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May's First Full Moon Is Tonight. When to See the Flower Moon
The first moon peaks Friday at 1:23 p.m. ET, and a second full moon at month’s end makes May 2026 a rare two-moon month.
The Flower moon reaches peak illumination on Friday at 1:23 p.m. ET, rising in Scorpio as the first of two full moons this month.
A full moon completes its cycle in about 29.5 days; because May began with a full moon on the first, the calendar cycle creates a second occurrence later this month, a rare event happening every 18 months according to EarthSky.
The second full moon, known as the blue moon, will rise on May 31, a term describing the second moon in a single month rather than the actual color of the lunar body.
This calendrical blue moon phenomenon occurs every two and a half years on average, earning the iconic phrase "once in a blue moon" to describe infrequent events.
Pennsylvania-Based journalist Maria Francis covers trending and breaking topics across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions for USA Today Network, including the next full moon, the Strawberry moon, appearing on Monday, June 29, 2026.
By Avni Trivedi, CNN Fans of watching the sky will have a gift this month with two full moons decorating the sky. The first, which has the moon nickname of the flowers, will reach its peak at 1:23 p.m. (Miami time) on Friday. However, it will be full the night of Thursday, Friday and Saturday, according to EarthSky. It will rise low in the east at the evening of Friday, reach the highest point in the sky around midnight and stay low in the west …