Massive Winter Storm Cripples U.S.

By Alex Miller

Over the last full weekend of January 2026, a massive winter storm made its way across most of the continental United States, dumping up to two feet of snow in its wake, bringing traffic to a standstill and having a literal chilling effect on commerce, with temperatures well below freezing.  Many regions also experienced heavy ice accumulation resulting in widespread power outages.  Winter storm warnings blanketed the country from Texas to Maine, with more than 200 million Americans affected, almost two-thirds of the population.

A forecaster with a savvy weather eye to the astrological skies would have noted a conglomeration of celestial factors which presaged no good.  Mercury (11 Aquarius) is the planet most associated with the weather, and its conjunction with Mars (3 Aquarius), Pluto (4 Aquarius) and the Sun (7 Aquarius) indicates a focus (Sun) on an extremely powerful (both Mars and Pluto) weather system (Mercury) that would be making news (also Mercury).  Pluto also has an economic effect, being the planet associated with billions of dollars; estimates of the cost in damage from the storm vary from $105-115 billion.  Squaring (90 degrees) this cosmic pileup is asteroid Iceland (9 Scorpio), suggesting the freezing conditions and ice accumulation.

The precise nature of the weather involved can be seen in a remarkable triple conjunction of three asteroids which relate to winter storms, which is trine (120 degrees) the solar grouping.  All three appear at station (1), a crucial moment in their orbital cycles which focuses and strengthens their effects and promotes far-reaching manifestations.  These are:  asteroids Storm (8 Gemini), with an obvious application to the story; Schneeweis (11 Gemini), a German term meaning “white snow;” and Snowdonia (14 Gemini), calling to mind snowy conditions.  These cluster about the US’ natal Descendant (12 Gemini), opposing (180 degrees) its Ascendant (12 Sagittarius), specifying where its effects would be most felt.

As well, a Grand Cross (2) of asteroid America (28 Leo) opposed Damocles (2 Pisces), squared Uranus (27 Taurus) and asteroid Winters (26 Scorpio) speaks to the looming threat (Damocles) of winter weather (Winters) in the US (America), with the potential to adversely impact power grids (Uranus, ruler of electricity).  Uranus also rules flight, and the storm caused more than 11,400 flight cancellations, leaving in excess of 820,000 customers without electric power.

The storm’s essentially inimical nature, with extreme cold prompting hardship and deprivation, is imaged in a square from Saturn (28 Pisces, indicating hardship, loss) to a grouping of asteroids Sturm (24 Sagittarius, German for “storm”), Nemesis (26 Sagittarius, an enemy or opponent), and Frostia (1 Capricorn, suggesting frost and cold conditions).

Notes:  (1) Stations are periods when, from our perspective on Earth, a planet appears to slow its movement, come to a standstill, and reverse course.  This is an optical illusion created by the triangulation between the sun, Earth, and any third celestial body; astrologically, it represents a focusing of the energies associated with that point, and often coincides with major life events or a radical recalibration of how that point has functioned previously.

(2) A Grand Cross is a major pattern comprised of four or more points at roughly 90 degrees equidistant from each other; this dynamic interaction can create stress, but also prompts action and motivates growth.

Sources: reporting from Wikipedia, CBS News; chart data from serennu.com; graphic images by author

Title Image Credit:  drawn by ChatGPT