The Weather.

Manawatu Herald, 10 December 1895, Page 3

The Weather.

The weather. This is just what we are all intensely interested in just now, as besides the shearing there is the grass to bs cut, and in some parts crop 3to be got in. How are we to tell what the weather will be ? Has the change of the moon anything to do with it ? To reply to these questions we cannot do better than to quote some notes from 11 "Whittaker's " Almanack " :— Attempts have been frequently made to connect the state of tbe weather with the aspects of the planets, the changes of the Moon, or some other astronomical occurrences. The idea that the weather is dependent on the Moon's phases still finds favour with the vulgar, although any appreciable connection has been repeatedly disproved. It is perfectly reasonable to suppose that the Moon produces some sort of tide in the atmosphere surrounding our globe, as it does on the waters of the ocean ; but then, whatever effect this tide may have upon the weather would appear gradually according to regular laws, and would not account for the sudden and apparently capricious changes of which the weather forecaster most desires to be warned. | Dr Samuel Clarke published a table, founded upon this theory, for the prediction of weather changes, says as the result of a long series of observations. It amounts to this : If the new or full Moon takes place between noon or 2 p.m., or between 4 and 6 a.m., rain may be predicted. Fair weather may be expected when either new or full Moon takes place between 4 and 6 p.m., or between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.