Full Snow Moon - February 14, 2014

Moon full today at 5:54 p.m. Happy Valentine's Day!

From The Old Farmer's Almanac:

"February's full Moon is traditionally called the Full Snow Moon because usually the heaviest snows fall in February. Hunting becomes very difficult, and so some Native American tribes called this the Hunger Moon. Other Native American tribes called this Moon the 'Shoulder to Shoulder Around the Fire Moon', the 'No Snow in the Trails Moon', and the 'Bone Moon'.  The Bone Moon meant that there was so little food that people gnawed on bones and ate bone marrow soup."

Full Wolf Moon 2014

From The Old Farmer's Almanac: "January is the month of the Full Wolf Moon. It appeared when wolves howled in hunger outside the villages. It is also known as the Old Moon. To some Native American tribes, this was the Snow moon, but most applied that name to the next full Moon, in February."

According to space.com: "The smallest full moon of 2014 rises in the night sky tonight (Jan. 15), and there's some interesting science behind the lunar sight... A 'Minimoon,' like the one rising this week, is a full moon at apogee, or its farthest point from the planet."

Photo taken January 14th 2014 at 42nd Street and 12th Avenue South.

Full Moon - February 25, 2013

The February full moon is called the Full Snow Moon.

Full Moon - Tuesday February 6, 2012

Full moon in February is known as the Full Snow Moon. The above photo was taken from the back yard. The street light in the alley is in the bottom left corner of the picture. I snapped this shot last night as I got home from an evening walk. I believe this is the first time I've used my own photo of the moon on this blog.

Full Moon - Saturday February 19, 2011

Full moon yesterday. The February full moon is known as the Full Snow Moon.

The following is from the Old Farmer's Almanac:

"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. European settlers followed that custom and created some of their own names."

"Full Snow Moon - February: Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, native tribes of the north and east most often called February's full Moon the Full Snow Moon, Some tribes also referred to this Moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult."