Although the character of an entire season is difficult to predict, particular periods of the winter are subject to lunar forces that affect tides as well as the severity of storms. The first major storm period of the New Year (after the New Year’s Eve weather) can be expected to occur between January 9 and 14, when the continent is subject to full moon as well as to perigee, the moon’s position closest to Earth. The next storm period arrives at the end of the January thaw with the new moon