Great weather for full 'harvest' moon viewing, partial lunar eclipse in Maritimes Tuesday night

Super harvest moon partial eclipse in Maritimes Chief meteorologist Kalin Mitchell discusses the super harvest moon partial eclipse in the Maritimes.

The high-pressure system that has put the region into a streak of sunny, warm September days will also offer some fairly ideal night sky viewing Tuesday night.

Super harvest moon and partial lunar eclipse

Super harvest moon eclipse, that’s a mouthful isn’t it? Let’s break it down.

First of all, the moon is near its closest orbital point to the Earth and hence a supermoon. It’s the September full moon, commonly referred to as the harvest moon.

Finally, there is a partial lunar eclipse Tuesday night. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth’s shadow darkens a portion of the moon. In this case, it is only a slight eclipse with the very top of the moon being shadowed. That may be noticeable in the Maritimes between 11 p.m. and midnight as the moon hangs high over the southern horizon.

If you can take a high-quality picture of the harvest moon, we’d love to see it and put a gallery together. You can e-mail the picture to [e-mail]. Don’t forget your name and the location it was taken!

Sky conditions for viewing

With high pressure in place, a mainly clear sky is expected over the Maritimes Tuesday night.

There may be just a few clouds drifting over northern New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton. There will be some patchy, high cloud that increases in the southwest corner of New Brunswick and the southwest corner of Nova Scotia. Coastal areas of the southwest of Nova Scotia can expect fog to develop evening and night.

Another mild night for mid-September with most low temperatures expected to be in the range of 12 to 17 degrees.

More sun, more heat

Aside from some patchy, high cloud in the region Wednesday is set to be another banner September day.

Lots of sunshine and hot temperatures are once again being experienced for the time of the year. High temperatures mostly sit at 25 to 29 degrees, except 20 to 24 on the Bay of Fundy coastline of New Brunswick and parts of the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia.

Not much more than a chance of scattered showers late Thursday into early Friday morning. The highest chance of those showers are on the south shore of Nova Scotia.

A northeast wind develops for Friday and the weekend. That will cool the temperatures off and give the region a more brisk, fall feel.