The full moon and the weather

Does the full moon have anything to do with our weather? Does the weather change at full moon or at new moon? Is there actually more or less rain and does the temperature therefore drop or rise? A few questions that everyone has surely heard of in one or the other form …

If you ask a meteorologist about the connection between moon cycles and the weather on earth, it is pretty certain, he will answer by saying there is no correlation. Especially the frequently quoted change of weather at full moon or new moon does not take place, because the moon phases pertain as a cosmic event to the entire globe at the same time. If this change of weather should really exist, it would have to occur in all places of the world simultaneously. That this is not the case, can easily be proven based on weather data.

But how did all these weather lores (the name for the folk sayings about the weather) and the belief in the connection between weather and moon events emerge? One may assume that people have observed the weather during the course of centuries, because predictions were valuable, in particular for agricultural work. Notes were taken and correlated  with temporal events, i. e. seasons, months, day and night times. And because the moon displays another and clearly visible periodic cycle, it was an obvious choice to observe the weather conjointly with the phases of the moon.

In the age of global meteorology and weather observation, one has to remind oneself that the weather lores are of regional origin and therefore, if effective, only retain its validity if  looked at from a regional point of view. Thus evidently, they cannot be globally transferred and are not valid for every place on earth.

Let’s close today with a full moon lore that may not directly target the weather, but brightens up the disposition: »The farmer’s wife milks goats at night, just blame it on the full moon light!«

7 Comments

  1. Joyce Tunley | 25 March 2016

    As an ‘Outdoor-Person’ several other verses often proved useful.
    Halo around the Moon = Rain to come soon,
    Far-away ‘Bruff’ – Nigh-hand Rough,
    Saturday’s Moon – Comes it ONCE in SEVEN-YEARS, Comes TOO soon.
    If the Moon Comes IN on a Saturday and Goes OUT on a Saturday – we can expect the WORST in the Weather.
    These have been true over many years in the Northern hemisphere.

  2. divya | 9 June 2014

    not bad

  3. Julian Greene | 23 May 2013

    I find it funny that you say it could be proven or disproven by looking at the weather charts. But has anyone ever bothered? Perhaps they just dismiss it out of hand and never check. My predictions are far more accurate than the weather man’s predictions, and mine are based on the moon. I’ve been observing this phenomenon for 7 years now. I just looked at the monthly observed weather chart for my zipcode and see that there were only 6 days of rain this month–3 before the new moon, and 3 before the full moon. I have my theories that there is more to it than this, why we “think” it is not globally observable.

  4. Ryuki A. Kizuka | 24 December 2012

    What is weather of the snow

  5. Wendy Ty Chester CT USA | 13 May 2011

    I live in New England, and simply put, the week before the full moon is better weather than the rest of the month. No, it is not perfect. Yes, if you have no other way to pick your vacation week, you should try this. If it “sprinkles” one day, don’t blow a gasket, it is still a good week.
    Most often failures: when the wind is changing seasonal direction in the spring and fall (think April and October).

  6. Carolee Borgelt | 17 April 2011

    Great ideas * thank you for expressing. It can be nice to find high quality web sites that will get concise.

  7. Andrew G Verrall LONDON UK | 12 March 2011

    The fact is that what I READ THIS WEEK in a newspaper said, that not every time the moon is at its closest to earth, as should happen on this 19th MARCH 2011 DAY OR NIGHT, not every time there is a big world natural disaster, but sometimes this can and has happened. NOW, the wonderful website about the moon is so full of positive things, it is a pity to bring up the subject of distressing world news, but this website is the most wonderful thing I HAVE EVER COME ACROSS, JUST RIGHT FOR ME RIGHT NOW.

    So, to finish, thank you for the wonderful idea of this website, and the refreshing way it is done, the poetic thing in me lay dormant for many years but now, with time to think, you have awakened it, thank you for this. Andrew

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