A rare super blue moon will be over SC soon. Will Tropical Storm Idalia block it from view?

Tropical Storm Idalia is expected to cause heavy rain, flooding and general havoc as it moves through Florida and up into the Carolina coast. And in addition, its clouds will cover up the once every two to three year blue moon across the Southeast.

The Blue Moon is not actually blue, but is called that because it’s the second supermoon of August. Instead, it looks orange. It is expected to reach its peak at 9:36 p.m. Wednesday, just as Idalia is sweeping through the area.

Leonard Vaughan of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, “Due to the amount of clouds and chances for rain during midweek from a combination of an approaching frontal boundary and TS Idalia, it will most likely be cloudy for the event.”

Wednesday and Thursday the supermoon will be the closest of the four full supermoons this year and will be the biggest and brightest, according to NASA.

Another space phenomenon the Southeast will probably miss is Saturn rising with the supermoon. Saturn is often visible, but it will look bigger and brighter next to the supermoon.

According to current forecasts, much of the rest of the nation will be able to see the blue moon.

There is one more supermoon this year, the harvest moon at 5:57 a.m. Sept. 28.

Two other supermoons have occurred this year, July’s Buck Moon and August’s sturgeon moon.