Full Harvest Moon Happens This Thursday Morning

You've probably been noticing the waxing Gibbous Moon growing a little larger each night. This morning, the Moon was nearly 95% of full under clear skies and cool temperatures. In fact, morning low temperatures dropped to 39 degrees in Easton and 46 degrees at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford. That's 12 degrees below the normal low of 58 and five degrees above the record low of 41. Skies will remain clear for much of this week, so we'll be able to see the Full Harvest Moon, which happens Thursday morning, September 19, at 7:13 EDT.

The Full Harvest Moon comes closest to the Autumnal Equinox, which happens this coming Sunday, September 22, at 4:44 p.m. EDT. Generally, the Harvest Moon falls in September two out of every three years, and this year is one of them. As you may have guessed, the origin of the name comes from the fact that at the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon.

Full Moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring Full Moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. There was some variation in the Moon names, but in general, the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior.

The Harvest Moon was the only Full Moon given the same name by both the English name and by the Native Americans. This Full Moon falls during the crop harvest before the Winter winds arrive. As days continue to grow shorter, farmers could work on into the evening with the light of the bright Full Moon rising in the East. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice the chief India staples, are now ready for gathering.

Usually the Full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night, just 25 to 30 minutes later across the United States, and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. The Moon rises tomorrow evening at 6:21 p.m., and it sets Thursday morning at 6:49 a.m., just 24 minutes before it is completely full.

Paul