Seen in the west just after sunset, a waxing crescent moon is also called a new moon. The feature photo is courtesy of NASA and the International Space Station.
We’ve always heard that if the crescent moon’s points point upward, like a smiley face in the night sky, and able to contain water, it predicts a dry spell. But if the new moon stands on its points, expect rain to spill out. Obviously right now we have a smiling crescent moon, so let’s go check the weather forecast…
Sometimes you can see the rest of the moon faintly illuminated, as in this photo — that’s due to light reflected from earth’s day side and is called earthshine.
But is the forecast for a dry spell accurate? Looking good so far — maybe we should use the moon for our passage forecasts, can’t be much less accurate than anything more sophisticated we use! 🙂
Anyone else have moon lore useful for cruisers? Leave a comment and share! Cheers! Jan
