We heard the other day that on Saturday we’ll have the first full moon on Halloween since 1944. Others have said that wasn’t true, that we actually had one in 2001.
And wasn’t there a full moon on Halloween in 1993 – a key plot point in the Disney movie “Hocus Pocus” set in 1993?
We did a little research and, the truth is, it all depends on where you live.
NASA posted a piece earlier this month that says, between the years 1900 and 2100, the moon was or will be full somewhere on Earth on Halloween 12 times, or an average of every 19 years.
So why are people saying this is the first since 1944?
The Farmer’s Almanac says, “In 2001, ghosts and goblins in Central and Pacific time zones trick-or-treated by the light of a full Moon, but a Halloween full Moon hasn’t appeared for everyone in all time zones since 1944!” So there’s our answer.
Even if the moon wasn’t technically full where we live in 2001 or 1993, (by the way, it probably looked full), it was full somewhere.
For the record, a full moon on Halloween is always a “blue moon” – the term for any second full moon within a single calendar month. Because the lunar cycle is 29-and-a-half days, when you have a full moon on the 31st, you had one earlier that month as well.
Blue moons happen during one month or another roughly every 2 1/2 years.
The forecast for the Peninsula calls for partly cloudy skies Saturday night, so that should make it fun as the moon comes and goes between clouds.
(Photo courtesy of the Farmer’s Almanac.)