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Fan Palms are showing their fruit, full moon brings extreme tides this weekend
Earth will be at perihelion this weekend
A close-up of a cluster of Fan Palm fruit
Ripening Palm Fruit, Hanging In Great Clusters on California’s native fan palms (Washingtonia filifera), can be seen (and tasted) this month. The black, pea-sized fruit consists of a deliciously sweet but almost paper-thin skin surrounding a hard seed. (It's worth noting that these are not “California dates” — the fruit of cultivated palms introduced into California’s deserts from northern Africa.) Our native fan palms can be seen in their natural habitat in about two dozen canyons within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. They have also been planted widely elsewhere in California, including along the main streets of Palm Springs.
Full Moon over Balboa Park
The Full Moon on Saturday, January 3 rises impressively from the dusky east horizon at around 5:24 pm, just thirty minutes after the sun has set. Some folk names for the January full moon include “Chaste Moon,” “Quiet Moon,” “Snow Moon,” and “Wolf Moon.” This is the first super moon of 2026 and will likely wash out the peaking Quadrantid meteor shower. After midnight look to the Northern sky, near the handle of the big dipper, and you may still see some of the brightest meteors.
Cabrillo National Monument tidepools.
A String of Extraordinarily High And Low Tides Occurs This Weekend. The tide on Friday, January 2, dips to -2.1 feet at 3:05 pm. Saturday’s low tide of -2.1 feet occurs at 3:48 pm. On Sunday, the tide falls to -1.87 feet at 4:30 pm. These low-tide episodes will be perfect for exploring the lowermost of the intertidal zones in the rocky areas of San Diego County’s coastline. Extreme high tides will also occur a few hours before each extreme low tide, with Friday's and Saturday's high tides reaching heights of 7.61 and 7.68 feet. The tidal extremes this month are related to the full moon phase, and also to the moon’s seasonal position in the sky, which is helping to carry the global tidal bulges and troughs over latitudes farther north than usual.
Our “closest” distance from the sun is still 91.4 million miles.
The Earth Will Be At Its Closest Point To The Sun on the morning of January 4th. This point is called the perihelion, from the Greek roots peri, meaning “near,” and helios, meaning “sun.” Because the earth’s orbit around the sun isn’t circular but elliptical — a stretched but still rounded path — there are closest and farthest points in its cycle. In early January, we are 3% closer to the sun (1.5 million miles) than we will be in July, when earth reaches its aphelion.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Fan Palms are showing their fruit, full moon brings extreme tides this weekend
Earth will be at perihelion this weekend
Fan Palms are showing their fruit, full moon brings extreme tides this weekend
Earth will be at perihelion this weekend
A close-up of a cluster of Fan Palm fruit
Ripening Palm Fruit, Hanging In Great Clusters on California’s native fan palms (Washingtonia filifera), can be seen (and tasted) this month. The black, pea-sized fruit consists of a deliciously sweet but almost paper-thin skin surrounding a hard seed. (It's worth noting that these are not “California dates” — the fruit of cultivated palms introduced into California’s deserts from northern Africa.) Our native fan palms can be seen in their natural habitat in about two dozen canyons within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. They have also been planted widely elsewhere in California, including along the main streets of Palm Springs.
Full Moon over Balboa Park
The Full Moon on Saturday, January 3 rises impressively from the dusky east horizon at around 5:24 pm, just thirty minutes after the sun has set. Some folk names for the January full moon include “Chaste Moon,” “Quiet Moon,” “Snow Moon,” and “Wolf Moon.” This is the first super moon of 2026 and will likely wash out the peaking Quadrantid meteor shower. After midnight look to the Northern sky, near the handle of the big dipper, and you may still see some of the brightest meteors.
Cabrillo National Monument tidepools.
A String of Extraordinarily High And Low Tides Occurs This Weekend. The tide on Friday, January 2, dips to -2.1 feet at 3:05 pm. Saturday’s low tide of -2.1 feet occurs at 3:48 pm. On Sunday, the tide falls to -1.87 feet at 4:30 pm. These low-tide episodes will be perfect for exploring the lowermost of the intertidal zones in the rocky areas of San Diego County’s coastline. Extreme high tides will also occur a few hours before each extreme low tide, with Friday's and Saturday's high tides reaching heights of 7.61 and 7.68 feet. The tidal extremes this month are related to the full moon phase, and also to the moon’s seasonal position in the sky, which is helping to carry the global tidal bulges and troughs over latitudes farther north than usual.
Our “closest” distance from the sun is still 91.4 million miles.
The Earth Will Be At Its Closest Point To The Sun on the morning of January 4th. This point is called the perihelion, from the Greek roots peri, meaning “near,” and helios, meaning “sun.” Because the earth’s orbit around the sun isn’t circular but elliptical — a stretched but still rounded path — there are closest and farthest points in its cycle. In early January, we are 3% closer to the sun (1.5 million miles) than we will be in July, when earth reaches its aphelion.
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