Harvest Moon Right Before Fall Season Starts, Are King Tides Possible?
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- The Harvest Moon rises is tonight and it peaks at 7:54 pm EDT. The concern for King Tides in South Florida is low.
Harvest Moon can occur either in the month of September or October depending on how the lunar cycle lines up with the calendar. So the full moon that happens closest to the autumnal equinox will be called the Harvest Moon. And speaking of the autumnal equinox, that event marks the beginning of Fall and will happen on Wednesday, September 22nd.
The full moon was given the name 'Harvest Moon' because the moon rises near sunset for several evenings in a row and that helps to light up the evening sky for farmers as they harvest the summer-grown crops, hence the name.
The moon will appear full to the naked eye for several days from Sunday morning through Tuesday.
Now let's discuss the impacts for South Florida. Since we're in the season of King Tides, the next full moon occurrences will increase the chance of higher than normal high tides.
During the Harvest Moon event, the chance to be dealing with coastal flooding due to higher than normal high tides is at a minimum and especially since the ocean breeze has been very light the past couple of days.
The direction of the wind and strength affect the high tides in addition to the full moon phase.
If a strong east wind has been persistent for several days leading up to the expected timing of the king tides then that can enhance higher than normal predicted high tides.
The following dates are King Tides events that we need to look out for possible coastal flooding:
October 5th - 11th
October 20th - 21st
November 3rd - 9th
November 18th - 19th
December 2nd - 7th