LEWISTON – A ring around the moon Tuesday night resulted in a handful of calls to the Sun Journal by those wanting to know what the circular apparition was all about.
At the National Weather Service in Gray, meteorologist James Brown said there is no reason for panic or evacuation. “That’s an altostratus,” he said. “It basically means there’s a lot of water in the clouds and that causes that reflection. It happens quite often.”
The ring around the moon was particularly vivid in the early evening when the sky was mostly clear. That’s when the calls started coming to the newspaper.
In Lewiston, police said they did not receive worried calls from the citizenry, but a few officers personally took note of the phenomenon.
“I saw it myself. The moon had a huge ring around it,” said police Sgt. Jeff Parshall. “It was awesome to look at.”
According to folklore, a ring around the moon means nasty weather is on its way.
“I don’t think so,” said Brown, the meteorologist.
That’s not to say bad weather isn’t in the forecast. Brown said snow may be coming on Thursday or Friday but he insists it has nothing to do with the ring around the moon.
He could not say if it will be a big storm or a bad one. Altostratus aside, Brown was waiting for more radar images to make his prediction.
“The jury is still out on that one,” he said.
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