JACKSON, Wyo. — The final full moon of 2024 will rise over Jackson in the wee hours of Sunday, Dec. 15, marking the twelfth full moon of the year.
The moon should reach peak illumination around 4 a.m. on Sunday, but to the naked eye it will appear full from Friday evening through Monday morning, according to NASA. December’s full moon is known colloquially as the “Cold Moon,” reflecting its frequent coincidence with the official beginning of winter.
“As the full moon closest to the winter solstice, this will be the Long Night Moon,” NASA writes on its website. “The plane of the moon’s orbit around Earth nearly matches the plane of Earth’s orbit around the sun. When the path of the sun appears lowest in the sky for the year, the path of the full moon opposite the sun appears near its highest.” This means the moon will be visible in the sky for as many as 16 hours a day in parts of the U.S.
Overnight temperatures could dip into the teens in Jackson this weekend, making it a “Cold Moon,” indeed.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the Nêhiyawak (Cree) people have called December’s full moon the “Drift Clearing Moon,” “Exploding Trees Moon” and “Hoar Frost Moon,” all in reference to the cold and snow. Ani-Yvwiya (Cherokee) and Haida nations called December’s moon the “Snow Moon.” Wabanaki (Western Abenaki) called it the “Winter Maker Moon.” The Anishinaabe (Algonquin) tribes named December’s full moon the “Wolf Moon” after the wolf packs roaming through the snow at this time of year.
The Muhheaconneok (Mohican) name, the “Long Night Moon,” refers to the long nights surrounding the winter solstice and the fact that this full moon hangs above the horizon for longer than other full moons. Ancient pagans called December’s full moon the “Moon Before Yule” referring to the Yuletide festival celebrating the winter solstice.
