Precipitation: Rainfall and Thunderstorms

Rainfall

Monthly Rainfall

(Analysis of Dry and Wet months 1991 to 1997 using Sidereal Zodiac (Fagan), figures are from Drumburgh Auxiliary weather station: WMO 03209, an official site which is run by the author).

The two tables below are the result of computing the solar ingress for each month and then calculating the amount of rain that fell between each ingress. This is not the normal procedure, as meteorologically the beginning and end of each calendar month is defined as the rainfall period. The driest and wettest solar ingress months from 1991 to 1998 were computed, I then selected the wettest months, mostly those above 100.0mm (4") followed by the driest months usually below 25.0mm (1"), an inch of rain converted to millimetres equals approx. 25.0mm. The combined ascendant and anti-culmination (IC) signs (in astrometeorology the IC is said to represent one's locality) were then taken from each group and then laid out, as below.

Dry months
ARTAGECNLEVILISCSGCPAQPI
AS221010415120
IC343210100041
Tot:564220515161


Element: Fire 12 Earth 7 Air 15 Water 4
IC: Fire 4 Earth 4 Air 8 Water 3

Wet months
ARTAGECNLEVILISCSGCPAQPI
AS132144032011
IC212410152202
Tot:344554184213


Element: Fire 12 Earth 10 Air 6 Water 16
IC: Fire 5 Earth 3 Air 3 Water 11

DRY months: highest AIR 15 - lowest WATER 4.
WET months: highest WATER 16 - lowest AIR 6.

The above indicates quite strongly that the basic elements and their properties have some general bearing on whether the month will be wet or dry. The interesting thing is that in the dry month total the water element is very low and likewise in the wet month total the air element is also below the average.

Highest Rainfall days for Drumburgh Auxiliary Weather Station.

(Using the Capsolar ingress (sidereal Sun in Capricorn), quotidian prog. and Sunrise chart (SR).

I checked my personal rainfall data to assess the highest rainfall day for each year from 1991 to 1997. The list below shows the date and amount of rain for the 24 hours 0900 to 0900 GMT, which is the standard observing time for climatological purposes.

Year Date Rainfall(mm)

1991 10/11 27.5
1992 01/12 18.2
1993 13/05 38.2
1994 24/08 25.0
1995 15/11 29.7
1996 14/10 24.1
1997 13/07 32.9

The table below shows the quotidian (1 degree per day - angles) and sunrise (event) contacts to the capsolar ingress chart, only the AS. MC and A/M are used. The sunrise contacts are those made to the sunrise chart (AS, MC A/M) itself:

Aspects 8th harm. Total
Quot. prog.........Jupiter.....4
Saturn......4
Uranus.....4

Sunrise to capsolar...Uranus.....4

Sunrise (event)...Moon......6
Mars.......5
Jupiter.....5
Neptune...4
Venus......4

We can see that in the quotidian section that Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus are heavily favoured by the progressed angles for the rainfall day in question, I might add here that 3 of my rainfall days were thunderstorms and that in the sunrise event charts to the capsolar ingress charts Uranus (electrical!) in the capsolar ingress, was being hit by the sunrise angles on that day. We also find that on these heaviest rainfall days that the Moon is strongly configured with the sunrise angles. The moon being a planet of moisture/wetness this is no surprise, all these contacts are in the 8th harmonic series and within 2° of orb.

Now we come to another method of delinating a chart and this is an old Vedic method called "Chaleta Bhava Kundali", this method is also discussed in the chapter "Wind Velocity - Tornadoes" so please refer to that section. Just briefly, in the Chaleta system the planets are subtracted from the ascendant but in this rainfall section I also decided to use the IC as well as the AS point, the IC is more suggestive of one's locality and perhaps describes the weather more precisely than the ascendant point.

1991
Q1 A/M to Mars and Neptune.
sunrise AS to Moon and Neptune.
sunrise A/M to Pluto.
sunrise Venus to A/M.
sunrise Moon and Mars to A/M.

1992 (th)
Q1 AS to Venus MC to Neptune (AS) Uranus to (AS).
sunrise AS to Venus.
sunrise A/M to Neptune.
sunrise Moon and Saturn to (AS).

1993
Q1 AS to Moon and Neptune.
sunrise AS to Mars and Jupiter.
sunrise MC to Saturn.
sunrise Moon to Neptune and Uranus.

1994
Q1 AS to Jupiter.
sunrise A/M to Jupiter.
sunrise Moon to Saturn.

1995
Q1 AS to Neptune and Jupiter.
sunrise AS Jupiter (AS).
sunrise Venus to IC (AS).
sunrise Moon to Neptune.

1996 (th)
Q1 AS to Pluto and Venus.
sunrise A/M Jupiter.
sunrise Venus IC.
sunrise Moon to Uranus.

1997 (th)
Q1 MC to Neptune.
sunrise AS to Uranus.
sunrise A/M to Jupiter and Neptune.
sunrise Jupiter to MC.
sunrise Uranus to IC (AS).
sunrise Moon to Uranus.

NB: The year with a bracket (th) denotes that the rainfall event is associated with a thunderstorm, the planet with the (AS) next to it refers to the ascendant point instead of the IC point which are left unbracketed.

In the Q1 sections we see that Neptune has 4 hits from the quotidian progressed angles Neptune as we know is the main moisture retaining planet. The sunrise event charts show Jupiter with 5 and Neptune with 3 contacts to the angle points, Jupiter being the signal for copious rainfall. In the statistical analysis done by Garth Allen, Jupiter (Pluvius-rainmaker) is shown to be very prominent in record rainfall figures throughout the United States.

The table above also shows that the Moon in the sunrise charts is very active when it comes to the interaction with the outer planetary placement in the capsolar charts (two MO-UR in thunderstorm events), Venus also shows some activity with the capsolar angles, Venus is a particularily wet planet in astrometeorology which is testified again in the work done by Allen.

Venus -0- Jupiter as rainfall indicators

Now since we know that Venus and Jupiter are important rainmakers it occured to me that these two planets in their synod conjunction could be an important cycle aided chart to determine rainfall. These charts don't show much in themselves apart for a slight Jupiter angularity, but no doubt they can be progressed. The results are given below:

Q1 prog. angles to... Transits (sunrise chart) to angles

1991 MC to Neptune.
1992 MC to Neptune - Venus to AS.
1993 A/M to Neptune - Venus to MC.
1994 A/M to Neptune - Venus to AS.
1994 A/M to Uranus.
1994 A/M to Saturn.
1995 MC to Jupiter.
1995 MC to Venus.
1996 MC to Saturn - Venus to MC.
1997 MC to Neptune - Venus to AS.
1997 AS to Uranus.
1997 A/M to Saturn.

We see at once that Venus by transit (the day of the event or sunrise chart) is aspecting the angles to the VE-0-JU chart on 5 rainfall days with the quotidian progressions having the angles to Neptune in 5 cases. All aspects are in the 8th harmonic series +/- 2 days, in other words almost exact on the day.

Thunderstorms

I collected twelve severe thunderstorms from around the UK which were prominant in their severity and flooding. Looking at the last caplunar ingress (Moon into Capricorn) we find that the planets most prominant on or aspecting the angles were Mercury and Jupiter, Jupiter and Mercury are positioned on the angles in more than half the totals. Jupiter is often a planet associated with heavy record breaking rainfall. Mercury is defined as being a dry-windy planet so its influence is rather sketchy though saying that many severe thunderstorms have gusts in access of 50 knots so maybe Mercuries role in thundery outbreaks is no so remote as first thought.

On the day in which the thunderstorms occured (the event or Sunrise chart) I set about to see where the interaspects were in relation to the quotidian progressed angles, including the progressed A/M midpoint.
Mars and Jupiter each scored 6 direct hits (well above the other planets) from the sunrise chart to the quotidian progressions, Mars and Jupiter are both important indicators towards thundery situations, this is also testified by vedic astrometeorologists.

Alfred Witte the German astrologer famed for his hypothetical planets termed the Transneptunians, ... known as the Hamburg School and later the Uranian school in the USA, describes one of his hypothetical planets, Admetos, as meaning, "great intensity.., rotation, circulation", this neatly fits in with the updraughts and downdraughts inherent in thunderstorm activity.

Admetos may have some correlation to Supercell thunderstorms which simple put are coherent storms systems which propagate themselves, by this I mean that the updraught and downdraught circulation of air is finely balanced producing a self-sustaining system which makes the storm intense in which it can last for several hours, severe flooding is often the result. Though these supercell structures are uncommon in the UK, several do develop occasionally in the summer months. Admentos was also prominant to the capsolar quotidian progressed angles.

The severe storms at Hampstead 14th August 1975, Wokingham 22nd June 1960 and the Southern Ireland storm centered around County Kilkenny and Cork 30th June 1995, were supercell structures in that they produced torrential rain, hail and in the Kilkenny Southern Ireland storm some evidence of tornadic activity.

All three sunrise charts for these supercell storms show that the uranian planet Vulcanus is aspecting the angles:

Hampstead = Vulcanus -45- AS

Wokingham = Vulcanus -0- AS

S. Ireland = Vulcanus -135- MC

Vulcanus according to Witte is "energy, might, force and power" especially when it is attached to the angles, so we can surmise that on these days a powerful event would be potentially indicated.

Using the last cardinal sidereal solar ingress, which is the ariesolar ingress in these three storms, and also the main capsolar ingress, I proceeded to investigate the angular contacts. I also converting these aries ingress charts to the 64th harmonic to investigate the micro aspects.

HAMPSTEAD
Sunrise to CAPSOLAR angles = Mars (sr) -180- AS
Sunrise to ARIESOLAR angles = Mars (sr) -90- MC

WOKINGHAM
Sunrise to CAPSOLAR angles = Sun/AS (sr) -180- Mars
Sunrise to ARIESOLAR angles = Saturn (sr) -0- A/M

KILKENNY (IRELAND)
Sunrise to CAPSOLAR angles = MC (sr) -180- Mars
Sunrise to ARIESOLAR angles = Saturn (sr) -90- A/M
---------

HAMPSTEAD
Sunrise to ARIESOLAR 64th harmonic chart angles = Sun/AS -180- Jupiter (64) = Jupiter -135- AS (64)

WOKINGHAM
Sunrise to ARIESOLAR 64th harmonic chart angles = MC -180- Jupiter (64)

KILKENNY (IRELAND)
Sunrise to ARIESOLAR 64th harmonic chart angles = Sun/AS -90- Jupiter (64)

In the first section we can see that all three storms have a Mars theme to the capsolar and sunrise charts, with the Wokinghan and Kilkenny storms having the event Saturn exactly on the A/M of the ariesolar chart.

The second section, which involves the conversion to the 64th harmonic of the ariesolar ingress, we find all have a Jupiter theme, all three have the sunrise angles contacting Jupiter in the 64th harmonic. These two planets, Mars and Jupiter are usually prominant as thunder indicators.

Now if we use the main Capsolar ingress (usually around the 14th or 15th January) and progress (Q1) this chart, in other words the progression chart itself, for the event day we find that these three major electrical storms all have ascendants in Cancer with Uranus exactly on the angles, Uranus being the most electrically charged of all planets.

Capsolar Q1 Progressed chart.

Hampstead..... capsolar Q1 prog. chart = AS Cancer 23° with Uranus -0- IC.
Wokingham.....capsolar Q1 prog. chart = AS Cancer 24° with Uranus -0- AS.
Kilkenny.........capsolar Q1 prog. chart = AS Cancer 19° with Uranus -90- MC.

In the ariesolar quotidian progressed charts there is also some important contacts, but not as volatile as the Uranus in the capsolar charts, Uranus being the main indicator of electrical phenomena and its association with lightning, the Cancer rising may be a coincidence but astrometeologically this sign is one of the wettest.

The Lynmouth Flood Disaster (first published in the Astrological Journal 1998)

On the 14th August 1952 a staggering amount of rain fell on Lynmouth which became known as the "Lynmouth Disaster", the total rainfall for the 24 hour period 0900-0900 (14th to 15th), was 229 mm or nearly 9" of rain and as a result of the deluge over thirty people died as the cascade of water surged down the valleys of the East and West Lyn rivers bringing with it a mass of boulders which washed away hotels, houses and numerous cars.

The 14th of August sunrise chart set for Lynmouth has the AS/Sun exactly -0- Pluto with Jupiter and Mars 90° the AS if one includes the North Node into the picture then we find a Grand Cross. This alone indicates the potential for a great volume of rainwater to fall, Jupiter the rainmaker, Mars the fury and Pluto the extreme, Mars and Jupiter are classed as the thunder combination in vedic astrometeorology. The synoptic situation for this day had a slow moving depression moving east along the Channel.

Looking back to the last Moon caplunar sidereal ingress (Moon ingress Capricorn on the 4th August 14:19 BST) we have Mars and Jupiter lying across the AS/DS axis with Jupiter=A/M (45d orb 1°) and also Saturn 45d to the MC, if we progress this chart using the quotidian mean (Ref:1) (Q1, angles are moved approx. 1 d. per day) we find that the AS/DS angles are exactly with Mars and Jupiter again with the A/M mp. -0- Saturn. This chart with the same Mars and Jupiter configuration reflects the energies of the event chart.

The last solar sidereal cardinal ingress (Sun ingress Cancer on the 16th July 18:21 BST) has Saturn within 2d of the MC with the Moon being 135 the SA/MC mp., this foretells of public hardship and if we again progress the quotidian angle for the 14th of August we find the AS in Sagittarius 11° with the MC in Libra 16°, Mercury -0- Pluto are both exactly 135° to the AS with Witte's Uranian planet Vulcanus (Great power or force) 135° the MC, Neptune is also exactly with the MC in the 16th harmonic series (22°30'), but once again we find that Mars and Jupiter are lying across the angles this time the MC/IC axis. The Cansolar chart also has AS=Mars/Uranus which is connected to sudden violent events waiting to happen.

Looking at the 1801 UK chart (sidereal) and turning this into the 64th harmonic we find that Uranus in the sunrise event chart is exactly -0- the "Part of Flood" (Ref:2) at 22Gemini15, and more importantly Jupiter at 25°Aries45' moves into the UK Uranus midpoint tree with its various points of contact, this is not exact but since we do not know the precise time of the Union of Ireland chart I assume 1d difference is neither here nor there.

Uranus Tree

UK 1801 Uranus 9VI56

*Venus* 24°CP34'
Jupiter/Pluto 25°AR19'
*Vulcanus* 09°PI26' with Uranus =Sudden appearance of forces..thunderbolt...electrical.
Mars/Saturn 10°GE36' = Uranus= Sudden actions which separate with JU quick death.
Venus/Neptune 10°SG40' = sorrowful leaving.
Uranian "Cloudburst" 10°GE08'.
With Jupiter all these points are given added impetus and are enlarged.

Other contacts to the UK 64th harmonic yield, Venus to Venus (-0-), a wet day!, and the powerful combination of Sun/AS/Pluto and Mars in the event chart to UK 64h Vulcanus at 28° Cancer this is an extreme configuration, denoting very powerful effects this, by the way, also links in with the UK 64h SO/PL mp. 27°Aries04' = sunrise Sun/Asc/Pluto/Mars, and also the UK 64h. SO/MO 22°Sagittarius06' = sunrise Uranus 22°Gemini22', Witte describes this as an "exciting and trying day, sudden hostility or separation" whilst Ebertin has "shared upsets, sudden conflict".

References:
(1) "Primer of Sidereal Astrology" (Fagan & Firebrace pub. AFA)
(2) The Part of Flood is found by taking the Sun+Saturn-Moon

The Wettest Day - Record Rainfall at Martinstown Dorset 18th July 1955

The small town of Martinstown has the honour of being the location for the highest recorded rainfall for the British Isles when 279 mm (11") fell in 24 hours, this record still stands to this day. The cause of this incredible rainfall figure was due to an almost continous line of slow moving thunderstorms.

The sunrise chart for the 18th has the Sun/Asc at 0Cancer39 with the MC 4Pisces19 (both water signs!), we find Uranus close to the SO/AS at 3Cancer38 with Neptune even closer at 1Libra22, Saturn was also making a -135- to the MC plus if we include the uranian Vulcanus (Great power) at 2Gemini21 -90- MC, we have all-in- all, an exceptional summers day destined for the record books.

MC = SA = Vulcanus.

The important midpoints in the sunrise chart using the 32nd H (11°15') with an orb of 0.30' are:

A/M = Mars.
A = Mars/Jupiter.
M = Jupiter/Uranus.
M = Saturn/Vulcanus.

Looking back to the last sidereal Caplunar chart (Moon into Capricorn 6th July 05:45 BST) we have Jupiter -135- the MC with Venus -22.30- the ascendant, both these planets are major rainmakers, as with the sunrise chart the midpoints ring a familiar tone:

A = Jupiter/Uranus.
A = Saturn/Vulcanus.
A = Sun/Uranus and Sun/Mars.

The sidereal Cansolar ingress (Sun into Cancer 17th July 12:45 BST) which is one of our base or seed charts, has Uranus 11°15' (32nd H) to the ascendant and the midpoint structures correlate with both the sunrise and caplunar midpoints as follows:

Midpoints in Cansolar chart....Midpoints in caplunar...Midpoints in Sunrise (event) chart
A/M = Jupiter........................................................................A/M = Mars
A = Mars/Jupiter...................................................................A = Mars/Jupiter
A = Sun/Neptune..........................A = Sun/Uranus..............A = Sun/Neptune
M = Sun/Pluto................................................................................................
......................................................A = Saturn/Vulcanus......M = Saturn/Vulcanus
......................................................A = Jupiter/Uranus.........M = Jupiter/Uranus

[NB: Of course the cansolar is within one day of the event so most of the midpoints will remain the same]

I've highlighted the Saturn/Vulcanus and Jupiter/Uranus midpoints as these are shown in both the sunrise and caplunar charts, the Jupiter/Uranus midpoints are interesting as these two can be contributed to atmospheric uplift (Jupiter) and turbulence (Uranus) an ingredient necessary for the formation of thunderstorms. Also the Mars/Jupiter (Mars giving the heat and humidity with Jupiter's role of uplift and release = rain) combinations are also very important factors in the sunrise chart and cansolar charts, as we have mention a few times before, these two are the prime thunder combination.

If we now progress the caplunar chart to the 18th July for a time of 0900 hours using the Q1 angle progressions we find:

Q1 progression chart
Caplunar Quot. p. AS = 4° Cancer = -0- Uranus, -0- Mars and -90- Neptune.
Caplunar Quot. p. MC = 10° Pisces = -135- uranian "Destructive Thunderstorm".

(The reason for using a time of 0900 is that this is the usual time for recording rainfall for the 24 hour period 0900 to 0900 GMT.)

One can see that the last cardinal lunar ingress is a powerful chart both natally and by progression, the Uranus and Neptune theme is matched with the same Uranus and Neptune contact in the sunrise chart, another case for exact planetary symmetry working out.

The sunrise chart to the 1801 UK chart show many interesting contacts, all contacts are in the 4th H series with an orb of 4d, (e) refers to the aspect being exact:

Sunrise to UK chart

Mercury = Uranus & Vulcanus and uranian "Storms".
Venus = Sun (e) (Rain).
Mars = Jupiter (e) (Thunder combination).
Saturn = Mars (e).
Pluto = Saturn (e).
N. Node = Uranian "Floods" (e) and "Rainstorm" (e).
Sunrise to the 64th harmonic UK chart.
AS/Sun = app. to Jupiter & Neptune.
Mercury = Uranian "Storms/Floods" (e).
Venus = Uranian "Cloudburst".
Mars = Mars.
Saturn = Uranian Hades (e).
Uranus = Jupiter (e) Neptune (e) and uranian "Storms".
Pluto = Saturn.
MC = Uranus.
N. Node = Uranian "Thunder with damage" (e).

See the article on the UK charts 1801 and 1707 in relation to severe weather for more in-depth information.

Most Thunder Reported each Month by Climat. Stations (source: Journal of Meteorology)

This section deals with an interesting study on the distribution of thunder reported by climatological stations throughout the UK, the total value of each station reporting thunder was added and the monthly totals are given below:

DateYearNo.of
stations		%
11 Jan 197415929.3
22 Feb 199513224.7
21 Mar 198310020.5
29 Apr 198711021.7
20 May 198121943.8
24 Jun 199425346.9
14 Jul 198221243.4
08 Aug 197529356.9
15 Sep 197318032.5
03 Oct 198413226.7
12 Nov 19916912.4
07 Dec 19769819.9

So for example, on the 8th of August 1975, 293 climate stations reported thunder which represents nearly 57% of the total climate stations in the UK, see more on this thundery day below.

Collating all the years and using the quotidian progression rate from the last capsolar (Capricorn sidereal Sun ingress) we find that the progressed angles are contacting Uranus (electrical) in 5 cases on the day of the event or the sunrise chart. The last caplunar (Capricorn sidereal Moon ingress) chart has Mercury either on or aspecting an angle in 9 instances, Mercury is also classed as an electrical trigger, with Mars (thunder) in 7 cases.

Using the UK 1801 chart we find that the UK Uranus, Venus and Vulcanus are being aspected 7 out of the 12 totals by either transiting Mercury or Mars, Witte also defines Uranus + Vulcan as "Lightning and thunderbolts". So we can surmise that this degree area on the UK chart is particularily sensitive to electrical disturbances, in fact the UK Uranus tree has the potential for severe weather, which also includes the uranian picture cloudburst and lightning/thunderbolt, see article on the UK 1801 chart and weather interaction.

Uranus tree:

UR 9VI56

-*VE*- 24CP34
-JU/PL- 25AR19
-*VU*- 9PI26
-MA/SA- 10GE36
-VE/NE- 10SG40
Cloudburst 10GE08
Lightning/Thunderbolt 10PI31

Most Thundery Day in the UK - 8th August 1975

On this day 293 climat. stations (Climatological stations) reported thunderstorms or thunder in their vicinity this represents nearly 57% of the total network of climat. stations in the UK.

The sunrise chart (event 04:39:57 GMT London) for this day has the Sun and Asc. at 20°37' Cancer with the MC 3°24' Aries. Looking at the sunrise aspects we find Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus all within 3° in hard aspect to the MC, the potential here for wet, threatening and thundery conditions.

Looking at the last caplunar chart (Moon sidereal ingress into Capricorn - 22nd July 19:08 GMT) has Mars being hit exactly 90° by the transiting sunrise Sun/Asc, a hot and humid day, with the sunrise MC 1° (applying) to the caplunar Sun and also 180° the Sun/Moon and Pluto/MC midpoint.

Looking at the seasonal ingress chart, the cansolar (sidereal Sun ingress into Cancer 17th July 1975 14:37 GMT London), the asc 20°Libra23' falls perfectly with the sunrise Sun/AS 90°, therefore setting off the chart and we find that Mars is 3° from the sunrise Sun/AS (90°) and 180° the Moon/Mars midpoint.

If we progress the cansolar chart we find that the A/M progressed midpoint at 3°Libra10' is applying to Uranus in the cansolar chart at 4°Libra and also kicks into the sunrise MC at 3° Aries. The potential for electrical disturbances in the atmosphere are greatly enhanced by this configuration.

With Mars and Uranus being key factors in these charts the high temperatures and high humidity are important ingredients for a thundery outbreak, Uranus denotes upper air cooling and a rapid acceleration of uplift which produce the type of cloud called cumulonimbus with the resulting thunderstorms.

Interestingly, the sunrise Mars at 1°Taurus24' is exactly (within the minute) 90° to Saturn in the 1801 Union chart. Pearce describes this as a "Great disturbance of weather" (Text-Book of Astrology Book III Astro-meteorology), but not only that we also find that the sunrise Sun/AS is within 1° of the 1801 UK chart Mars at 1° Aries, and using the 64th harmonic Union chart, exactly with the Uranian planet Hades which describes an "unpleasant" day.

Similiar patterns in two severe Thunderstorms

6th June 1982 and 13th July 1997 using the capsolar and quotidian progressions

13 July 1997 Carlisle Thunderstorm/flooding
Sunrise chart contacts to capsolar chart.

SO/AS 26° Gemini = Pluto.
MC 22° Aquarius = Uranus.
A/M 24° Aries = Saturn and Mars.

6 June 1982 Carlisle Thunderstorm/severe flooding.

Sunrise chart contacts to capsolar chart

SO/AS 20° Taurus = Pluto.
MC 11° Capricorn = Jupiter and Venus.
A/M 15° Pisces = Mars.

Capsolar Quotidian progressed angle contacts orb 1°

1997: Progressed MC to progressed Saturn - 135°
1982: Progressed MC to progressed Saturn - 045°

1997: Progressed MC to sunrise Jupiter - 90°
1982: Progressed AS to sunrise Jupiter - 90°

© Carl A Matthews 1998