Quick Reference Flower Moon 2026: Friday, May 1, 2026 Peak illumination: 1:23 p.m. Eastern Time (17:23 UTC), with the Moon in Scorpio Rare Blue Moon bonus: Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 4:45 a.m. Eastern Time (08:45 UTC), in Sagittarius Rule of thumb: the Flower Moon is the first full Moon of May; a second full

Quick Reference: December at a Glance Month number: 12th month, 31 days Birthstones: turquoise (traditional), tanzanite, and blue zircon (one of only three triple-stone months) Birth flowers: narcissus (paperwhite) and holly Zodiac: Sagittarius (Nov 22 – Dec 21), Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 19) Birth tree (Celtic): elder (Nov 25 – Dec 22), birch (Dec

Quick Reference: November at a Glance Month number: 11th month, 30 days Birthstones: topaz (traditional), citrine (alternate modern) Birth flower: chrysanthemum (mum) Zodiac: Scorpio (Oct 23 to Nov 21), Sagittarius (Nov 22 to Dec 21) Birth tree (Celtic): reed (Oct 28 to Nov 24), elder (Nov 25 to Dec 23) Full moon: Beaver Moon, Tuesday,

Quick Reference What it is: The informal name for a tornado-prone corridor running from north Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, with secondary lobes into the Dakotas, Iowa, and Missouri. Term origin: Coined in 1952 by Air Force meteorologists Ernest J. Fawbush and Robert C. Miller, the same team that issued the first official tornado

Quick Reference What it is: A secondary tornado-prone region in the southeastern US, distinct from classic Tornado Alley. Term coined by NOAA’s Allen Pearson in 1971. States included: Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, plus parts of Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Why it is deadlier: Nighttime tornadoes (2.5x more fatal), high mobile-home density

Quick Reference #1 worst weather state: Texas. 155 tornadoes a year, 190 billion-dollar disasters since 1980, every major hazard type. Most billion-dollar disasters: Georgia at 134, the highest frequency of any state per NOAA NCEI. Most hurricane landfalls: Florida, with more than 120 documented since 1851. Most flood disasters: Louisiana, with 10 billion-dollar flood events,

Quick Reference Top picks: Lavender, salvia, yarrow, sedum, agastache, echinacea, russian sage, black-eyed susan, coreopsis, gaura. Best shrubs: Juniper, butterfly bush, ninebark, rugosa rose, smoke bush. Best grasses: Blue fescue, little bluestem, switchgrass, Mexican feather grass. Best planting time: Fall. Roots establish through winter and the plant arrives spring already drought-ready. Water savings: 50 to

Quick Reference What it is: The crescent moon is the lunar phase when less than 50 percent of the Moon’s illuminated face is visible from Earth. Two kinds: Waxing crescent (growing, lit on the right in the Northern Hemisphere, looks like a D) and waning crescent (shrinking, lit on the left, looks like a C).

Quick Reference What it is: A TikTok trend where two people compare the moon phase on the day they were born. If the two phases visually fit together to form a full moon, the trend says they are compatible. Origin: Started by TikTok creator @lexihernandezz in January 2022, went mainstream in March 2023. Hashtag has

Quick Reference Why we never see it: The Moon is tidally locked to Earth. Its rotation period (27.3 days) matches its orbital period, so the same hemisphere always faces us. “Dark side” myth: Both hemispheres get equal sunlight. “Dark” originally meant “unseen,” not “unlit.” What we have seen: About 59 percent of the lunar surface,