What Makes June’s Strawberry Full Moon Special This Year?

Make sure you look up at the sky at the end of the week. June's full moon is going to be a special one.

June's Strawberry Full Moon Bigger Than Ever?

The 2024 June Full Moon comes to us on Friday, June, 21st. The day after the summer solstice. You can expect to see the moon at its fullest at 9:07 pm on the 21st.

Looking at the forecast from the National Weather Service, we may have issues seeing the full moon due to rain in the forecast.

But who knows, reports are saying that this year's Strawberry Moon will be hard to miss as it's expected to be "bigger than ever." The Almanac explains:

Since the 2024 June full Moon happens on the solstice, the very day the Sun is absolutely at its highest of the year, this month’s full Moon on the 21st is the very lowest full Moon, indeed, the lowest we’ve seen in years. Just look at it! Because the Moon is so low, it will appear bigger than ever. This is called the “Moon Illusion.”

Why Is The June Full Moon Called A Strawberry Moon?

The Almanac states that the full moons get their names from "many places, including Native American, Colonial American, and European sources."

The Strawberry name has nothing to do with the color of the moon, but the timing. The Almanac explains that  Native American Algonquian tribes that lived in the northeastern US (as well as the "Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota" people") call it the Strawberry Moon to "mark the ripening of “June-bearing” strawberries that are ready to be gathered."

Crazy Celestial Events Throughout 2024

We're halfway through the year and still have 6 more full moons to go. Which months will be Super Moons? Take a look below:

2024 has been quite the celestial year. There was an amazing solar eclipse:

And of course, the stunner of a solar flare we got to experience back in May 2024, which I think stole the show over the eclipse but that's just me.

Strawberry Season Underway in the Hudson Valley

Since we gave you the rundown on the Strawberry Full Moon, we can't leave out the fact that strawberry season is underway across the Hudson Valley.

Local farms and orchards give people the opportunity to pick their own, freshly grown strawberries. I recently took a trip to Kelder's Farm in Kerhonkson, New York a picked these beautiful strawberries:

And then cooled off with a Strawberry Gnomie Shake:

Still dreaming about this bad boy...Strawberry season ends in New York around early July.