Will Western Washington get to see the super blue blood moon?

SEATTLE -- Much of the world will get to see not only a blue moon and a supermoon, but also a total lunar eclipse on Wednesday. But will we actually get to see it?

Yes, sort of.

Q13 News Chief Meteorologist Walter Kelley said towns east of the Olympics and the Cascades will have the best chance to see the lunar event since the mountains provide breaks in the cloud cover.

"With a chance of some showers overnight and tomorrow (Wednesday)morning, there is a chance of a break in the cloud cover," said morning Meteorologist MJ McDermott.

But they both said to just go outside and look up Wednesday morning.

The eclipse will be visible best in the western half of the U.S. and Canada before the moon sets early Wednesday morning and across the Pacific into Asia as the moon rises Wednesday night into Thursday.

There hasn’t been a triple lineup like this since 1982 and the next won’t occur until 2037.

A blue moon is the second full moon in a month. A supermoon is a particularly close full or new moon, appearing somewhat brighter and bigger. A total lunar eclipse — or blood moon for its reddish tinge — has the moon completely bathed in Earth’s shadow.

“I’m calling it the Super Bowl of moons,” lunar scientist Noah Petro said Monday from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Others prefer “super blue blood moon.”

Either way, it’s guaranteed to impress, provided the skies are clear.

(That’s a big “if” in Western Washington. But Q13 Chief Meteorologist Walter Kelley says there may be a break in the cloud cover over some parts of Western Washington for some people to see it. )

The moon will actually be closest to Earth on Tuesday — just over 223,000 miles. That’s about 1,500 miles farther than the supermoon on Jan. 1. Midway through Wednesday’s eclipse, the moon will be even farther away — 223,820 miles — but still within unofficial supermoon guidelines.