With a rare triple lunar treat occurring in our skies tonight you might be wondering what the weather has in store across the Mid North Coast.
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Tonight (January 31) will see three separate celestial events - a supermoon, a blue moon and a full lunar eclipse - occur simultaneously
The crucial time for those wishing to view the eclipse is between 11.50pm tonight (January 31) and 12.30am tomorrow morning.
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According to Weatherzone meteorologist Kim Westcott cloud will start to move into our region at around 11pm as part of the southerly change coming up the coast and cooling things down.
This cloud should reach Forster at around 11pm and move north, hitting the Port Macquarie region before 2am.
So based on this prediction regions further to the north including Kempsey, Nambucca and Bellingen may have the best chance of viewing this spectacle in all its glory.
But star gazers along the coast should not be deterred. Cloud coverage provided some stunning contrast for photographers wishing to capture the December 2017 supermoon – click the photo below to see these photos.
“On the coast there will be a little more cloud than inland so that’s another factor,” Kim added.
With the cloud will come a high chance of light drizzle but “nothing torrential”.
A snapshot of what’s happening across the nation:
Breaking it down:
Blue moon: This is a reference for the second full moon in a month. This is because lunar months are a little shorter than solar ones leading to an extra moon during the year.
Super moon: This happens when the moon is its closest to the earth during its orbit. Because of this the moon will appear much bigger in the sky and about 30 per cent brighter.
Blood moon: The blood colour of the moon happens during a lunar eclipse as the sun, earth and moon align while the moon passes through the earth’s shadow. The red colour is caused by sunlight refracting around the earth.