Full Moon January 2035: Wolf Moon

About the Wolf Moon

The first full moon of the year, named for the wolves heard howling through the long, cold January nights.

The name is usually traced to Native American and early colonial almanacs, which tied each full moon to what was happening in nature. Midwinter hunger and mating season made wolves unusually vocal in January. Other names for the same moon include the Old Moon, Ice Moon and, in some Anglo-Saxon traditions, the Moon after Yule.

January full moons ride high in the northern sky and stay up longest of any full moon in the year, so this is a good one for clear, cold-night viewing.

Lore

In parts of Europe the January moon was the Moon after Yule, and in Celtic tradition the Quiet Moon, a time for staying close to the hearth. The howling wolves of the name were once a real winter hazard in North America and Europe, and the name kept that memory alive long after the wolves were gone.

Trivia

• The Wolf Moon is the highest-riding full moon of the year in the northern hemisphere, opposite the low January Sun.
• In 2018 the Wolf Moon was a supermoon and the first of two full moons that month, making January 31 a Blue Moon.
• Names differ by tradition: the Cree called the January moon the Cold Moon.