Weathersage.com - The Great Plains and the Dust Bowl

THE GREAT PLAINS AND THE DUST BOWL

On May 11, 1934 a strong, two-day, dust storm removed massive amounts of topsoil from the Great Plains in one of the worst weather events of the *Dust Bowl era.

The Aries ingress for 1934 fig. 2 at Omaha, Nebraska reveals four dry signs on the angles of the chart. The ascendant sign will change by progression from Sagittarius, to Capricorn, then Aquarius over the course of the season - all three signs are dry.

Although the chart is located for Nebraska, the Great Plains region fig. 1 covers the area in the USA from Texas north to Montana and Canada at the 100th meridian at center.

Figure 1

Searching for other dry factors includes the ruler of the ascendant, Jupiter, in dry Libra, positioned at the midheaven angle of the chart. The Jupiter effect in a dry sign, Libra, plus applying to oppose Uranus in the 4th and to square Pluto gives great weight to the intensification of the extended drought.

The cardinal sign ingress charts are known as the chart of the Sun and in weather analysis, will show indications of temperature, mainly, and other factors of weather as well. In figure one, the arid Sun in Aries is applying to a conjunction with Mars in hot and dry Aries. Not only will the dry arid Sun cross the important 4th house cusp, the cusp of Aries covers the Great Plains region for the season. Hot and dry Mars covers the same territory. With the planet Uranus in the 4th house, in hot and dry Aries, offers the information that includes terms such as record-breaking, windy, violent and destructive.

Figure 2 (click to enlarge)

A QUARTER MOON CHART DURING THE SPRING OF 1934

While we can analyze the Aries ingress chart for dry conditions for the spring of 1934 (fig. 2), more detailed information can be excised from any of the lunations during the season. On the day of May 11, 1934, mentioned in a recent Old Farmer's Alamanac e-mail notice, the records show one of the worst events of the dust bowl era. To examine the lunation, the quarter Moon chart for May 6, 1934 is erected for which the date of May 11th is included.

Figure 3 (click to enlarge)

The analysis clearly shows the approach of hot and dry Mars to the arid Sun at the 4th house position. The cusp of 20 degrees Taurus is for Omaha, Nebraska and it could be measured westward to the left of the cusp at about 60 miles per degree. Visualizing the placement of the Mars and Sun in the area of the Great Plains and knowing the severity of the drought, it is easy to understand that the nature of the two planets, hot and dry, are influencing the weather.

Do not overlook the influence of Uranus (dry, windy) and Mercury (dry, windy) in the lineup of this heavy hand of Mother Nature. A similar lineup was present for the great unnamed hurricane of 1938 in southern New England.

An astrometeorologist would also add the factors of Uranus squaring the 1st house and the Moon applying to square the 4th house cusp.

For additional intensity, Pluto is angular, promoting violence and destruction and from old alphorisms, the applying Moon to Saturn which can normally indicate rain, is emphasizing what is going on with the current weather, in a word, dreadful.

* Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl

The Dust Bowl was a series of catastrophic dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands in the 1930s, caused by decades of farming techniques that promoted erosion coupled with severe drought. The fertile soil of the Great Plains was exposed through removal of grass during plowing.
During the drought, the soil dried out, became dust, and blew away eastwards, mostly in large black clouds. At times, the clouds blackened the sky all the way to Chicago, and much of the soil was completely lost into the Atlantic Ocean. This ecological disaster caused an exodus from Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and the surrounding Great Plains, with over 500,000 Americans left homeless (PBS). Many Americans migrated west looking for work while many Canadians fled to urban areas like Toronto. Some two-thirds of farmers in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan had to rely on government aid to survive (CBC). Others fell prey to illnesses and death from dust pneumonia and the effects of malnutrition.