Sonoma Supermoon gives way to rain in the forecast

It’s hard not to feel a little bit romantic about a moon that hangs as full and bright above the Earth as it did the past two nights, a glowing orb that felt just out of reach but near enough for humans to make out the surface shadows and irregularities that distinguish it.

Astronomers say no full moon had been as close since January 26, 1948, and won’t be again for another 16 years, given its lopsided, elliptical course around the Earth that brings it now closer, now farther from our planet.

Perfect viewing weather Sunday night was slightly less so Monday as cool, moist weather moved into the area, dropping recent spring-like temperatures 10 degrees so that daytime highs hover around 60 degrees, National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Benjamin said.

Very light rain was expected with it overnight Monday into today, with clearing after that and low enough temperatures Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

“In the more wind-sheltered valleys, we could maybe even see some patchy frost,” Benjamin said.

Then next weekend, wet weather is in store, with preliminary forecasts calling for moderate rain beginning sometime Saturday morning and getting heavier Saturday night and Sunday before giving way to a showery pattern through as late as next Tuesday, Benjamin said.

“We’re a ways off, so we’ll be refining these, but this does look like it could be significant amount of rains,” he said, bringing several inches of rainfall to the coastal mountains and an inch or more in the valleys.

“Right now, it looks like it could be a formidable wet system,” Benjamin said.