The Snow Moon Is Tonight

The snow moon is actually just the name for a full moon that occurs in February and refers to the time of year when snow is likely to occur because it is cold in the Northern Hemisphere.

There is typically one full moon a month, which means 12 full moons a year. (Every two to three years we have 13 full moons because our calendar months and our lunar months aren't an exact match so another moon, known as the Blue Moon, gets squeezed in).

Traditionally, every full moon has a nickname that reflects a characteristic of the month in which they appear. For example the Flower moon in June during the late spring or the Harvest moon in September during the early fall.

Here's a full list of other full moon names:

January - Wolf Moon
February - Snow Moon, Hunger Moon, Opening Buds Moon
March - Maple Sugar Moon, Worm Moon
April - Frog Moon, Pink Moon, Planter's Moon
May - Flower Moon, Budding Moon
June - Strawberry Moon
July - Blood Moon, Buck Moon
August - Moon of the Green Corn, Sturgeon Moon
September - Harvest Moon
October - Hunter's Moon, Moon of Falling Leaves
November - Beaver Moon
December - Cold Moon

Space.com will be streaming a live webcast of the Snow Moon from the Slooh Space Camera's telescopes in the Canary Islands. Tune in at 3:30 p.m. EST. to see the moon.