Total Lunar Eclipse on Nov. 8 for Washington Coast, Oregon Coast

Published 10/24/22 at 5:34 PM
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Portland, Oregon) – The sky is about to get a whole lot more interesting in early November. If conditions cooperate on the Oregon coast and Washington coast, it's going to mean an extraordinary trip to the beaches for some. (All photos Oregon Coast Beach Connection)

November 8 brings a total lunar eclipse to the western U.S., with totality happening in the wee hours of the morning for Washington's coastline and Oregon's coast – as well as for Seattle, Portland and Eugene.

According to NASA, you'll be getting the full show of what is sometimes called the “Blood Moon” - the standard nickname for eclipses that turn red. Total eclipse happens at 2:59 a.m., with a sizable period before and after when it's still red. It should be various shades of orange or red from about 2:17 a.m. until 3:42 a.m.

Yet don't look for a completely blackened moon at any point.

“The totally eclipsed moon won't be totally dark - and that's what makes totality delightful,” NASA said. “Earth's atmosphere bends sunlight into our planet's shadow and onto the moon. This sunlight is reddened as it travels a great distance through our dusty atmosphere, and so the moon looks red. Sunsets on Earth look red for the same reason.”

See Oregon Coast Weather - Washington Coast Weather

From the point of view of the Washington coast and Oregon coast – from Brookings through to Forks – the eclipse just barely begins about two minutes after midnight on November 8, but you won't start seeing any difference until a good half hour in. That is when the moon gets within the Earth's umbra.

Then you'll start seeing a bit of a shadow slowly engulfing the moon. More and more you'll see what looks like a bite being taken out of it, until about 2:17 when it begins fully shading orange.

At totality, at 2:59 a.m., it will be at its darkest, and slowly lighten up until 3:42 a.m. The red color fades by then, but you'll still see what looks like a bite being taken out of it. A few minutes before 6 a.m. is when the whole thing is over.

NASA said it's visible all over the Americas as well as parts of Asia and Australia.

“A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow,” NASA said. “In a total lunar eclipse, the entire Moon falls within the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra.”

Oregon Coast Beach Connection has photographed numerous such events in the last decade, seen here.

If you don't catch this one, the Pacific Northwest and the coasts of Oregon and Washington won't see another full lunar eclipse until 2025. However, NASA said we will see partial and punumbral lunar eclipses in those three years.

Next year about this time, the south Oregon coast will get a monster of a show with a near-full solar eclipse. The moon will block the center of the sun on October 14, mostly south of Reedsport, including Bandon and Coos Bay. You won't see the sun darken much as the moon will still be a bit too small to cover the entire sun, but you'll see a spectacular ring of fire.

Northern Oregon coast and Washington coast regions will see a partial blocking of the sun.

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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