Full 'Harvest' Moon to greet sky watchers as another sign of autumn's approach
If you're lucky enough to get clear skies Monday night, you'll be treated to a beautiful display of the full Harvest Moon.
The full "Harvest Moon" rises over Seattle in October, 2017.
(Courtesy: Tim Durkan Photography)
SEATTLE - If you're lucky enough to get clear skies Monday night, you'll be treated to a beautiful display of the full Harvest Moon. It goes officially full around 7:55 p.m. Eastern Time but for visual sake, looks full all night.
This moon gets the "Harvest" moniker from 1706 for being the full moon closest to the first day of autumn, according to The Oxford English Dictionary.
While full moons happen every month -- sometimes even twice a month in a "Blue Moon" -- this moon does have its own unique trait.
While usually the full moon rises 50 minutes later each night, this moon appears to rise near the same time for a few nights -- rising only 25-30 minutes later across the northern U.S., according to NASA.
This allowed farmers who sometimes needed to work late by moon light some extra bonus evening time to harvest their crops, NASA says.
These days the Harvest Moon can provide a beautiful backdrop as the seasons begin their colorful change toward autumn. But where might you catch a glimpse?
Unfortunately, about half the nation is expected to be cloudy Monday night, including a chunk of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic back into the Great Lakes area.
Expected cloud cover among selected cities across the U.S. on Monday night/Tuesday morning, Sept. 20-21, 2021
(FOX Weather)
Chicago is expected to be socked in with Denver and Atlanta also mostly cloudy.
On the other hand, clear skies are expected to dominate the entire Pacific Coast and inland Northwest into the southwest and Texas, so get your cameras ready down there!
And if you do happen to get great photos of the Harvest Moon, we'd love to see them! You can submit your pictures here through our Stackla app.