56 replies to this topic

[Jack Day]

Dave,

Waterville is not a good model for comparison. Would be much better to use Coulee City.

Edited by Jack Day, 06 August 2024 - 01:42 PM.

[DLuders]

Dave,

Waterville is not a good model for comparison. Would be much better to use Coulee City.

This Weather Underground website shows that it was 104 deg. F. on Fri., 2 Aug 2024 in Moses Lake, WA.  One can look up the history for other dates.  I could not find historical for Coulee City per se, since it's so small, except for this realtime data. 

 

Jack, since you are one of the WSSP organizers, is there any thought about moving the dates and/or the location for the 2025 event?

Edited by DLuders, 06 August 2024 - 02:29 PM.

[Jack Day]

Do you know of a better location?

 

As to dates,  2025 new moons are:

 

April 27, May 27, June 25, July 24 and August 23.

 

So, which of these, or where would you suggest?

[triplemon]

Average cloud cover may be a factor worth considering.

Nearest sponsored dark sky clock is near Electric City

https://www.cleardar...CmDlnyWAct.html

[Jack Day]

https://www.cleardar...tnSp3key.html?1

[triplemon]

Sure - but you didn't pay the sponsorship, so that entry for WSP does not have the section with the historical, average percentages of suitable weather for each month, based on the last 19 years of weather data for that location. Go to the list view and the sponsored entries are marked, so only for those you can make an educated guess if going an month earlier or later may change your odds of favorable weather.
 

Granted, "likelyhood of smoke" is not in there. And past performance, in particular if you average over many years back, may not mean so much wrt what may be going on next year ... so that is at best a great extrapolation exercise.

Edited by triplemon, 07 August 2024 - 07:28 PM.

[DLuders]

Jack, to answer your question, I don't know of a better WSSP location for 2025 that would (1) Be away from Light Pollution, (2) Be centrally located, (3) Be easy to drive to, and (4) Be away from the forests where smoky fires occur.  I like the Jameson Lake WSSP location (albeit it's an oven on hot summer days).

 

As far as the dates of the New Moon in 2025, 

 

(A)  April 27th -- This is one day after the "Opening Day" of general fishing season at the lowland lakes in Washington State.  I would not think that the WDFW would grant a permit to the WSSP, and compete with the general public fishing for Rainbow Trout on that opening weekend.  Besides, it can be quite cloudy then.

 

(B)  May 27th -- This is one day after Memorial Day 2025 (Mon., May 26th).  If the WSSP started on Tues., May 27th and lasted until Sun., June 1st, that would be a strong candidate to avoid wildfire smoke and the hottest temperatures.  On the other hand, the period of darkness would not be quite as long as a date at the end of July, and people still in school may not be able to attend the entire week of WSSP.  Also, the Sagittarius Star Cloud is not due south until after 2 AM or so. 

                                                           

( C )  June 25th -- This is just a few days after Summer Solstice, and the period of total darkness lasts only 4-1/2 hours or so.  It can be quite hot at the end of June too.  The Sagittarius Star Clouds are framed by the canyon walls of Moses Coulee (looking south from Jameson Lake) a little after midnight.

   

(D)  July 24th -- Usually the hottest time of the year.  Could encounter smoke from Northwest wildfires.  Local wheat farmers are kicking up dust during harvest.  Often conflicts with the Oregon Star Party (but they may decide to move that earlier in the year, to avoid wildfire smoke). 

 

(E)  August 23rd -- If the WSSP were scheduled for Tues.-Sun., 26-31 Aug 2025, it would bump up against Labor Day 2025 (Mon., Sept 1st).  The Sagittarius Star Cloud is already hidden by the canyon walls of Moses Coulee by midnight.  Wildfire smoke can still be a problem.  

 

If the WSSP organizers wanted to move the dates, I would try May 27 - June 1, 2025.  It's not as hot (or as smoky) then compared to the end of July.

Edited by DLuders, 08 August 2024 - 07:46 AM.