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Wild Weather Forecasts2000-2001Astrometeorologist Jennifer Lawson predicts we're in for increasingly violent storms, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions over the next two years.
Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 7,
Number 2 (February-March 2000). An interview with astrometeorologist
Australian-born Jennifer Lawson is a long-range weather forecaster who uses a system based on the principles of astrometeorology. Since her first public prognostication (tropical cyclone Pierre, 1985), her predictions of the dates and locations of tropical cyclones and storms have been published every year in the Australian media. In the United States, where she resides part-time in the Houston, Texas, area, she has been featured in the local media every year since 1988 with accurate predictions of the dates and locations of each season's hurricanes. Having no formal training in meteorology or long-range weather forecasting, Jennifer developed an interest in weather prediction after reading a small book on the subject in 1980. For five years she conducted research into planetary effects on weather patterns and the tropical cyclones which form every year in Australia's Coral Sea region. Through her observations, Jennifer concluded that the planets do have a major effect on altering weather patterns. In February 1985, Jennifer had her first predictions of summer storms and tropical cyclones published by Brisbane's Sunday Sun newspaper. She was successful in pinpointing three out of four cyclones that formed in the Coral Sea that season, as well as 85 per cent of the summer storms. Subsequently, various Queensland newspapers published her tropical cyclone forecasts for every summer season, and Jennifer began to establish a proven track-record. Her greatest achievements in forewarning the public of fierce Coral Sea cyclones that would target the Queensland coast include TC Charlie in 1988 and TC Joy, the destructive cyclone that hit the far north coast in December 1990. With her cyclone forecasts for Australia proving successful, Jennifer, living part-time in Houston, had her list of hurricane dates and locations for the up and coming 1988 Atlantic hurricane season published in June 1988 in Houston's Uptown Express (Uptown Health and Spirit) magazine. Houston's Channel 2 Nearly Noon gave Jennifer a spot on the show where she predicted that in early September 1988 a fierce hurricane would move into the Gulf of Mexico. The fierce hurricane turned out to be Gilbert-a category-five storm which was so large it almost covered the Gulf of Mexico. The following June, in 1989, Jennifer appeared again on Nearly Noon, this time predicting that a fierce hurricane would target the South Carolina coast around September 20-22. Hurricane Hugo slammed into Charleston right on target. In 1992, Jennifer also predicted the date and formation of hurricane Andrew and that it would also target the US east coast. Jennifer Lawson has written her book, Violent Weather Predictions 2000-2001 (Llewellyn, 1999; see review this issue), primarily to forewarn the public as to when and where in the world severe weather patterns and earthquake and volcanic activity are likely to create havoc around the turn of the century. What follows is an interview with Jennifer (plus several inclusions from her book), in which she summarises some of her key predictions for 2000-2001.
1. How do you predict the weather? It's long-range weather, for a start, and not based on conventional methods of meteorology. The system I use is based on the fundamental principles of astrometeorology, which seeks to forecast weather by studying the angular positions of the Sun, Moon and planets in relation to each other and to the Earth. Their combined influences disrupt and disturb Earth's atmosphere, affecting our weather patterns. The celestial bodies' declinations-their angular distance north or south of the Earth's equator-are just as important as longitude and latitude when determining long-term weather patterns. For example, when two or more of the slower-moving outer planets are grouped together at their most southerly point of declination-23° south at the Tropic of Capricorn-the winter months in the northern hemisphere will be severely cold and the summers cooler than usual, while the southern hemisphere summers will be extremely hot and dry with milder winters. And vice-versa when the planets are grouped at their most northerly declination, the Tropic of Cancer at 23° north. Several planets grouped around the Earth's equator at zero degrees of declination appear to greatly disrupt and disturb the atmosphere, generating powerful storm systems. The influence of the planet Mars on the equator is perhaps the most effective planet of all in stirring up great storms, hurricanes, tropical cyclones and typhoons. Fierce hurricane Hugo was an example of Mars on the equator at zero degrees declination. How severe a season will be is determined by the declinations of the slower-moving outer planets, conjoined by the faster-moving planets Mars and Mercury. Because Mercury moves so quickly and rotates around the Sun roughly four times a year, its influence on terrestrial weather patterns is more pronounced and it brings dramatic changes in weather more quickly than all of the other planets put together. The planets, Sun and Moon act like characters on a stage. First, the outer planets-Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto-set the scene; then Mars, Venus and Mercury enter the stage as the major players. Lastly, the Moon makes the grand entrance on stage as the final "trigger" to them all. The planets also have a major bearing on the solar surface in heightening sunspot activity and solar flares-which also affect our weather patterns.
2: How do the planets affect sunspots and solar flares and how do these affect our weather? Research of the solar surface, done by RCA's shortwave radio expert John Henry Nelson back in the 1940s, revealed that planets do have a major impact on the unstable electrified area of the Sun's surface, where the most minuscule gravitational tug from the planets can create an avalanche effect, causing major turbulence in the solar atmosphere and heightening sunspot activity and solar flares. Electromagnetically charged particles and solar winds ejected from large solar flares stream throughout the solar system, bombarding Earth's ionosphere, disturbing our magnetic fields and causing powerful magnetic or electric storms to rage across the planet. Solar flares can also cause the molten interior of the Earth to move in powerful, circular currents, placing enormous stresses on the interplay of tectonic plates, resulting in earthquakes and volcanic activity. Our planet is a part of everything else in our solar system, galaxy and universe. Everything is interactive, interdependent and interrelated.
3. Why will the weather be so violent in 2000-2001? Although up to 2,000 storms rage across our planet at any given time, most don't make front-page news. However, in the years 2000 and 2001, weather patterns will be particularly violent for several reasons. Not only will the planets be forming powerful angles to each other, resulting in violent weather patterns, but the disruptive 11-year sunspot cycle, producing higher-than-normal sunspot activity, will peak in the year 2000, enhancing violent weather patterns. But this is only the beginning. In July 2000, three eclipses-two solar and one lunar-will bring floods of gigantic proportions as well as severe weather and quakes. But the major feature for the year 2000 will occur on May 4-5, when six planets will align in almost a straight line, with the Earth on one side of the Sun and five planets aligned on the other. It will be the first time in 6,000 years that such an alignment has taken place. The combined effects of all these factors will not only trigger violent weather, but powerful seismic activity as well. The effects of high sunspot activity can already be seen in the massive earthquake that struck Turkey on August 17, 1999, causing a domino effect of violent earthquakes targeting other areas of the world. If the recent spate of violent earthquakes is any indication to go by, the May 2000 earthquake could be a magnitude 8 or higher on the Richter scale, dwarfing the magnitude 7.3 tremor that struck Turkey.
4. What do you think will happen when the planets 'align' on May 4-5, 2000? Although the Earth could experience some fierce weather patterns and heightened seismic activity from mid-March through May, my major concern with the May 4-5 alignment is that it will place stresses on the tectonic plates, thereby precipitating violent earthquakes and possibly volcanic eruptions. Location charts earmark northern California as being potentially one of the major areas that could be hit by seismic activity in May, but not necessarily on the exact day as the planetary alignment.
5. Is this the "big one" to hit California, that everybody has been waiting for? It could well be the "big one", although June 12-22, 2001 is another date that will also need close watching for a major Californian tremor.
6. Are earthquakes and volcanic eruptions predictable? Yes. Using the same system I use for weather forecasting, earthquake and volcanic activity can also be predicted. Just for the record, my first public prediction was not weather-related at all, but volcanic-when I successfully pinpointed Mount St Helens as erupting on August 7, 1980. In the early 1990s, Houston's Uptown Express magazine published a series of earthquake predictions for California which rated about 70 per cent accurate, but since then I haven't worked in that particular line of prediction. So yes, it is possible to predict quakes.
7. Will other areas of the US be affected in 2000-2001? Let's look at 2000 first. I anticipate powerful tornado outbreaks, most likely beginning around mid-March throughout April, especially 13-23, with a particularly violent period from May 13-23. Floods could wreak havoc in midwestern and eastern states, including areas near the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys, from late June through July. California could also experience heavy rainfall and mudslides in July. For the Atlantic hurricane season, tropical storms will begin in July, with several dangerous hurricanes to watch for in August, mid-September and October. A fierce system forming in the Atlantic around August 22-31, possibly attaining category-five hurricane status, could take aim at Florida or the Carolinas.
8. And what about 2001 for the United States? The year 2001 will get off to a stormy start with some pretty severe, wintry conditions for the US from mid-January through February. Blizzards, possible ice storms, and lots of heavy snowfall will plague the northern states. The worst months anticipated for violent weather in 2001 will be from May through June, when severe tornado outbreaks could rip up through tornado alley, the Midwest and the Deep South. For the second year in a row, the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys are likely to experience major flooding. California could be either rocked by another powerful tremor between June 10-22, or targeted by a rare offshore hurricane that has meandered further north than usual. If an El Niño doesn't develop in 2001, the Atlantic hurricane season will begin in June with several fierce tropical storms. Other intense hurricanes should form around late August through mid-September, and several unusually powerful hurricanes are expected to form in October.
9. What about the rest of the world in 2000? And when? Among the countries hardest hit in 2000 will be India in the months of July and August, when one of the most severe monsoon floods on record will devastate parts of the country. The eclipse patterns occurring in July will also trigger floods in western Africa, northern Italy, Mexico and the British Isles. Several of the world's volcanoes currently going through an eruptive phase-such as Montserrat's Soufrière Hills volcano, Mexico's Popocatépetl and Italy's Mount Etna-should be closely monitored from April onwards. In fact, any volcano throughout the world showing signs of renewed activity around the March or April period could be in danger of suddenly erupting on a major scale in May, July or October. Heightened earthquake activity will most likely begin around mid-March, increase throughout April and peak in the month of May. Southern Italy, California, Turkey, China, Mexico and New Zealand are likely to be among regions of the globe affected by seismic activity. October is another danger point for earthquakes and volcanic activity. Countries likely to be affected by earthquakes in October are Mexico, Japan, southern Italy and possibly northern California. Violent weather could also target the Philippines and Japan, among other places.
10. Will violent weather and seismic activity be as bad in 2001? I think that violent weather patterns will still be ongoing throughout 2001, which gets off to a stormy start from mid-January through February. However, the time frame when I expect really violent weather patterns, possibly the strongest for the year, is from May through June. Many areas of the world can expect some "freak" storms during these months. In my book, I have listed other months when violent storm activity can also be expected. I don't think seismic activity will be as severe as in 2000. For one thing, the sunspot activity will be decreasing with the 11-year sunspot cycle on the wane, and the planetary alignment will be long gone, so stresses on the Earth's crust should be lessened. That is, with the exception of June 10-22, when powerful tremors could strike California and along the Southwest Pacific subduction plate boundary where the Australian plate dives under the Pacific plate. But I'm not entirely sure whether this influence will trigger quakes or fierce tropical storms. Quakes are especially dangerous in the Pacific Ocean, as they can generate powerful tsunamis-like the monstrous waves which devastated northern New Guinea in July 1998 and, more recently, Vanuatu on November 28, 1999. If a powerful jolt does hit the Southwest Pacific region, resultant tsunamis could threaten nearby island communities as well as the coastline of Queensland, Australia.
11. How do conventional meteorologists regard astrometeorology? Meteorologists do not place any credence in long-range weather forecasting because they are of the opinion that the planets are too far away to have any effect on terrestrial weather patterns. That's more or less their scientific basis for rejecting astrometeorology as a credible method. But then, science has always rejected new schools of thought. It took Christopher Columbus in 1492 to sail around the world to prove it wasn't flat and, less than fifty years later, Copernicus to prove that the Earth revolved around the Sun and not vice-versa.
12. How accurate is astrometeorology compared with the more conventional methods of meteorology? It is more accurate, especially in the long range. Conventional methods can only forecast the weather about two weeks ahead, and even then with constant updates. I have achieved around 85 per cent accuracy in forecasting weather patterns, long range, for specific locations, and the same for tropical storms. Australia's famous long-range weather forecaster Inigo Jones was able to predict accurately, twenty years in advance, the severe drought that affected Australia starting in 1982-which demonstrates how accurate astrometeorology can be.
13. How did you become interested in astrometeorology? My interest in astrometeorology and earthquake prediction began in early 1980 after reading a small book on the subject when I was living in Brisbane, Australia. Predicting violent weather patterns of the life-threatening sort was far more interesting and challenging than forecasting fair weather, and in 1985 I began to specialise, publicise and successfully predict tropical storms as well as powerful summer storms.
14. When was astrometeorology discovered, and by whom? The study of planetary effects on weather patterns is several thousand years old, and it was the Greek philosopher Aristotle who wrote the first known treatise on the weather. Throughout the centuries, his works were refined and expounded upon by astronomers such as Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Dr J. Goad and Sir Isaac Newton. English astrophysicist Dr John Gribbin and Washington-based astronomer Dr Stephen Plagemann talked about planetary cycles in their book The Jupiter Effect, published in 1974. Studying the planetary alignment cycles, they observed that when all the planets lined up with Jupiter on the same side of the Sun, around every 179 years or so, great earthquakes would occur on Earth. In 1981 I met two American weather mavericks-namely, RCA's John Henry Nelson and Caltech's head meteorologist, Dr Irving Krick. Dr Krick was perhaps the only conventionally trained weatherman to believe that planets do influence our weather, and he subsequently set up a multi-million-dollar forecasting business based in Palm Springs.
15. Which of your predictions have come to fruition? Since 1988 I have successfully predicted and published the date and location of some of the most notable Atlantic hurricanes, including Gilbert (1988), Hugo (1989), Andrew (1992), Opal (1995) and Hortense (1996). More importantly, for nine years in a row between 1988 and 1996, I was able to pinpoint the most powerful hurricane in every season. For thirteen years in a row, from 1985 to 1998, I also pinpointed and published the most intense tropical cyclone for Australia's Coral Sea region in every season. Some of the notable tropical cyclones include Pierre (1985), Winifred (1986), Charlie (1988), Aivu (1989), Joy (1990), Justin (1997) and Nathan (1998).
16. How accurate will your 2000-2001 predictions be? Probably not as accurate as if I was working on one specific location. My track record in weather forecasting for a specific location runs around 85 per cent, but I do not expect to be this accurate when covering so many countries of the world simultaneously. The more areas covered in predictive work, the less likely the accuracy.
17. You refer to Nostradamus's predictions fitting with events for the year 2000. Can you explain how? Of all the visionaries throughout the centuries, the French seer Nostradamus, born in 1503, would have to be the most well documented and outstanding in his amazing ability to foresee future events. Unfortunately, the fact that he so cleverly concealed his visions in quatrains, to protect himself from the Inquisition, has made it difficult for anyone else to understand them fully. Still, there are some interesting parallels between several natural disasters which Nostradamus foresaw happening at a time when "the great century draws to a close", and events such as great floods and quakes which I have pinpointed to occur, especially in the year 2000. One of the most interesting quatrains could even pertain to the May 4-5, 2000 planetary alignment, where, in Century 9:23, Nostradamus describes a massive earthquake to take place when the Sun is at 20 degrees of Taurus: The Sun in twenty degrees of Taurus there will be a great
earthquake. Every year around May 10, the Sun passes over this point and has done so for the past 400 years-and so far without incident. No earthquake of such cataclysmic proportions as described by Nostradamus has occurred on that date-which means that the Sun at 20 degrees of Taurus is not the only factor in the equation. On May 10, 2000, with the planets still tightly grouped together after the planetary alignment on May 4-5, the Sun will enter the fated degree that Nostradamus foresaw. This time, not only will the Sun be at 20 degrees of Taurus, but it will be conjoined by Mercury and the planetary giants Jupiter and Saturn, and all will be forming a 90-degree angle to the planet Uranus. This combination alone is explosive enough to trigger violent earthquakes and weather patterns, without additional backup from high sunspot activity and a major alignment of the planets. Maybe one of Nostradamus's visions will be fulfilled by coming true!
18. Do you believe that Nostradamus's prediction, that the Earth will be "plunged into the abyss of perpetual darkness", will come true in 2000? Nostradamus mentions this particular vision in the preface of his epistle to Henry II: There will be omens in spring, and extraordinary changes thereafter, reversals of nations and mighty earthquakes... And there shall be in the month of October a great movement of the Globe, and it will be such that one will think Earth has lost its natural gravitational movement and be plunged into the abyss of perpetual darkness. All of Nostradamus's works are open to interpretation, and although October's event sounds very much like an axis tilt, it could be more in line with a volcanic eruption. Earthquake swarms often accompany major volcanic eruptions where the ground sways around, giving the appearance that the Earth has lost its natural gravitational movement. Also, a thick, choking, ash cloud ejected from an explosive volcanic eruption can block out the sunlight for days, as has happened in cases like Mount Pinatubo, Mount Pelée and Mount Vesuvius. If Nostradamus is indeed referring to a volcanic eruption occurring in the month of October, then it could well be October 2000, for at that time the planets will be forming powerful aspects to each other which will not only result in violent weather but will also heighten volcanic activity to such an extent that we could witness a major volcanic eruption.
19. How do you respond to those who try to discredit your theories? No one can get the weather right 100 per cent of the time; there are just too many variables in the equation. But just because meteorologists can't get the weather right at times, doesn't mean that meteorology doesn't work. The same rule of thumb applies to what I do. So far, my greatest critics have been meteorologists. In September 1989, after successfully predicting the date and location when that fierce hurricane Hugo would slam into the South Carolina coast between September 20-22, a spokesperson from the National Hurricane Center in Florida said my prediction of Hugo was just "a fluke". The same type of comments came from Queensland meteorologists when I was dead-accurate in pinpointing tropical cyclone Pierre-my first cyclone ever! Right or wrong, there will always be critics standing on the sidelines, especially if you dare rock the boat of conventional thinking.
Editor's Notes: Australian readers may purchase Jennifer's book VIOLENT WEATHER PREDICTIONS 2000-2001: Countdown to Cataclysm for $23.00 including postage & handling within Australia.
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