Full 'worm moon' of March 2022 to shine this week as spring equinox nears

Get ready to squirm. The full worm moon of March 2022 will soon be glowing in the night sky.

That’s the slithery nickname associated with the third full moon of the year. It will officially reach its biggest phase at 3:18 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, March 18 — just two days before the spring equinox, which marks the official start of the spring season on Sunday, March 20.

The so-called worm moon will be99% full Thursday night, 100% full Friday night and 98% full Saturday night, so you will have a few opportunities to check it out, assuming the clouds stay away.

As of now, forecasters from the National Weather Service are calling for cloudy skies and scattered rain showers in New Jersey on Thursday, when St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated, partly cloudy skies Thursday night, mostly sunny skies during the day on Friday, then clouds building Friday night.

Mostly cloudy skies and rain showers are in the forecast again on Saturday, with mostly cloudy skies on tap for Saturday night.

The full March moon is most commonly called the “worm moon” because this is the time of year when the cold ground thaws and earthworms start slithering up from the soil as spring arrives.

Among the other nicknames for the March full moon — derived from native American tribes who tracked each year and each season by paying attention to the full moon cycles — are the crow moon, crust moon, chaste moon, sap moon and sugar moon, timeanddate.com says. “The Old English/Anglo-Saxon name is Lenten Moon.”

In the New York City region, the near-full March moon will rise in the eastern sky at6:31 p.m. Thursday, and the completely full moon will rise at 7:39 p.m. on Friday, also in the eastern sky, according to TimeAndDate.com.

On Saturday, the moon is scheduled to rise in the eastern sky at 8:49 p.m.

If you want to see the morning moon as it’s setting, it will be sinking in the western sky at 7:30 a.m. Friday, 7:55 a.m. Saturday and 8:20 a.m. on Sunday.

You might want to mark your calendars for the lunar eclipse that will be coming on May 16, when the so-called “flower moon” will be reaching its fullest phase. A total lunar eclipse will occur because the Earth’s shadow will temporarily block the sun’s light from shining on the moon’s surface as all three celestial bodies line up in a straight row.

The May lunar eclipse will be followed by two consecutive “supermoons” — on June 14 and July 13.

We already had the full “wolf moon” on Jan. 17 and the full “snow moon” on Feb. 16. These are the other full moons that are on the way in 2022.

• March 18: Full “worm moon” at 3:17 a.m.
• April 16: Full “pink moon” at 2:55 p.m.
• May 16: Full “flower moon” at 12:14 a.m. (total lunar eclipse)
• June 14: Full “strawberry moon” at 7:51 a.m. (supermoon)
• July 13: Full “buck moon” at 2:37 p.m. (supermoon)
• Aug. 11: Full “sturgeon moon” at 9:35 p.m.
• Sept. 10: Full “harvest moon” at 5:59 a.m.
• Oct. 9: Full “hunter’s moon” at 4:54 p.m.
• Nov. 8: Full “beaver moon” at 6:02 a.m. (total lunar eclipse)
• Dec. 7: Full “cold moon” at 11:08 p.m.

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Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com.