Though the moon does cause the tides here on earth, there's no link between the moon and any particular type of weather. However, a very rare lunar alignment will occur this weekend that has, in legend anyway, been connected to big storms.

Stephen Saxby was a 19th century British Naval instructor who believed you could predict the weather based on lunar cycles. In late 1868, he made a very-long-range and very vague forecast of a major storm somewhere in the world on or around October 5, 1869, based on the special lunar significance of that day: there would be a new moon, directly overhead at the equator, with the moon as close to the earth as it ever gets. This combination occurs, on average, just once every ten to twenty years. And wouldn't you know, a powerful storm lashed the northeastern U.S. and Canadian Maritimes with heavy rain, strong winds, and coastal flooding on October 4, 1869 - a storm that became known as "Saxby's Gale." Through sheer coincidence, a legend was born.

This Sunday, October 6, the same rare lunar configuration will occur again. But don't worry, there's no more reason to expect a storm at any given location on Sunday than on the same day in any other year. If we or someone else does get a storm, it's just the whims of the weather with no direct link to the cycles of the moon.