When and where to see the Snow Moon 2027
The exact moment of full moon is Saturday, February 20, 2027 at 6:24 PM in New York. The best night to watch is Saturday, February 20, when the Moon comes up at 5:32 PM, low in the east-northeast, about 4 minutes before sunset. It climbs to about 57° above the horizon around 12:21 AM and sets around sunrise the next morning.
A full moon looks full for about three nights. From New York the Moon is 98% lit when it rises the evening before and 99% the evening after, and on those nights it rises 79 minutes and 76 minutes later each evening. Those long gaps come from the steep angle of the Moon's path to the evening horizon at this time of year.
The Moon is at a declination of +9.9° this time, close to the celestial equator, so it rises near due east and sets near due west, up for about twelve hours. It sits in front of the stars of Leo, close to Regulus (2.4° away), the planet Mars (5.6° away), the planet Jupiter (11.7° away).
| City | Exact full moon (local time) |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Saturday, February 20, 2027, 3:24 PM |
| New York | Saturday, February 20, 2027, 6:24 PM |
| London | Saturday, February 20, 2027, 11:24 PM |
| Berlin | Sunday, February 21, 2027, 12:24 AM |
| New Delhi | Sunday, February 21, 2027, 4:54 AM |
| Tokyo | Sunday, February 21, 2027, 8:24 AM |
| Sydney | Sunday, February 21, 2027, 10:24 AM |
Why is it called the Snow Moon?
The Snow Moon is the traditional name for the February full moon, as listed by the Old Farmer's Almanac. February is, on average, the snowiest month in much of the northeastern United States and Canada, and the name is shared by several Native American and colonial traditions recorded by the almanacs.
Some lists also call it the Hunger Moon, because late winter was when stored food ran low and hunting was hard, the leanest weeks of the year for many communities before modern food storage.
Other names for the February full moon
The almanac names are one tradition among many. Native American peoples used hundreds of moon names that followed their own local seasons, and the attributions below are those given by the Old Farmer's Almanac:
- Bear Moon: Ojibwe, when bear cubs are born in the den
- Bald Eagle Moon: Cree
- Bony Moon: Cherokee, when food was scarce
- Hungry Moon: Cherokee and others
- Raccoon Moon: Dakota
- Shoulder to Shoulder Around the Fire Moon: Wishram
February in nature and the sky
February is late winter in the north. Snow cover is often at its deepest, but daylight grows fast: by the end of the month the days are almost two hours longer than at the solstice at 40 degrees north. Great horned owls are already nesting, and in milder parts of Europe the first snowdrops and hazel catkins appear.
The February full moon is still a high winter moon, crossing the sky near the bright stars of Leo or Cancer, and it often lights snow-covered landscapes well enough to walk without a torch.
Festivals on the Snow Moon 2027
Many of the world's calendars are lunar, so festivals around the globe fall on this same full moon. Dates below were checked against published calendars; where India and the US keep different dates, both are given.
Lantern Festival
February 20, 2027
The 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month ends the New Year season that began on February 6, 2027 (the Year of the Goat). Lanterns are lit and riddles hung under the first full moon of the lunar year, and families eat sweet rice balls (tangyuan).
Magha Purnima and Ravidas Jayanti
February 20, 2027
The Hindu full moon of Magha, a major bathing day at Prayagraj, and the birth anniversary of the poet-saint Guru Ravidas.
Navam Poya and Makha Bucha
February 20 (Sri Lanka); February 21, 2027 (Thailand)
Theravada Buddhists remember the gathering of 1,250 disciples. Thailand keeps Makha Bucha on February 21 by its lunar count, Sri Lanka's Navam Poya is February 20.
Ramadan
Around the middle of the month
Ramadan 2027 is expected to begin around February 8, depending on the sighting of the crescent Moon, so this full moon falls near the middle of the fasting month.
Supermoon, micromoon or neither?
The Snow Moon 2027 is 363,296 km from Earth, centre to centre. That is neither a supermoon (closer than 362,500 km) nor a micromoon (farther than 405,000 km); it appears 5.8% wider than a full moon at the average distance. Of the 12 full moons of 2027, it is the 2nd closest. The biggest is the Wolf Moon at 357,635 km and the smallest the Buck Moon at 405,968 km.
Eclipse: this full moon passes through Earth's shadow in a penumbral lunar eclipse, greatest at 11:12 PM UTC. About 93% of the Moon's width enters the faint penumbra, a subtle shading that is easy to miss. Details and visibility for your city are on the blood moon and lunar eclipse page.
The Snow Moon from the Southern Hemisphere
In the Southern Hemisphere February is late summer. The full moon there is low in the north and short-lived, and for Australians and New Zealanders it often marks the warm, dry end of the summer holidays. The full moon happens at the same instant worldwide; in Sydney it is Sunday, February 21, 2027 at 10:24 AM, and the Moon climbs to about 50° there that night, compared with 57° from New York. South of the equator the Moon also looks upside down to northern eyes, with the dark "Man in the Moon" features flipped.
Before and after the Snow Moon
More: All full moon names · Moon calendar 2027 · Next full moon · Moon phase today