"Super snow moon" will be 2019's biggest and brightest

The difference between the moon's closest point in its orbit (perigee) and its farthest (apogee). NASA/JPL-Caltech
The biggest and brightest supermoon of 2019 will occur Monday night and Tuesday night as the moon reaches perigee, or its closest point to Earth in its orbit. Technically speaking, the moon will hit its peak at 10:54 a.m. ET Tuesday morning, but it won't be visible at that time because it will be daylight. However, it will still put on a show both Monday and Tuesday night. 

The difference between the moon's closest point in its orbit (perigee) and its farthest (apogee). NASA/JPL-Caltech
To get the best, most dramatic supermoon photos, it's best to catch the moon at and just after moonrise or just before moonset. Thankfully, you can get an exact moonrise and moonset times for your location by clicking here. For South Bend and surrounding areas, moonrise will be at roughly 5:19 p.m. ET on February 18th and 6:36 p.m. ET on February 19th. Moonset will occur at 7:48 a.m. ET on Tuesday. 

The reason for its "snow moon" nickname is because February is associated with having heavy snowfalls according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. Unlike January's super blood wolf moon eclipse, this supermoon will not appear blood orange in color. 

Cloud cover should be sparse enough across Illinois, Indiana and Ohio Monday evening and night to allow us to see the supermoon.
With it being winter, cloud cover is always a potential blocker of an astronomical event. That shouldn't be the case with the supermoon...at least for Monday evening and night. Clouds should be sparse enough to allow most of Michiana and surrounding locations like Chicago, Champaign, Kokomo, Fort Wayne, and Kalamazoo to see the supermoon. 

Tuesday morning's cloud cover forecast also looks decent for the region. That changes significantly for Tuesday evening and Tuesday night as thick cloud cover will be moving in. With that said, we suggest viewing the brightest supermoon of 2019 Monday evening or Tuesday morning. This will also be the last remaining supermoon of 2019 with the next one not occurring until March 9, 2020. 

Share this article: