Moon Phases January 2018 in Saint Cloud, Minnesota

This month's full moon: 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.

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.

All Wolf Moon dates ›

This month's full moon: the Blue Moon

A second full moon in one calendar month. It happens about every two and a half years and has nothing to do with color.

The monthly definition became popular after a 1946 Sky and Telescope article misread the Maine Farmers' Almanac, which used an older seasonal rule: the third full moon in a season that has four. Both definitions are in use today. The phrase "once in a blue moon" predates both and simply means rarely.

Lore

The phrase once in a blue moon is older than any astronomical definition and originally meant something absurd or never. The modern rule, a second full moon in one calendar month, spread from a 1946 magazine article and a 1980s radio programme. Genuinely blue-looking moons have been seen after huge volcanic eruptions and forest fires, when smoke particles scatter red light.

Trivia

• Monthly Blue Moons happen about every 2.7 years.
• The older seasonal rule calls the third full moon of a season with four the Blue Moon.
• After Krakatoa erupted in 1883 the Moon appeared blue or green for nearly two years.

All Blue Moon dates ›

Gardening by the Moon in January 2018

• Jan 1 · Fruiting crops: Sow above-ground crops whose seeds form inside the fruit: beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons. Graft, repot and sow lawns.
• Jan 2 to Jan 8 · Root crops: Plant root crops and anything that overwinters: carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, garlic, bulbs, perennials, trees and shrubs. Prune to slow growth.
• Jan 9 to Jan 16 · Rest and tend: Rest days for the soil: weed, cultivate, turn compost, harvest crops for storage, prune to discourage regrowth, prepare beds. Avoid sowing.
• Jan 17 to Jan 24 · Leafy crops: Sow leafy crops and above-ground annuals whose seeds form outside the fruit: lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, celery, herbs. Transplant seedlings. Mow to encourage growth.
• Jan 25 to Jan 31 · Fruiting crops: Sow above-ground crops whose seeds form inside the fruit: beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons. Graft, repot and sow lawns.

Full planting calendar for January › · How gardening by the moon works

How to read this moon calendar

Each day shows the Moon as it looks from Saint Cloud at midday local time, with the illuminated percentage, moonrise and moonset. Days with a principal phase show the exact local time the phase occurs. Because the Moon moves about 50 minutes later each day, roughly once a month there is a date with no moonrise or no moonset at all.

The eight phases of the Moon