.


March 29-31
The Sun's square to Mars affects the Northeast U.S. The storms that affected the eastern Plains around the 27th will most likely arrive over the Northeast now.

February 2008 Weather Outlook

Introduction to the Weather Alternative

How Long-Range Forecasts Are Made

Reject rejection.
(Lisa Jimenez) Rejection to the sales person is the greatest form of failure. No one would want to be rejected, right? Wrong! There is one kind of person who doesn't mind rejection. This person is someone who understands the Law of Averages (LOA). He or she knows that it often takes ten rejections to get one yes. Thus rejection simply means you are that much closer to making a sale or getting a yes. Rejection is just a part of the journey to success. Reject rejection by accepting the Law of Averages.

Mercury Does It Again

The Weather Alternative's long-range forecast, based on Mercury's recent direct station on the 18th of February, called for colder air to be drawn into the Mississippi Valley, Southeast, and mid-Atlantic regions, with particularly intense storms over in and around the Carolinas between Feb 18-20.



Results

The Accuweather map at left for February 18th shows severe storms over North Carolina. The Weather Channel worded it as follows:



In the Southeast, some severe storms are possible this morning from the Delmarva Peninsula to the Florida Peninsula with the greatest risk along the North Carolina Coast. Damaging wind, large hail, and a tornado or two is possible in these areas.

Cold air engulfed the region as can be seen from the next Accuweather map and forecast:

After mild air overtakes the East ahead of the next storm to affect the region, another cold snap will be delivered by Tuesday (Feb 19th). Consolidating over the Great Plains today, the cold outbreak will sweep eastward to the central and southern Appalachians by Monday night (Feb 18th), then on to the Eastern Seaboard Tuesday. Temperatures will plummet for the middle part of the week with temperatures dipping below normal for at least two days. Following the departure of the cold front, frigid winds will make it feel even colder. At the same time, the cold winds will blow across the Great Lakes and trigger snow to the lee of the lakes.

February 2008 Weather Outlook

Introduction to the Weather Alternative

How Long-Range Forecasts Are Made

The Historian Josephus on Abraham

Berosus mentions our father Abram without naming him, when he says thus: "In the tenth generation after the Flood, there was among the Chaldeans a man righteous and great, and skillful in the celestial science."

Now Abram, having no son of his own, adopted Lot, his brother Haran's son, and his wife Sarai's brother; and he left the land of Chaldea when he was seventy-five years old, and at the command of God went into Canaan, and therein he dwelt himself, and left it to his posterity. He was a person of great sagacity, both for understanding all things and persuading his hearers, and not mistaken in his opinions; for which reason he began to have higher notions of virtue than others had, and he determined to renew and to change the opinion all men happened then to have concerning God; for he was the first that ventured to publish this notion, That there was but one God, the Creator of the universe; and that, as to other [gods], if they contributed any thing to the happiness of men, that each of them afforded it only according to his appointment, and not by their own power. This his opinion was derived from the irregular phenomena that were visible both at land and sea, as well as those that happen to the sun, and moon, and all the heavenly bodies, thus: - "If [said he] these bodies had power of their own, they would certainly take care of their own regular motions; but since they do not preserve such regularity, they make it plain, that in so far as they co-operate to our advantage, they do it not of their own abilities, but as they are subservient to Him that commands them, to whom alone we ought justly to offer our honor and thanksgiving." For which doctrines, when the Chaldeans, and other people of Mesopotamia, raised a tumult against him, he thought fit to leave that country; and at the command and by the assistance of God, he came and lived in the land of Canaan. And when he was there settled, he built an altar, and performed a sacrifice to God.

A Little Warmth

The Weather Alternative's forecast for Feb 13-15, 2008 was based on the Sun's trine to Mars. It read:

Forecast
Feb 13-15
A warm and dry air mass moves northward over Texas into the Plains.

The Accuweather map at left shows the warmth that will embrace the region today and tomorrow. It will be short lived however, but long enough to justify the long-range forecast. Afterwards a storm system will approach the area.

The National Weather Service in Oklahoma and Kansas reported:

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
NORMAN OK
610 AM CST WED FEB 13 2008

TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL REACH THE MID AND UPPER 60S ALONG WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES FALLING TO 15 TO 20 PERCENT...AND SOUTH WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
DODGE CITY KS
250 AM CST WED FEB 13 2008

.STRONG SOUTH WINDS WILL DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON. AS TEMPERATURES WARM...RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL ALSO TUMBLE.

February 2008 Weather Outlook

Introduction to the Weather Alternative

How Long-Range Forecasts Are Made

Ding Xiuling, a leader of China's Christian community, was imprisioned in October 1989.

Ding shared her faith with many of the prisoners, and they came to rely on her leadership. In one incident, which she described as a "miracle," she told the prisoners under her charge to take a break from working on a brick wall and sit down at a distance on the grass because it was such a pleasant day. Just then an explosion in a chemical factory next to the prison destroyed the wall where the prisoners had been working. The prison officials were frightened, but not a single prisoner was hurt. Ding recalled, "One of the officials grabbed my hand and said, 'Your God is truly a great god.'"

Strong Front and Storms Right On Schedule

The long-range forecast issued on January 23rd foretold of a storm system or strong cold front to affect the Southeast and mid-Atlantic area between February 9-11, 2008. The Weather Alternative forecast was based on the Sun's aspects to Neptune and Mercury.



According to the Weather Channel, an Arctic cold front moved through the Northeast and mid-Atlantic today bringing falling temperatures and snow. There were widespread wind, snow and cold-related watches, warnings and advisories in effect across the region.


The National Weather Service in Charleston, South Carolina reports that this strong cold front will advance through the Southeast overnight. No precipitation is involved with the front, but wind advisories have been issued for Virginia and South Carolina.


February 2008 Weather Outlook

Introduction to the Weather Alternative

How Long-Range Forecasts Are Made


God's Wonderful Creation

ScienceDaily (Feb. 9, 2008) — Natural flyers like birds, bats and insects outperform man-made aircraft in aerobatics and efficiency. University of Michigan engineers are studying these animals as a step toward designing flapping-wing planes with wingspans smaller than a deck of playing cards.

A Blackbird jet flying nearly 2,000 miles per hour covers 32 body lengths per second. But a common pigeon flying at 50 miles per hour covers 75. The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second.

Deadly Tornadoes and Midwest Snow

Tuesday, the deadliest outbreak of tornadoes in over 20 years killed more than 50 people across Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. The storm on Wednesday produced blizzard conditions across Wisconsin, while snow in Chicago forced the cancellation of at least 900 flights at O'Hare Airport.




Major weather concerns are usually connected to eclipse charts. In this case the lunar eclipse of August 28, 2007 placed a potent Venus-Neptune opposition over the eastern Plains and southern Mississippi Valley. The opposition at 19 Leo/20 Aquarius was triggered on the 3rd and 4th by transit Mercury and was part of the basis for the February 3-6 Weather Alternative forecast calling for precipitation over the Plains and Mississippi Valley on those dates.




A 20 to 30 degree temperature drop is on the way for the country's midsection accompanied by biting winds tomorrow (8th) into Saturday (9th) fulfilling the next Weather Alternative long-range forecast. This one called for strong winds to afflict the Mississipp Valley area between February 6-8.

February 2008 Weather Outlook

Introduction to the Weather Alternative

How Long-Range Forecasts Are Made


When Darwin wrote The Origin of Species, he could offer no good cases of natural selection because no one had looked for them. He drew instead an anal­ogy with the artificial selection that animal and plant breeders use to improve domesti­cated varieties of animals and plants. By breeding only from the woolliest sheep, the most fertile chickens, and so on, breeders have been spectacularly successful in al­tering almost every imaginable characteris­tic of our domesticated animals and plants to the point where most of them differ from their wild ancestors far more than related species differ from them.

The analogy to artificial selection is misleading. Plant and animal breeders employ intelligence and specialized knowledge to select breeding stock and to protect their charges from natural dangers. The point of Darwin's theory, however, was to establish that purposeless natural processes can substitute for in­telligent design. That he made that point by citing the accomplishments of intelligent designers proves only that the receptive audience for his theory was highly uncritical.

Darwin on Trial by Phillip E. Johnson

The Latest Conjunctions and Our Weather

The conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on February 1st and Mercury's conjunction with Neptune on the 2nd were the basis for The Weather Alternative's long-range forecast issued on January 23rd.



Forecast
Feb 1-3
A cold air mass descends over the Mississippi Valley area and heads east only to clash with a warm, moist air mass over the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions resulting in storms.A storm system pushes into the West Coast states continuing through the Great Basin area and into the Rockies.


Results
As can be seen from the Weather Channel map above, a major winter storm impacted the eastern United States on the the 1st and 2nd. Treacherous ice created hazadarous travel and severe thunderstorms blasted the Southeast.


The long-range forecast also called for a storm system to push into the West Coast States. As shown in the Accuweather map at left, an area of low pressure in southwestern British Columbia, Canada fueled snow showers for the Cascades and northern Rockies. The Oregon Cascades were forecast to receive over 6 inches of snow.


The next Weather Alternative forecast for February 3-6 is beginning to shape up. The forecast calls for precipitation to affect the Plains and Mississippi Valley between these dates.

Accuweather reports that a new storm is underway and will develop late this weekend over the Plains and will track east-northeast through the Midwest and Great Lakes by Tuesday (5th).

February 2008 Weather Outlook

Introduction to the Weather Alternative

How Long-Range Forecasts Are Made

Enthusiasm

Sir Edward V. Appleton, the Scottish physicist whose scientific discoveries made possible worldwide broadcasting and won him a Nobel prize, was asked for the secret of his amazing achievements. "It was enthusiasm," he said. "I rate enthusiasm even above professional skill." For without enthusiasm, one would scarcely be willing to endure the self-discipline and endless toil so necessary in developing professional skill. Enthusiasm is the dynamic motivator that keeps one persistently working toward his goal.

Enthusiasm Makes the Difference - Norman Vincent Peale