Unusual Halloween full moon makes for spookier holiday in 2020

If 2020 couldn’t get any stranger, we have a full moon on Halloween – something that hasn’t happened in nearly 20 years. We’ll have a great view of the full moon with mainly clear skies in Western Washington.

It’s also a “blue moon” which is the second full moon in a calendar month. Blue moons occur because the lunar cycle and the calendar year are not perfectly synced. Full moons come every 29 days, while most months are 30 or 31 days. The Americas last saw a blue moon in March 2018. By the way, that’s just a nickname. The moon isn’t actually going to look blue!

The first full moon of the month occurred on Oct. 1. This year, it was known as the Harvest moon because it was the full moon closest to the autumn equinox.

The second full moon peaks at 7:49 a.m. Pacific time on Oct. 31, creating a spooky backdrop for an unusual Halloween. The last full moon on Halloween was in 2001. It happens, on average, every 19 years, and our next full moon on Halloween will be in 2039.

This year marks the first time a Halloween full moon has been visible in all time zones since 1944 — meaning every person around the world will experience the Halloween blue moon together for the first time since World War II.

This moon is also known as the Hunter’s moon, the first moon following the harvest moon. It was likely named for the time of year to go hunting in preparation for winter. Other names include the Blood moon, Sanguine moon, Travel moon and Dying Grass moon.

Cox Media Group