Thought Catalog Agency

5 Zodiac Signs Whose Mood Changes With the Weather

  • Updated

The English language is chock-full of clichés about how weather interacts with our mood: “don’t rain on my parade,” “she has a sunny disposition,” “the conversation was getting heated,” “what you said was very cold,” etc.

There’s actually a science that studies how weather affects our mood and behavior. It’s called climatology, and here are some of its findings:

  • Sudden changes in weather, as well as extreme temperatures (either hot or cold) can alter our hormonal balance and mess with our feels.
  • People feel cranky and tired when it’s cloudy or dark out, while they feel happier and more energetic in sunny weather. This is because direct exposure to sunlight increases Vitamin D and serotonin levels in the bloodstream.
  • Cold weather can alter the mood in several ways: Being confined inside can make you feel claustrophobic and depressed. Combined with the fact that it’s darker in winter, this can lead to what’s known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
  • Humidity can cause inflammation, leading you to feel more irritable and sluggish. You may even find that muggy weather makes it harder to concentrate.
  • Extreme heat can lead to heightened levels of aggression, but so can heavy rainfall or prolonged periods of rain. On the other hand, the steady pitter-patter sound of rain can calm the brain.
  • People generally have more energy in the summer because cold and dark weather triggers the body’s instinct to hibernate.
  • Surprisingly, suicides around the world are more common in spring and summertime, due to the paradox of depressed people feeling like inadequate losers when everyone around them is active and happy.
  • Warmer weather leads to better moods than colder weather—up to a certain point. Once it gets over 70 degrees Fahrenheit, people get increasingly more hostile and even violent.

Here are the five zodiac signs whose moods are most likely to be attuned to changes in the weather.

I chose the first two because their personalities are either unpredictable (Gemini) or because they thrive on balance, harmony, and sameness (Libra). 

The final three are the naturally emotional and sensitive water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) because according to the book The Highly Sensitive Person, people who are emotionally sensitive are also susceptible to the slightest changes in the weather.

1. Gemini

Geminis are ruled by Mercury, and the word “mercurial” means “moody.” They are symbolized by the Twins, giving them a personality like day and night, hot and cold, sunny and cloudy. They bask in the heat and shiver in the cold. Like a kid awaiting their birthday, they count the days until June 21 (longest day of the year), but like a prisoner facing the death penalty, they count the days until December 21 (darkest day of the year). If given the choice, they would set the world’s thermostat at 74 degrees year-round. They also think that anyone who prefers cold weather is absolutely insane and may need to be institutionalized—or at least sent to a Siberian gulag.

2. Libra

Represented by the Scales, Libra is happy with familiarity and tranquility. Although individual Libras may prefer one kind of climate over another, mostly they’d be content if the weather would just stop changing and remain the same…forever. They dislike extreme heat or extreme cold, aren’t really fond of super-humid rain forests or arid deserts that render your skin as dry as beef jerky, but what sets them off-kilter the most is the sort of climate where if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes, because it’ll change. If the climate where they live is prone to sudden shifts in weather, Libra will most likely be one cranky-ass bitch.

3. Cancer

Have you ever read the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea, where a princess is so sensitive that she can still feel a single pea placed underneath twenty mattresses? That’s Cancer. If it’s sunny and warm outside, they want to roll around in the grass and wrestle ponies. If it’s dark and cloudy, they retreat into their bedroom and write poems about antidepressants. If it’s rainy, they cry lonely teardrops just to keep up. If the barometric pressure either rises or falls (I don’t think anyone really knows what that means), they somehow feel responsible. Like a leaf in the wind, their mood goes whichever way the wind blows.

4. Scorpio

The brooding, mysterious, intense, and possibly evil Scorpio is the eternal weepy Goth girl of the zodiac. They prefer weather that fits their personality—dark, cold, and rainy. A world filled with gloom. Weather that conjures a barren, lifeless, post-nuclear wasteland. Should the meteorological gods, in their endless cruelty, decide to bring sunshine or warmth, this sends Scorpio into an emotional tizzy. They recoil at sunshine just like a vampire does, and they will seek to retreat into their coffin lest the good weather kill them. In short, good weather makes them feel bad, and bad weather makes them feel good. I’m not talking about all Scorpios, of course. I’m sure there’s at least one out there that feels differently.

5. Pisces

The most mystical and spiritual of all the signs, Pisces tends to interpret meteorological changes as direct instructions from God. If it’s sunny out, they’re beaming right in tune with the sunrays. If it’s warm, they run around in public hugging strangers. If it’s cloudy or dark, they get mopey. When it rains, they sit by the window, counting the drops on their windowpane, realizing that they must endure this misery so that plants can grow and fish can swim. When it’s frigid, they turn inwardly and screen all phone calls. If the weather goes through a series of rapid and extreme changes, they roll their eyes and start wondering why God can’t make up his mind.