June’s Full Moon | The Strawberry Moon

The month of June’s Full Moon is called the Strawberry Moon. The Full Strawberry Moon got its name because the Algonquian tribes of North America knew it as a signal to gather ripening fruit (especially strawberries).

It is often known as the “Rose Moon” in Europe (where strawberries aren’t native). In Cree it is called Sagipukawipizun, meaning “moon when the leaves come out.” Other names are “Honey Moon”, “Hot Moon”, and “Planting Moon”. In Hindi it is known as Wat Poornima and its Sinhala (Buddhist) name is Poson.

The full moon rises around sunset and sets around sunrise, the only night in the month when the moon is in the sky all night long. The rest of the month, the moon spends at least some time in the daytime sky.

Back in 2013 June’s full moon was not only the closest and largest full moon of the year, it also presented the moon’s closest encounter with Earth for all of 2013! This sort of close full moon is called a perigee full moon. The word perigee describes the moon’s closest point to Earth for a given month. So if you’ve ever heard of a Super Moon, that 2013 full moon was even more super! In other words, the time of full moon fell even closer to the time of perigee, the moon’s closest point to Earth. Amazingly, the crest of June’s full moon phase in 2013, and perigee, fell within an hour of each other! Plus, with it being extra-close it ushered in larger tides along the ocean shorelines for the days around the full moon.

Check out this link for a more in-depth visual of the different Moon Phases.

To make sure you don’t miss the next full Moon, see our Full Moon | Dates Times and Phases chart.