Rare Strawberry Moon Rises First Day Of Summer, Plus Possible Thunderstorms Overnight

By Kara Seymour, Patch Staff

Monday, June 20 is the first day of summer. Hot temperatures, which are expected this week, should not come as a surprise.

In addition to the heat, the days will be long. Click here to find out just when the sunset will be, marking the end of the longest day of the year.

To top it off, a rare "Strawberry Moon" will be on display in the night sky Monday. A Strawberry Moon has an amber glow and is very low, according to experts.

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"The Sun gets super high so this Moon must be super-low. Even at its loftiest at 1 AM, it’s downright wimpy-low. This forces its light through thicker air, which also tends to be humid this time of year, and the combination typically makes it amber colored," according to an explanation in the Old Farmer's Almanac.

A Strawberry Moon coinciding with the first day of summer is uncommon, last occurring in 1967, according to the Washington Post. The astronomical event will be live-streamed by Slooh.com.

So that's what's on tap in the sky Monday.

But what can we expect in terms of the weather this week?

It will be hot early on, as we mentioned above. Highs Monday and Tuesday will sit in the 80s, but could give way to showers Monday night and even overnight thunderstorms into Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. The highest chance for storms there are northwest of Boston.

Wednesday will battle the potential of some rain, but is expected to be 80 degrees and sunny, and Thursday could see some steady rainfall.

It looks to be smooth sailing after that, hot and sunny through Sunday, when an extended forecast calls for 85 degrees.