Supermoon, blue moon arrive in D.C. on summer’s coolest day
The moon was big and bright, and temperatures stayed in the 70s.

By Martin Weil
August 21, 2024 at 3:39 a.m. EDT

A bright full moon shone over the District in Tuesday’s morning darkness, and by its almost total roundness, along with its position in space and on the calendar, it represented an unusual celestial spectacle, both a supermoon and a blue moon.

As if that weren’t enough, Tuesday also could be described as D.C.’s coolest day of the summer so far. ... The day’s high temperature in the District was 76 degrees. It was a startlingly low reading for a day in this or any summer in the capital.

It was 12 degrees below the average high for Aug. 20 in the city. ... It was also the first day all month when the temperature did not go above 80 degrees here. In fact, it was the first day since the summer solstice on June 20 when the high temperature remained in the 70s. ... Every other day of this often sweltering summer has been in the 80s at a minimum. Many have been in the 90s. Several have risen into the 100s.

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Tuesday’s moon was not just any moon, on any day, but a supermoon on a superb day. ... So on Tuesday, in addition to all the terrestrial activities of daily life, in the District, which made it either routine or out of the ordinary, meteorology and astronomy combined to make for what could be called, not just a blue moon, or a supermoon, but a super cool blue moon, and how cool is that?

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By Martin Weil
Martin Weil is a longtime reporter at The Washington Post. Twitter