151 replies to this topic

[Jon Isaacs]

83°f, 21% RH, winds variable, 6 mph -16 mph within the past few minutes. 24 mph within the past hour.

 

 

Sunny with blue skies and pretty good sized fire across the border in Mexico.

 

 

Jon

[gwlee]

The forecast here is clear for next week as normal for Summer. We usual get our first frontal rainstorm around the 3rd week in October. Wildfire smoke has been getting worse in the last few years, but not a problem at the moment.

 

https://forecast.wea...95#.Yzjf_C1lBOk

 

 

As usual seeing isn’t great. Here a link to Clear Sky Chart for a nearby location 

 

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

Edited by gwlee, 24 June 2025 - 09:50 PM.

[SubaruB4]

Hey it's only been 17 weekends here in Connecticut where it's rained every Saturday.. It' sunny right now but it seems we might get a thunderstorm later but I was thinking of going out later but I don't know if 20-40% cloud cover is too much.

 

I kinda got all this gear I can't really use you know...

[SubaruB4]

The Northeast U.S. currently just stinks for astronomy. I've been out one day only this month and prospects for any more days this month is next to nil.

 

The first two star parties for the local club have been cancelled. Maybe there will be one in June.

Last time I had my scope out it was March 3rd 2025 and ever sense then rain It's funny how Sunday nights it's clear but I work M-F starting at 4:30am It has me starting to question if I want to call out a day just to get a day in..

 

Boy I guess I was wrong it seems like the winter is far better in the NE to be outdoors.

[DOBguyinGA]

Good evening everyone,

 

I am pretty new to this hobby, and I have a question about small and not so small pop-up rain/lighting events.

 

Like everyone else in this hobby I closely watch the weather forecasts, and I have noted a good many situations lately where there is no indication of rain on radar for the next 6 hours, and 20 minutes later it is raining. And not just on my home. I have seen radar say there is nothing at all in my area for a few counties around me, and an hour later there are pop-ups all over the general area.

 

I have lived here for over 15 years and I have learned to carefully watch the weather this time of year because of the potential for tornadoes.

 

But I have never watched the weather this closely before, and that is the reason I am asking. I do not remember seeing this sort of unexpected and unpredictable weather before.

 

I live in the metro Atlanta area if that matters.

 

Is this normal for this time of the year, or is this weather behavior unusual?
 

As always, thanks in advance for your input.

[RetiredDave]

Good evening everyone,

I am pretty new to this hobby, and I have a question about small and not so small pop-up rain/lighting events.

Like everyone else in this hobby I closely watch the weather forecasts, and I have noted a good many situations lately where there is no indication of rain on radar for the next 6 hours, and 20 minutes later it is raining. And not just on my home. I have seen radar say there is nothing at all in my area for a few counties around me, and an hour later there are pop-ups all over the general area.

I have lived here for over 15 years and I have learned to carefully watch the weather this time of year because of the potential for tornadoes.

But I have never watched the weather this closely before, and that is the reason I am asking. I do not remember seeing this sort of unexpected and unpredictable weather before.

I live in the metro Atlanta area if that matters.

Is this normal for this time of the year, or is this weather behavior unusual?

As always, thanks in advance for your input.

Sounds like normal summer weather in the southeast. For what it is worth (my opinion), the weather has not changed, but the forecasts have. I have found the most accurate forecast models are the 5-7 day forecasts in my area. More often than not, the hourly forecast, even for the next couple hours, is inaccurate. I'll look at various forecasts for planning purposes, but I just go outside if I want to know what the weather is like.

Edited by RetiredDave, 28 June 2025 - 09:14 PM.

[Tony Flanders]

I certainly can't complain about the weather here on the NY/MA line. We've had an inch of rain in the last two weeks, below average but enough to keep the plants reasonably happy. We've had plenty of welcome clouds to shield the Sun during the day, but also two almost cloud-free nights, one of decent transparency and one pretty good. Tonight is also forecast to be clear, reasonably transparent, and smoke-free.

 

Three good nights per new-Moon period is all we can reasonably ask in this part of the world, and more than we often get.

[SubaruB4]

I certainly can't complain about the weather here on the NY/MA line. We've had an inch of rain in the last two weeks, below average but enough to keep the plants reasonably happy. We've had plenty of welcome clouds to shield the Sun during the day, but also two almost cloud-free nights, one of decent transparency and one pretty good. Tonight is also forecast to be clear, reasonably transparent, and smoke-free.

 

Three good nights per new-Moon period is all we can reasonably ask in this part of the world, and more than we often get.

Yep as much as my mind is saying don't do it (work at 4:30Am) I might be going out tonight.. It's almost a guarantee because I'm getting my gear ready, the nice thing is the wind is going to be pretty light tonight.

[JayinUT]

I got out 3 times this new moon period.  That is pretty good with some health issues I am having right now. Pics below. FR006 is 1 hour 45 minutes away; Wolf Creek is also 1 hour 50 minutes away from my home. 

 

This is out in Utah's West Desert, FR006 as I call it. Beautiful evening and had a great night. SQM L was in the upper 21.6's (before solar max. I would get 21.7's here).  I observed until late and then car camped in the Ascent. The forecast was for clouds the next night which happen and so I packed up the next morning, went home, did my daily swim and then restocked and after a nap, drove to the next spot. 

 

 

 

This is at Wolf Creek in the Unita Mountains, Duchesne Ridge. Elevation is 9380 feet and before solar maximum SQM L was around 21.8 to 21.9 range. As typical for the mountains here in Utah, I had clouds when I arrived at 5:00 p.m. but they disperse as evening arrives.  I got SQM in the upper 21.6 to one 21.71 so it is still fantastic.  Transparency that night was very good and I observed until 4:00 a.m. when darkness began to fade. Camped over and it was a blast!  I love the desert to observe but in the summer dust can accumulate in the lower atmosphere so I often head to the mountains. I also like to contrast the beauty of the desert to the mountains.   

 

Next month I am either going to go to central Utah (depends on monsoon if it comes early) at 9000 feet or here at Wolf Creek or another spot even higher and more remote in the Unita called Elizabeth Ridge. Elizabeth Ridge is at 10,300 feet and is also wide open like Wolf Creek.  

 

 

 

A close up of the campsite I had at Wolf Creek. Sky is overexposed, but I had a blast visually observing and then using my SeeStar S50 to image the items I was visually observing and sketching. Loved to compare the views of the two.  You can see the memory foam pad I sleep on in the back of the Ascent. I put another two in layer of foam over that and with a sleeping bag or heavy blanket I'm good. 

 

A point here. In both locations I was layered up.  I had my Merino Wool base layer, a layer of hunting pants and then my hunting bibs on.  I also wore on my upper body Merino Wool base, two other long sleeve layers and a wool sweater and a medium coat. I also wore light gloves as at Vernon it got down to 38 F and at Wolf Creek at 4:10 a.m. when I crawled in to sleep it was 32 F.  

 

 

Also had two fun experiences up at Wolf Creek.  It is always silent, I had a family disperse camping about 100 yards away in the tree line to the northwest of the ridge. They never bothered me and were in their tent by 9:30 p.m..  However, that evening this friend came up the ridge from the valley below and was grazing and checked me out. I've seen moose plenty of times in the wild but I am always amazed on what large and magnificent animals they are. I grabbed my phone and snapped this as the moose began to walk back down the ridge to the lush canyon below. 

 

Then 1:10 a.m. I heard a rustle of bush as a large animal made it's way back up the ridge. I had  bear spray so I was ready but the moose returned, looking around and grazed a little bit and then went back down the ridge into the dark.  I think it was attracted to the red lights on the SeeStar S50 as the moose tooks some steps that way until I gave it a shout. I had the SeeStar S50 set up about 20 yards from my observing area running it as I observed. 

 

 

 

The second was coyotes howling in the canyon below. They howled several times and that is no biggie but it echoed through the canyon and that made it fun. 

 

Anyway, so far I've been fortunate this year at new moon here in Utah. 

Edited by JayinUT, 29 June 2025 - 02:50 PM.

[SubaruB4]

Nice I wish I could fold down the seats in my forester but that would require me to take out my car seats for my kids at least it would be easy to stretch out a bit more.

[Jon Isaacs]

My June started out slow, my first night was June 16th.. since then, 2 nights in San Diego, 10 nights in the high desert with 2 more missed because of family obligations. 

 

The rainfall has been normal.. not a drop.

 

Jon

[daveb2022]

It has been clear for almost 2 months, but where I'm at in California the wind has been ruthless. Never seen so many 15 to 20+ MPH days like I've been subjected to in May and June this year. At least the last 2 months have been much cooler than normal. My tropical plants are normally 3 feet higher than they are now due to the cooler temps. But the heat has hit, and it finally feels like summer has set in. It's 93 degrees at 11AM right now and dead calm. 

 

Tonight might be a Seestar night... air conditioned control room.

 

The only cloud cover the last few weeks has been in the foothills and Sierra's. With the heat comes the fire danger, and with all the excessive growth this year, I'm concerned seeing heavy thunderheads in the hills.  

[152ED]

I don't remember where I found this or how accurate it is, but seems about right.  Can you imagine how depressing it must be in the UK, Russia and Scandinavia?

 

 

 

[Tony Cifani]

Funny t-shirt:

 

https://astroattire....n-watch-t-shirt

[vsteblina]

Been a somewhat dry spring in Wenatchee.

 

Last rainfall above a trace was May 16th at a tenth of an inch.  The previous time it was March 31st when we got two tenths of inch of rain.

 

Looks like we get a bit of rain every 50 days.  Except we are heading in our dry summer weather period. Come summer it normally doesn't rain until sometime in the fall.

 

Hopefully, we will get some rain before hunting season for birds in late October.  Otherwise, it is going to be a tough year for scenting conditions for the French girl.

 

Thanks to God for the Columbia River and the resultant dams and irrigation systems. 

 

Yeah, I have NO IDEA why Washington state is called the Evergreen state.

 

Here's a picture from the Washington State Star Party from last year.  See anything green in the picture??  Maybe a tree or shrub??

 

https://www.cloudyni...92018_thumb.jpg

Edited by vsteblina, 04 July 2025 - 09:08 PM.

[Jon Isaacs]

Yeah, I have NO IDEA why Washington state is called the Evergreen state.

 

 

West of the Cascades, it is green-green.  Around Spokane, there's a lot of green.  The colored areas are forests.

 

 

https://www.wfpa.org...ington-forests/

 

Washington is not 100% forest but there are a lot of forests.  Obviously, no one chooses a forested area for a star party if they have access to something else.  My friend lives in Kingston, Washington.. Trees grow like weeds. 

 

Jon

[Jon Isaacs]

I don't remember where I found this or how accurate it is, but seems about right.  Can you imagine how depressing it must be in the UK, Russia and Scandinavia?

 

sml_gallery_498032_27380_104177.jpg

 

Your map shows that the southwestern United States has a lot of sun, ideal for amateur astronomy.  Imagine how depressed I might be if my hobby were ice fishing.

 

My interest in amateur astronomy grew out of camping under the dark skies of the southwest.  

 

 

(Monument Valley)

 

Jon

Edited by Jon Isaacs, 05 July 2025 - 05:34 AM.

[Tony Flanders]

I don't remember where I found this or how accurate it is, but seems about right.  Can you imagine how depressing it must be in the UK, Russia and Scandinavia?

Yet that's where William Herschel discovered most of the deep-sky objects observed by amateur astronomers.

[Tony Flanders]

The rainfall has been normal.. not a drop.

I've spent quite a lot of time in various parts of California over the years. The difference in precipitation -- and how it's visualized -- is amazing.

Here in Massachusetts, if it fails to rain for two weeks we start to worry about drought, and if it rains less than a few inches in any given two-month period there are restrictions on water usage.

In most of California, if it does rain any time from June through September, people think the end of the world is upon them.

[Jon Isaacs]

 

In most of California, if it does rain any time from June through September, people think the end of the world is upon them.

 

My father liked to say that if you lived in the southwest, you had to get used to the idea that the entire flow of a river could be below the surface of the sand.

 

This is s a photo of the Merrimack river as it flows through Lowell, Massachusetts. It has an average flow of about 7500 cu-ft/sec. It has a drainage basin of about 5000 sq-mi. The Colorado River, the major river of the Southwest, has an average flow of about 17,500 cu-ft/sec with a basin of 250,000 sq-mi.  

 

The average flow of the Colorado is 2.3 x the Merrimack from an area 50 times greater, an area more than 40% greater than the entire Northeastern US..

 

 

Jon

 

 

[daveb2022]

Had some heavy type cloud cover move in on the 3rd, but the clouds moved out by 8PM and I had very clear skies the rest of the evening.

The seeing was good and the transparency was the best I've had in a long time. However wearing a hoodie to keep warm at the scope is not what July is supposed to be.

This has been one of the coldest 4th of July holidays for probably 20 years or more. I really wish it would stay this way all through summer.

Excessive heat will stop me observing, and I'm sure it's coming one of these days.

Thankfully all the reservoirs are all full, so no drought this year in my area of Ca.

We don't have a monsoonal climate, but normally have slightly humid weather with heavy cloud cover and an occasional thunderstorm pass through in May and June.

But this year it has been solid sun and much cooler than normal temps. One on the best years I've ever seen and seems to be continuing. My luck is bound to run out.

[Tony Flanders]

I've spent quite a lot of time in various parts of California over the years. The difference in precipitation -- and how it's visualized -- is amazing.

Here in Massachusetts, if it fails to rain for two weeks we start to worry about drought, and if it rains less than a few inches in any given two-month period there are restrictions on water usage.

In most of California, if it does rain any time from June through September, people think the end of the world is upon them.

To put this in context, the longest continuous weather record in the U.S. is from the weather station in New York City's Central Park. Since 1870 there have been no months without recorded precipitation, only two with less than 0.1 inches, and 78 -- 4% of the total -- with less than 1 inch. In San Diego, the average monthly rainfall is less than 1 inch.

[Jon Isaacs]

To put this in context, the longest continuous weather record in the U.S. is from the weather station in New York City's Central Park. Since 1870 there have been no months without recorded precipitation, only two with less than 0.1 inches, and 78 -- 4% of the total -- with less than 1 inch. In San Diego, the average monthly rainfall is less than 1 inch.

 

It wasn't too long ago when we had 3.1 inches for the entire year.  

 

One thing though is that San Diego county is 4500 square miles, Massachusetts is about 10,500 square miles. In San Diego county, there's everything from the beaches to the mountains to deserts..  Driving 10 miles can result in an very different climate. 

 

Palomar Mountain gets about 30 inches of rain and 26 inches of snow a year.  Our place in the high desert gets over 10 inches of rain and some snow.  10 miles as the Crow flies, Ocotillo gets 3 inches of rain and no snow. 

 

Jon 

[SubaruB4]

I got out last night with my kids yesterday but it figures the day before no bugs but yesterday tons of them lol but they enjoyed it and so did I it's been a long time since we had a Saturday without rain.

[EmDrive2821]

Another testament to the viewing experience in the Northeast region of Continental North America.  Once again, the Mount Megantic Dark Sky area in the Eastern Townships of Quebec got socked in with cloud cover and occasional rain.    I am 0 for 3 (3 visits over 3 years) in terms of poor viewing conditions.  Fortunately there are many other things to see and do in this beautiful region of QC.  Now heading to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, which probably (according to the National Weather Service) isn’t going to be much better.  Sometimes you get lucky (with clear skies) and sometimes you don’t.
 

Gary