Moon Struck: The Sequel

 

Home
Up
Temperature
Birth

Lunar Effect on Temperature

Purpose: To determine if the lunar phase will have an effect on temperature.

Hypothesis: I hypothesize that  prior to the full moon, temperatures will rise, peak during the full moon, and that temperatures will fall as the new moon occurs. The temperatures will be lowest during the day of a new moon.

Materials:
access to local weather forecasts on television or the Internet
paper and pen
lunar calendar
graphing program

Procedure:

  1. For five months, from September 2002, to January 2003, record the daily high temperatures.
  2. Using a lunar calendar, match the four lunar quarters to their coinciding day.
  3. Plot the data into a chart.
  4. Examine the data for a pattern.

Observations:

In my experiment I observed that in the months of  September, December, and January, the peak temperature occurred three to two days before the first quarter and three days after it. In October the peak temperature occurred three days after the new moon and in November the peak temperature occurred on the full moon.

In September, October, and January, the lowest temperatures occurred one to three days after the last quarter. However, in November the lowest temperature took place three days before the first quarter. In December it occurred two days before the new moon.

Conclusion:

I could make no definite conclusion as to the lunar effect on temperature. The data shows no definite pattern as to the relation of temperature to the lunar phase. The results were inconclusive.

See the Graphs