A strawberry moon will likely be visible in Houston Monday night, despite lingering haze from Saharan dust.
The name “strawberry moon” comes from American Indian tribes who named the June full moon because its appearance meant strawberries were ripe or soon to be ripe. The strawberry moon is the lowest-hanging full moon of the year, occurring just over a week after the summer solstice, when the sun is furthest away from the Earth and the moon is closest.
A dense plume of Saharan dust settled in South and Southeast Texas on Monday. It is expected to linger in Houston skies through early Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters said they expect the dust plume to drift north from Southeast Texas on Tuesday.
Still, the strawberry moon should be easily visible to Houstonians.
“We could see some lingering hazy conditions on Tuesday but the concentration amounts do not look to be as high,” the National Weather service wrote in its forecast discussion.
The strawberry moon is classified as a micromoon. It is the second-smallest full moon of the year, 252,442 miles away from the Earth, according to LiveScience.com.
The moon will reach its peak at 6:56 p.m.