15 replies to this topic

[gwd]

From this generic page,

https://forecast.wea...on=-106.4309547

I clicked on the hourly forecast link near the bottom and got these wonderful concise graphs:

 

https://forecast.wea...tType=graphical

 

 I have never seen this page before.  It just needs a smoke/haze/dust curve.  I like how I can see everything at a glance.  The first time I saw it I noticed the night time temp got close to the dewpoint after midnight and prepared for dew.  Dew is rare here.  I also like the wind speed direction and gusts predictions all on one graph.  

[Starman1]

No Seeing or Transparency predictions, though.

There is more information here:

https://www.astrosph...76&Loc=Forecast

[JayinUT]

I've used that for years, I still prefer Astropheric 

[CRAZYeye29325]

Don't you just hate trusting an app/site and then driving an hour to get to the darkest spot you can find, getting all setup, then the clouds never go away.

I've got an assortment and this one does pretty good.

https://clearoutside...st/34.47/-81.88

TTYL, Phil

[Starman1]

Don't you just hate trusting an app/site and then driving an hour to get to the darkest spot you can find, getting all setup, then the clouds never go away.

I've got an assortment and this one does pretty good.

https://clearoutside...st/34.47/-81.88

TTYL, Phil

That's why I look at 13-15 weather sites before I travel to the distant site--to get a consensus of what the weather will be.

My last time out, 14 of 15 sites said clear all night, but we were covered with clouds for 1.5 hours in the middle of the night.

None of the 15 predicted that.

[jcj380]

weather.jpg

From this generic page,

https://forecast.wea...on=-106.4309547

I clicked on the hourly forecast link near the bottom and got these wonderful concise graphs:

 

https://forecast.wea...tType=graphical

 

 I have never seen this page before.  It just needs a smoke/haze/dust curve.  I like how I can see everything at a glance.  The first time I saw it I noticed the night time temp got close to the dewpoint after midnight and prepared for dew.  Dew is rare here.  I also like the wind speed direction and gusts predictions all on one graph.  

That’s my default weather site.  The at-a-glance is very convenient.

Edited by jcj380, 18 June 2025 - 05:57 AM.

[luxo II]

If I'm driving to a dark site I check out webcams across my state - upwind of the site - to see what's coming.

These are typically located on airfields for flying clubs (small aircraft and gliders) and there are quite a few.

There are also some associated with weather stations, and even traffic cameras.

One website covers my country which shows the latest image from many of these, on a map.

 

If the sky is supposed to clear this will be visible on the webcams.

[Tony Flanders]

weather.jpg
From this generic page,
https://forecast.wea...on=-106.4309547
I clicked on the hourly forecast link near the bottom and got these wonderful concise graphs:
 
https://forecast.wea...tType=graphical
 
I have never seen this page before.

Wow. That has been my most fundamental weather resource for as long as I can remember. It's an essential refinement of the NWS word forecast, which rarely specifies details or numerical estimates beyond the current day -- and often not even then. I use it much more for daytime activities than for astronomy, but I do always look at the Sky Cover curve as further confirmation or refinement of forecasts more specifically tuned to astronomy.

During daytime, the curves I pay attention to are temperature, dew point, precipitation probability, and wind.

[JayinUT]

I have a series of  weather info sites/apps that I use to determine which site I go to. They include 

 

Clear Sky Chart for the locations 

 

Astropheric 

 

ClearOutside 

 

Skippy Astronomy 

 

Weather Underground (go to Maps and Radar, then I go to Interactive Satellite on the drop down,  using the items on the right side to make some determinations) 

 

American Observatory Weather Page  (I use Wyoming's WIRO site as I get northern Utah where I do most of my observing) 

 

NOAA Solar Calculator 

 

Weather For You  ( I use this to mark the possible days I am willing to head out to a dark site after full moon and during the New Moon Phase area) 

 

MesoWest  (this is a main one; I use the view buttons a LOT and you need to be okay transitioning from GMT but this is very helpful for the actual day) 

 

National Weather Service Salt Lake City Office 

 

National Weather Service SLC Office Hourly Forecast Chart  ( this with MesoWest I find the most valuable along with satellite imagery. I then compare it with Astropheric which I find the most credible of the apps and then the other apps/site and then I pick my site and take my chances). 

 

KSL Weather Future Radar Forecast (Local news station with Interactive radar and satellite. I go to layers in the bottom right and check each one out in the future. It is usually pretty good and I feel the time frame is about what we can truly forecast, that day) 

 

 

You can ask my friend Shane who observes with me. I am VERY good at picking which location to go to and I am rarely wrong on the day and location. Also, having been going to my locations for over 22 years plus now, I know the sites and I know the weather patterns during the year so I can add that in. I also rely on satellite imagery to really determine which location is the one to go to.  As he told me recently, you become your own weather forecaster. Yes, but just for the days I want to head out. I have these bookmarked and it takes me about 10-15 minutes to look in the morning to decide.

 

Most of my sites are within an hour to an hour and forty five minutes from my home so even if I go and it Clouds Out, It is still worth it to me because I enjoy the drive out, I enjoy being out in nature and often I just pull out my camera and do some personal landscape photography and/or wildlife if there are any around as I enjoy doing that also.  Each their own.  

 

Edit: One thing I think is critical, is KNOWING your locations. I have some locations that in the spring and fall I will not go to because they lay too low in a valley, are former lakebeds and humidity there can get nasty.  I have some that come October through May/ early June are unusable because they are in the mountains and covered with snow in depth. I actually have abandoned some locations and moved them a mile or three down the road onto a ridge because of this and found better locations. There are trade offs for that but ones I accept. Key again is not just knowing the weather pattern for your geographic area, it is knowing your site and how geography impacts conditions. My sites in the West Desert are often near mountains and regardless of the location, I know from about 2 hours before sunset the wind is going to come up and then stop after sunset. It is the geography of the locations out there. So when people who aren't from here or don't go out worry about the wind at a location there, I tell them it will be okay.  I'm right but I have learned that over the years. In both my desert/mountain and mountain locations, temperature I always watch because I find they get a little colder then those reported and I know what the difference is now based on experience at each location. It is also why when I pick a new location I don't add it to my permeant list until I have observed there several times in multiple seasons. 

 

Bottom line, if your new, you can check several apps, get a feel and then head out. Just accept what comes and take what nature gives you until you learn your sites and locations. 

Edited by JayinUT, 18 June 2025 - 09:10 AM.

[12BH7]

I've been using Astronpherics for a while now, but only as a reference. My main source is Eye Witness Weather. I stick my head out the door and look at the stars.

 

Luckily, I can see my dark site from my house. But I've been burned a few times.

 

EDIT I also use Weather Underground a lot https://www.wundergr...=0&wxstnmode=tw

Edited by 12BH7, 18 June 2025 - 08:56 AM.

[Starman1]

I check

Clear Sky Chart

Astrospheric

MeteoBlue Astronomy

Clear Outside

National Weather Service (weather.gov)

Weather.com

Accuweather

WeatherBug

Weather Underground

Skippy Sky

Windy.com

VentuSky

Metcheck.com

WeatherStreet: U.S. Weather

and 2 more that are just local to my observing site.

And I check all of them each day for the week leading up to the first night there is no moon in the sky until after 4am.

Weather is changeable, and a night predicted clear may be predicted cloudy the next day.

 

After I get a consensus as to which night is clear, I load the car and drive to the dark site a couple hours away.

One thing I look at is that if the site has clouds the day before the night, when are the clouds predicted to disappear.

I also look at the next morning to see when or if clouds will return.

It is usually safe to assume weather predictions can be up to 3 hours off, so clouds predicted at 6am could interfere during the night.

If the day before the night and the day after the night are predicted clear, there is a high likelihood the night between will also be clear.

[George N]

Don't you just hate trusting an app/site and then driving an hour to get to the darkest spot you can find, getting all setup, then the clouds never go away.

.......    TTYL, Phil

Ya -- that's *bad* -- but -- even worse is - when your fav forecaster(s) say "all clouds, all the time - with some rain" and so -- you don't go. Then your friends send you e-mails and texts that say, "We're here and the sky is clear, dark, with great seeing!" -- and you are stuck home reading CN posts about weather......    

[George N]

I check

Clear Sky Chart

Astrospheric

MeteoBlue Astronomy

Clear Outside

National Weather Service (weather.gov)

Weather.com

Accuweather

WeatherBug

Weather Underground

Skippy Sky

Windy.com

VentuSky

Metcheck.com

WeatherStreet: U.S. Weather

and 2 more that are just local to my observing site.

......

 

I'll have to copy that list and tell "Google Gemini AI" to use those sites (and more) to generate a complete report on observing weather for the next week at my fav site!

 

BTW - I just did it yesterday for this weekend's Cherry Springs Star Party and --- Google Gemini AI said, "stay home and wait for a period with better weather". << It generated two pages, that's basically what it said - and then asked if I wanted a "complete report" in pdf format! >> It then gave me some unasked-for info about the star party and --- observing field rules, red flashlights, etc. 

Edited by George N, 18 June 2025 - 09:47 AM.

[Gmb1830]

I’m starting to find trends within some apps, at least at my location. Not naming names, since it could just be how they extrapolate to my location and their results might be better elsewhere.

What I’m getting at is that the forecasts always seem to give the worst-case scenario. At this moment I’m supposed to get an inch of rain between 3-4 pm (prob of percip 100%). Radar shows something forming, but it’s likely to miss my location. So, yes, someone in my region is going to get hit by a thunderstorm, but they have likely presented the highest end of the reasonable forecast range. Other apps have a more measured forecast.


In winter there’s always a 8” snowstorm a week away, but it fizzles when it’s three days away. Our beach trip was filled with 3” of rain a day predictions that only yielded one strong line of rain the last day. If it wasn’t for the good GUI I’d drop it. My conspiracy theory is that extreme forecasts yield more clicks$$.


Most of these sites massage the official NWS data (which is not allowed to have their own app), so sticking closer to them is likely going to be as good as it gets.

For the record, I do like the Xasteria app that gives the 7timer! and CSC data and access to others.

[Starman1]

I’m starting to find trends within some apps, at least at my location. Not naming names, since it could just be how they extrapolate to my location and their results might be better elsewhere.

What I’m getting at is that the forecasts always seem to give the worst-case scenario. At this moment I’m supposed to get an inch of rain between 3-4 pm (prob of precip 100%). Radar shows something forming, but it’s likely to miss my location. So, yes, someone in my region is going to get hit by a thunderstorm, but they have likely presented the highest end of the reasonable forecast range. Other apps have a more measured forecast.


In winter there’s always a 8” snowstorm a week away, but it fizzles when it’s three days away. Our beach trip was filled with 3” of rain a day predictions that only yielded one strong line of rain the last day. If it wasn’t for the good GUI I’d drop it. My conspiracy theory is that extreme forecasts yield more clicks$$.


Most of these sites massage the official NWS data (which is not allowed to have their own app), so sticking closer to them is likely going to be as good as it gets.

For the record, I do like the Xasteria app that gives the 7timer! and CSC data and access to others.

The NWS data is found on weather.gov

There is both an Android app and a Windows app for it.

[skysurfer]

meteoblue.com

ventusky.com