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Weather Words: Beaver Moon | Weather.com
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Weather Words: Beaver Moon

An aircraft crossing beaver full moon is seen from L'Aquila, Italy, on November 26th, 2023. November Full Moon is known among Native Americans as the 'Beaver Moon' because, during this month, beavers prepare to face the harshness of winter by building their famous dams and stockpiling food in their burrows. (Photo by Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
An aircraft crossing beaver full moon is seen from L'Aquila, Italy, on Nov. 26, 2023.
(Photo by Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

This segment originally appeared in today's edition of the Morning Brief newsletter. Sign up here to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.

If you are lucky enough to have clear skies tonight, you may look up and notice the “Beaver Moon." Of course, tonight’s moon is no different than any other full moon, but each full moon has a name. This tradition dates back hundreds of years when Native American tribes began naming full moons. This helped them keep track of when to hunt, plant, harvest and so on.

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The Beaver Moon is always the first full moon in November and most likely got its name because tribes usually caught beavers this time of year before the water froze; they used beaver fur for clothing and trade. It’s also possible that the Beaver Moon was given this name because November is when beavers prepare for winter by building dams.

The Beaver Moon has also been known as the Frost Moon or Freezing Moon because of the dropping temperatures. Regardless of what you consider this month’s full moon to be called, hopefully you will be able to look up and see it between the clouds.

J​ennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.

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