JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The blue moon will rise at 6:58 p.m. on Halloween night and for the first time since 1944, all time zones across the United States will see a blue moon on Halloween. A blue moon is when two full moons occur within the same month, the second full moon is called a blue moon.
While we generally consider the whole night to be the full moon, technically the moon is full at a specific time, which is how you can have a full moon in one time zone, but not the other.
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We have seen blue moons on Halloween more recently that 1944, but not in all of the time zones across the US.
1944, 1955, and 2011 are the most recent years the Moon was full for the second time that month on Halloween.
- 1944 the last time it happened in all US time zones.
- 1955 is the last year this happened for the eastern & central time zones (but not mountain, pacific, and west)
- 2001 the moon was full on Halloween in the central time zone west, but not eastern.
The next time the blue moon will be on Halloween will be in the year 2039. Here’s a list of all of the blue moons on Halloween.
A blue moon falls on Halloween roughly every 19 years. There are exceptions- like when the times between full moons (29.53 days) does not line up with the calendar days.
Tonight will be the best time to see the (nearly full) moon because the skies will be so clear. Moonrise is at 6:28 p.m. this evening, temperatures will be chilly, in the mid to low 60s during the moonrise.
Winds shift early Saturday morning to be out of the northeast, bringing a few clouds onshore. Even though the moon is technically full on Saturday, Friday night’s moonrise will be better for viewing because of the lack of clouds.
The full moon occurs at 10:49 a.m. on October 31st.