By: KSBY Meteorologist Steve Adamson

When the full moon comes up over the horizon this Friday, it’ll be looking larger and brighter than usual. If clouds don’t interfere, we’ll be treated to the brightest and largest full moon we’ll see this year. If my calculations are correct, it’ll also be the largest and brightest since Dec. of 2008. This will occur because the full moon will be at it’s perigee, which is its’ closest point to the Earth. The distance between the two at perigee will be 221,577 miles. The closeness of the moon will also make for tides that will be abnormally high. The effect of the moon being closer adds extra pull from it and the stronger gravitational effects cause the water to rise more than it would otherwise.

The average distance between the Earth and the Moon is about 238,857 miles. Shaving off those extra 17,000+ miles will make the moon look 14% larger and 30% brighter than regular full moons. Here on the Central Coast the moon will be rising at 5:13pm on Friday ( Jan 29th ) and will reach total fullness at 10:19pm. Of course, when it’s rising is when the size and brightness will be most apparent than when it’s higher in the sky. ( Per the full moon illusion )

Again, lets hope the clouds aren’t interfering with the full moon tomorrow. Right now, it appears that there may be enough cloudiness around to spoil the beauty. We’ll do our best to keep them away.