December is a time full of festivities, from Christmas lights to New Year’s Eve — and it seems the moon is celebrating with us this month by spoiling us with a full moon starting on Christmas Day and thereafter.
As mentioned, you’ll catch a glimpse of the stunning moon on Christmas Day, but peak illumination of the cold full moon will take place on December 26, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. PST — and will shine brightly until about December 29, 2023. What a perfect symbolic way to say goodbye to 2023! You can calculate the exact moonrise time based on your location here.
Why Is It Called The Cold Full Moon?
According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac — for years, Natives often have used the moons to track the seasons. The Cold Moon comes in December, during a time of frigid temperatures.
The almanac also states that different tribes/cultures have different nicknames for December’s moon which include:
- Drift Clearing Moon (Cree)
- Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Cree)
- Moon of the Popping Trees (Oglala)
- Hoar Frost Moon (Cree)
- Snow Moon (Haida, Cherokee)
- Winter Maker Moon (Western Abenaki)
In case the weather doesn’t permit you to see this month’s moon, don’t worry. There’s still a to to look forward to in the New Year.
Full Moon’s To Look Forward To In 2024:
- Wolf Moon — Jan. 25, 2024
- Snow Moon — Feb. 24, 2024
- Worm Moon — Mar. 25, 2024
- Pink Moon — Apr. 23, 2024
- Flower Moon –May 23, 2024
- and more.
There you have it, Los Angeles! Be sure to mark your calendars and prepare to be enchanted as the moon paints the sky with its mesmerizing glow for the last time in 2023.