The full “snow moon” of February 2021 will glow in the night sky over the weekend and officially reach its full phase on Saturday 27 February at 3:17 p.m.
The moon will be 99% full on Friday night, 100% full on Saturday night and 98% full on Sunday night, so aerial viewers will have some great opportunities to see it. And despite the melting that took place when the temperature warmed up this week, in many parts of the northern United States – including Northern and Central New Jersey – there remains a decent amount of snow on the ground around a suitable add background to the ‘snow moon’.
In fact, February 2021 was one of the snowfalls in February recorded in the northern half of Garden State.
When to see the full moon
In the New York City area, the near full February moon will rise in the east-northeast sky on Friday at 17:02, and the full full moon will rise on Saturday at 18:15, also in the east-northeast sky, according to TimeAndDate. com.
On Sunday, the moon will rise in the eastern sky at 19:29.
The full “snow moon” in February glows in the air over the weekend. Here’s the so-called ‘wolf moon’ that pops up in downtown Manhattan in New York last month.Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media
Nicknames for the full month of February
Each full moon has at least one catchy nickname, dating back to the days when Native American tribes and colonial Americans would name each moon based on weather conditions, farming routes, and hunting trends.
The full moon in February is no exception. Although “snow moon” is the most common nickname – because February is usually a snow month in North America – some Native American tribes called the full moon of February the “famine moon” or the “little famine moon” because the harsh weather made it harder. for hunters to get food.
Other nicknames include the “storm moon”, the “leg moon”, the “shoulder to shoulder around the fire moon” and the “no snow in the path moon”, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. “The bone moon meant there was so little food that people gnawed on bones and ate bone marrow soup.”
The competing publication, the Farmers ‘Almanac, says early American colonists also referred to the full moon in February as the’ trapper’s moon ‘, because’ the optimal time for capturing beavers, foxes and mink was the death of winter when this animals’ coats were full. ”
The full “snow moon” in February will soon be in the air. Pictured is the so-called ‘wolf moon’ of last month as it rose above Atlantic City.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The next full moon of 2021
If you do not see a glimpse of the full moon of the weekend, you can look at the full moon of next month. The moon is known as the “worm moon” – a nickname that refers to the earthworms that usually come out of the ground when winter turns to spring.
Note: if you cannot see the graph above on your screen, click here to see it.
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Len Melisurgo can be reached at [email protected].