Full February snow moon to brighten winter sky, followed by lunar eclipse in March – NJ.com
The February full moon, nicknamed the “snow moon,” will be lighting up the winter sky this week.Canva.comWith a fresh coating of snow on the ground in New Jersey and more snow on the way this week, the timing is setting up perfectly for the February “snow moon.”The so-called snow moon of 2025 will be glowing brightly in the winter sky this week, officially reaching its fullest phase at 8:54 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 12.The moon will appear 99% full Tuesday night, 100% full Wednesday night and 99% full Thursday night, according to MoonGiant.com, a website that tracks the moon phases of each day of the year.A bigger sky treat is on tap next month, with a total lunar eclipse set to occur early in the morning on Friday, March 14 as the moon is turning full. For a little more than an hour, the lunar satellite will look like a “blood moon” because it will turn reddish-orange as it moves across the Earth’s shadow.The moon appears to glow in that rusty color because of light reflecting from the sun.In case you’re wondering, you don’t need any special safety glasses to look at a lunar eclipse.Every 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 routines and hunting schedules.The February full moon is no exception. Although “snow moon” is its most common nickname — because February is typically a snowy month in North America — some Native American tribes called the second full moon of the year the “hunger moon” or the “little famine moon” because the harsh weather made it tougher for hunters to find food.These are the dates, times and nicknames of the 12 full moons that will be shining in the sky in 2025. The times, listed in the Eastern time zone, are when the moon will reach its full illumination.Len Melisurgo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comOther nicknames include the “storm moon,” the “bone moon,” the “shoulder to shoulder around the fire moon” and the “no snow in the trails moon,” according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. “The bone moon meant that there was so little food that people gnawed on bones and ate bone marrow soup.”The rival publication, the Farmers’ Almanac, says early American colonists also referred to the February full moon as the “trapper’s moon,” because “the optimal time for trapping beaver, fox and mink, was the dead of winter, when these animals’ coats were at their fullest.”Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or on X at @LensReality. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025).© 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.YouTube’s privacy policy is available here and YouTube’s terms of service is available here.Ad Choices
