Moon tonight / May 2027

Full Moon May 2027: Blue Moon

Q: When is the full moon in May 2027?

The May 2027 full moon is on May 20 at 6:59 AM EDT, which is 3:59 AM PDT on May 20 on the West Coast. The table shows the time in every US zone.

Q: What is the May full moon called?

It is a Blue Moon. Flower Moon is a term used by Algonquin and Ojibwe peoples for the month when flowers are everywhere. Others called it the Budding Moon or the Planting Moon.

Q: What time does the May full moon rise?

The full moon rises near sunset. The table gives moonrise that evening for New York, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Anchorage and Honolulu, each on its own clock, with the compass direction it appears in.

Q: Is the May 2027 full moon a supermoon?

Not by this page’s rule. It is about 393,902 km away at the full moon, and a supermoon here means a full moon closer than 360,000 km.

Q: Is the May 2027 full moon a Blue Moon?

Yes. It is the third of four full moons in one season, which is a seasonal Blue Moon.

Q: Why do full moon times differ by time zone?

The moon is full at one instant for everyone on Earth. Each zone writes that instant on its own clock, so it can land on a different date late in the evening.

The Blue Moon is full on May 20 at 6:59 AM EDT. Here is the time in every US zone and moonrise that evening in six cities.

Photo: “Moon rise over the Green River and sage steppe at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge”, Tom Koerner, USFWS Mountain-Prairie, Public domain

The exact time

When the May full moon happens in each US time zone

The May 2027 full moon in each US time zone
Time zone	Date	Time
Eastern	May 20	6:59 AM EDT
Central	May 20	5:59 AM CDT
Mountain	May 20	4:59 AM MDT
Pacific	May 20	3:59 AM PDT
Alaska	May 20	2:59 AM AKDT
Hawaii	May 20	12:59 AM HST

Instants from the U.S. Naval Observatory’s table of moon phases.

Moonrise

Moonrise that evening in six cities

A full moon rises close to sunset. The compass direction is where to look on the horizon.

Moonrise on the evening of the May 2027 full moon in six cities
City	Evening of	Moonrise	Direction
New York	May 19	7:53 PM	east-southeast (ESE)
Chicago	May 19	7:54 PM	east-southeast (ESE)
Denver	May 19	7:59 PM	east-southeast (ESE)
Los Angeles	May 19	7:37 PM	east-southeast (ESE)
Anchorage	May 19	11:27 PM	south-southeast (SSE)
Honolulu	May 19	6:51 PM	east-southeast (ESE)

The name

Why it is called the Blue Moon

Flower Moon is a term used by Algonquin and Ojibwe peoples for the month when flowers are everywhere. Others called it the Budding Moon or the Planting Moon.

A seasonal Blue Moon is the third full moon in a season that has four, instead of the usual three. A season runs from an equinox to a solstice, or the reverse.

These names come from Native American, Colonial American and European traditions, and nations named the moons by their own seasons, so no one name belongs to a single people. Names follow the Old Farmer's Almanac.