Snow Moon

February's full moon, the Snow Moon, reaches peak illumination on Sunday, February 1, 2026, at 5:09 p.m. EST (22:09 UTC). To the naked eye, the Moon looks full for about a day on either side of the peak. That makes the evenings of January 31 and February 1 the best nights to watch it rise.

Quick facts

Peak time by US time zone

The Moon is exactly full at one instant worldwide. Only the clock reading changes.

Times are calculated with the open-source astronomy-engine library. Other published sources may differ by about a minute because of rounding.

Is it a supermoon?

No. At full phase the Moon is about 371,376 km from Earth (center to center), not close enough to perigee (365,860 km) to qualify under the common definitions.

Best viewing tips

Watch the moonrise. In New York City, the Moon rises at about 3:46 p.m. on January 31 (sunset 5:12 p.m.) and at about 5:03 p.m. on February 1 (sunset 5:13 p.m.). Times for your city will differ, so check the Moonlix moonrise page for your location.

Find a clear eastern horizon. Near the horizon, the full moon often looks orange and unusually large. The color comes from Earth's atmosphere filtering out blue light. The size is the well-known Moon illusion, a trick of perception rather than a real change.

Where it sits in the sky. At its highest, this full moon is high in the sky for mid-northern US latitudes. In February the full moon still rides fairly high in the evening sky. Cold, dry air after a front passes often gives the clearest, steadiest views of the year.

Binoculars and cameras. Ordinary 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars show the dark lunar seas and the bright rays around the crater Tycho. For photos, use a tripod and a telephoto lens, shoot during blue hour just after sunset, and expose for the Moon. A good starting point is ISO 100, f/8 and 1/250 s.

Name origin and folklore

February is, on average, one of the snowiest months across much of the US, and the Snow Moon name reflects that. The alternative name Hunger Moon points to late winter, when stored food ran low and hunting was difficult. Different Native nations used their own names for this moon, and those names varied by region and language.

Other names recorded for this month's full moon include Hunger Moon, Storm Moon. Most full moon names popular in the US today were spread by the Old Farmer's Almanac and the Farmers' Almanac. Native nations had their own names, which varied by region and language, so no single list is "official."

What else is in the sky

Use the Moonlix monthly calendar to plan dark-sky nights around the new moon, when there is no moonlight to wash out faint stars and meteors. Use the February 2026 moon calendar to see every phase, and the daily moon phase pages for illumination on any date.