February's Full Moon Is Brighter When There's Snow for This Scientific Reason

Yahoo

08-02-2025

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."
Brrrrrrrrr. Baby, it's cold outside, and if you're like us, nothing sounds better than cozying up on the couch with a super soft throw and a steaming cup of hot chocolate. But on and around February 12, you're going to want to at least poke your head outside to catch sight of this month's gorgeous full moon. You won't be able to see it at its peak—more on that ahead—but thanks to our nifty Snow Moon Guide, you can become an expert on all the intriguing ins and outs of February's fabulously frozen full lunar phase.
This big and bold bella luna, which follows January's Wolf Moon, and precedes the Worm Moon of March (usually the first full moon of spring), will light up the nights around February 12. That's especially true if there's plenty of the white stuff that gives this moon its name on the ground because snow is highly reflective. So you might even consider bundling up and taking a stroll under the moonlight's glorious glow this month. But first, read on as we answer all your questions about the Snow Moon, including how it got its name, where it will appear in the sky, and the best time to see it!
The Snow Moon occurs in February, and—like every other full moon—it happens halfway through the lunar cycle, about once a month. During this phase, the moon sits opposite the sun, with the Earth in the middle, sandwiched between the two. The "near side" of the moon, the lunar hemisphere facing Earth, is completely illuminated by the sun's rays and looks like the great, gleaming circle in the sky we call full.
This year we can look forward to seeing 12 full moons, including three Supermoons. They occur when a full moon coincides with the moon's closest approach in its orbit to our planet (the lunar perigee). These Supermoons, which can appear significantly bigger and brighter than other full moons, will take place consecutively, during the last three months of 2025.
This month, of course, it's all about the Snow Moon, which will reach peak illumination on the morning of Wednesday, February 12, at 8:53 A.M. EST. However, the moon will not be visible at this time because it'll be below the horizon. According to The Farmer's Almanac, instead of looking for it then, you should keep your eyes peeled for the Snow Moon the night before, or later on Wednesday. Look for it in the east right above the horizon around sunset and high in the sky at about midnight.
If you go moon gazing earlier in the evening of the 12th rather than later, you can expect this heavenly body to seem bigger than normal, even though it won't be a Supermoon. That's due to what's known as a moon illusion, the optical illusion that occurs when the moon is located close to the horizon, making it appear larger than it usually does. But no matter how big it seems, the moon is actually pretty puny, with a diameter of just 2,160 miles. That's less than the width of the United States, and only a little more than a quarter of Earth's diameter.
The term Snow Moon comes from The Farmer's Almanac, which began publishing the names of full moons back in the 1930s. They're mostly of Indigenous American origin, with some taken from Colonial American and European sources. Like December's Cold Moon, a moniker that brings to mind the season's chill, the second full moon of the year is named for North America's typical winter weather. In addition to the principal name associated with each full moon, The Farmer's Almanac also lists a variety of other descriptors for them. To the Cree, February's moon was known as the Hungry Moon and the Month of the Bony Moon, both names evoking a time of scarcity when finding food is difficult.
Other names for this moon include the Ojibwe Bear Moon and Tlingit Black Bear Moon, which reference the critter commonly born in February. Across the pond, the Celts dubbed February's moon the Ice Moon. It was called the Midwinter Moon by the Oneida people and the poetic When Trees Crack Because of Cold Moon by the Lakotas, with the Comanche nation named it simply Sleet Moon. Most Indigenous Americans, who kept track of time by the passage of the seasons as well as the lunar month, referred to the entire lunar month by the name of its moon.
Other full moons include June's Strawberry Moon, when tribes harvested the wild fruit, and the Sturgeon Moon of August, which was traditionally a good time to catch the fish found in Lake Champlain and the Great Lakes. Next month, March 14 will bring the Full Worm Moon, so named for the creatures that come wriggling to the ground's surface as it thaws.
While March will be jam-packed with exciting celestial events, including a partial solar eclipse and a total lunar eclipse, February is going to be a bit quieter. But that doesn't mean it won't be worth breaking out the telescope or binoculars, even during the full moon. This phase's bright glow may wash out other, less luminous heavenly bodies (like galaxies), but you can still search for beautiful lunar features during it, such as craters. There also might be a halo noticeable around the Snow Moon, a result of moonlight coming through the clouds.
This year, the Snow Moon will appear in the zodiacal constellation Leo the Lion, although some years it may be in Cancer, or the small constellation Sextans, next to Leo. (It will visit the Cancer constellation next year, and Sextans in 2029.) Try to take a peek at 2025's Snow Moon at 6:21 p.m. ET, when it will pass just to the left of Regulus. Leo's brightest star, it's dazzling enough to show up even next to the Snow Moon!
Speaking of the zodiac, if you're a fan of astrology, you might want to celebrate this Snow Moon by expressing your creative, passionate side. Celebrate Valentine's Day early by dressing to the nines for dinner out. Go dancing. Kick off an art project. Leo is the astrological sign of romance, glamour, pleasure, and self-expression! You could also book a salon appointment for a bold new haircut or color—after all, as much as their courage and generosity, Leo the Lions are known for their magnificent manes.
Not every February offers a Snow Moon. About once every 19 years, there's no full moon at all in February, which is called a Black Moon. The last time this happened was in 2018, and it won't occur again for another 12 years. Of course, sometimes the moon may disappear entirely for a spell, an event known as a lunar eclipse. This takes place when the full moon enters the Earth's shadow, resulting in one of three types of eclipses: total, partial, or penumbral.
We can look forward to seeing a total eclipse March 13-14 across the entire United States. While lunar eclipses can happen anywhere from four to seven times a year, they aren't always visible from North America. We won't be able to see the total lunar eclipse coming September 7, for example, although the one that will take place on March 3, 2026 will be visible to us.
A much rarer moon is the Super Blue Moon, which happens when a Supermoon is the second full moon in a calendar month. Blue Moons occur because the lunar cycle, which is about 29.5 days long, is slightly shorter than the average calendar month, so every two or three years we get a moon both at the beginning of the month and the end of it.
According to NASA, Super Blue Moons light up the skies only every decade on average, although we can go as little as two months or as long as 20 years between them. The last one took place August 30-31, 2023; the next Super Blue Moon isn't predicted to rise until 2037, when there will be two that year, one in January, and one in February.
You Might Also Like
70 Impressive Tiny Houses That Maximize Function and Style
30+ Paint Colors That Will Instantly Transform Your Kitchen