While a rare blue supermoon is an astronomical event for the rest of the world, it could raise tides above normal, which could make the impact of Hurricane Idalia worse for residents in Florida as it would make floods there worse.
The moon would be closest to Earth on Wednesday (August 30), the same day the hurricane would make landfall as a high-end Category 3 or low-end Category 4 hurricane near Keaton Beach, in Florida's sparsely populated Big Bend region, where the state's peninsula meets the panhandle. Maximum sustained winds are expected to reach 125 mph (200 kph).
Florida governor Ron DeSantis has earlier declared a state of emergency for the state and has ordered the preparations for the storm's arrival.
Bad Timing
National Weather Service Charleston's meteorologist in charge Brian Haines said the timing was "pretty bad," as it would also affect the states of Georgia and South Carolina.
What makes the Moon's pull worse is if it is in the same direction as the sun's gravitational pull, which has the effect of increasing tides above normal ranges, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor emeritus of atmospheric science Kerry Emanuel.
The moon's gravitational pulls are even stronger when it's closer to Earth, so the tides are even higher.
Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center projected Tuesday (August 29) that the killer storm surge created by both Idalia and the Moon could be up to 15 feet (4.6 meters) high along parts of Florida's western coast.
"There's a saying that you hide from the wind and run from the water, and hopefully people are heeding that advice," University at Albany in New York associate professor of atmospheric science Brian Tang explained.
