Clouds may obscure Tri-City supermoon

A supermoon will shine over the Earth Monday, but may not be too bright in the Tri-Cities.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration says the best time to view it should be Sunday or Monday night or, for early risers on the West Coast, just before 6 a.m. Monday.

But in the Tri-Cities, the National Weather Service is predicting cloudy skies and possible rain for Sunday night through Monday night.

If the moon is visible, it will appear much larger than usual and shine 30 percent more moonlight onto the Earth, according NASA.

The moon’s orbit around Earth is slightly elliptical, so sometimes it is closer and sometimes it is farther away, according to NASA. When the moon is full and closest to the Earth, it is called a supermoon.

On Monday, the moon will be the the closest full moon to Earth since 1948. Another supermoon like this won’t appear until 2034, according to NASA.

Although this will be the only supermoon this year to be completely full and it will come the closest to Earth, there will be another chance to see a supermoon on Dec. 14, according to NASA.

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 8:21 PM with the headline "Clouds may obscure Tri-City supermoon."