Full Beaver Moon Is The Biggest Supermoon Since 2019: What To Know In PA

The full beaver moon on Wednesday is the second of three consecutive supermoons and will appear larger and brighter than most, depending on cloud cover in Pennsylvania.

The National Weather Service calls for ideal conditions in most of eastern Pennsylvania on Wednesday night, with mostly clear skies. The low is forecasted as a modest 46 with light winds, making for comfortable viewing weather in November.

Western Pennsylvania viewers may not be as lucky. The Pittsburgh area is slated to see some rain Wednesday, from the afternoon into the early evening, according to forecasters. However, the skies are expected to "gradually become clear" as the night continues, potentially offering a window for good viewing later on. The low temperature will be around 39.

Wednesday’s full moon will be the brightest and biggest supermoon since 2019, coming within just under 222,000 miles of Earth.

The moon doesn’t orbit Earth in a perfect circle, but rather moves nearer to and farther from our planet in its elliptical pattern. A supermoon happens when a full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit. That makes it appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the faintest full moon of the year, according to NASA.

The trio of supermoons ends with the full cold moon on Dec. 4.

November’s full moon is called the beaver moon because it’s the time of year when the namesake semiaquatic mammals move to their lodges, disappearing until spring. In the fall, before the water freezes, beavers store branches and other foodstuff in the underwater lodges, complex shelters built from the inside out with mud, grass and branches. They have an underwater entrance that most predators find impermeable, which also gives the beavers access to swim under the ice to get food.

Historically, the beaver moon also marks a prime season for trapping the animals, which were valued for the warmth of their pelts. The fur trade in North America began centuries before the arrival of Europeans in the mid-1600s and continued for nearly 200 years afterward.