Desert Sky Observatory
Clear Sky Chart
History

This sumarizes the distribution of each different forecast outcome for the Desert Sky Observatory clear sky chart from 2005-11-06 to 2025-04-11.

This page is a summary of past forecasts. Even though it's based only on forecasts, some people use these pages as clue to a site's climate. But climate data based on actual observation should be preferred (if you can find it!).

Cloud, Transparency and Seeing forecasts are summarized individually. But because good observing conditions require a combination of minimum cloud cover, transparency and seeing, the individual forecast summaries can be difficult to interpret. The observing conditions section counts the combinations of conditions needed for common types of astronomical observation.

Observing Conditions

The following tables count the occurrence of the combinations of forecast and darkness conditions needed for different observations. Conditions are rated by by what percentage of the hours the observation would likely be attempted are usable.

Observation Type	Minimum conditions for hour to be usable				Out of hours
	Clear of Clouds	Transparency	Seeing	Sky Brightness
Planetary:	50%	(no limit)	Average	(no limit)	Nighttime Hours
Deep Sky:	70%	Average	(no limit)	5.9	Nighttime Hours
CCD Imaging:	70%	Below Average	Poor	(no limit)	Nighttime Hours

Percentages are of nighttime hours per month, or per year, when a particular observing conditions was met. Deep Sky percentages never exceed 50% because the moon is up half the time. Deep sky percentages are much lower for charts at high latitudes because of fewer dark hours in the summer.

Overall

By Month

Individual Forecasts

The length of each colored bar in the "occurrence of each Forecast" column is proportional to the number of times the chart forecast that color. The percentages are of the total number of hours per month, or per year, with a particular forecast. The colors as the same as those used in clear sky charts.

Note: Transparency probabilities are only counted for those hours that have 30% or less cloud cover. Seeing probabilities are only counted for those hours that have 80% or less cloud cover. If that's too tricky, try Observing Conditions instead.

Overall

		Occurrence of each Forecast	Data Points
Cloud Cover	Day	4 2 1 3 2 2 3 3 4 6% 70%	118179
	Night	4 3 1 3 2 3 3 3 4 6% 68%	119062
Transparency	Day	17% 2 3 13% 26% 39%	117946
	Night	19% 2 3 12% 26% 39%	118885
Seeing	Day	5% 4 15% 32% 31% 13%	15466
	Night	5% 2 12% 43% 34% 4	25706

By Month

Percentage Cloud Cover SW (2006-)
Color Meanings: Overcast 90% covered 80% covered 70% covered 60% covered 50% covered 40% covered 30% covered 20% covered 10% covered Clear
Month	Days in Month		Occurrence of each Forecast	Data Points
January	1st to 10th	Day	5% 4 2 4 2 2 2 2 4 4 66%	4098
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 2 1 3 2 3 3 2 3 4 73%	4100
	21st to end	Day	9% 4 1 3 3 4 3 3 5% 6% 57%	4510
February	1st to 10th	Day	6% 5% 1 4 3 2 4 3 5% 6% 63%	1850
	11th to 20th	Day	9% 3 2 4 3 3 3 2 5% 5% 60%	1950
	21st to end	Day	7% 4 1 3 3 3 4 3 4 6% 61%	1698
March	1st to 10th	Day	6% 3 2 3 3 2 3 3 4 5% 65%	4954
	11th to 20th	Day	7% 4 2 5% 3 3 3 2 5% 5% 61%	5000
	21st to end	Day	6% 5% 2 5% 3 2 3 2 3 4 64%	5486
April	1st to 10th	Day	3 2 1 2 2 3 3 2 4 8% 71%	2200
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 3 4 78%	2195
	21st to end	Day	2 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 5% 79%	2391
May	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 3 86%	4110
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 5% 80%	4071
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 89%	4477
June	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 3 6% 78%	2470
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 87%	2470
	21st to end	Day	2 2 1 2 2 2 2 3 4 5% 75%	2470
July	1st to 10th	Day	2 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 5% 74%	4110
	11th to 20th	Day	1 2 1 3 3 3 5% 5% 7% 11% 59%	4110
	21st to end	Day	3 2 1 4 3 4 5% 5% 9% 12% 51%	4454
August	1st to 10th	Day	2 3 1 3 3 4 5% 5% 9% 12% 54%	4092
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 1 3 3 3 4 4 6% 9% 63%	4028
	21st to end	Day	2 2 1 3 3 3 4 3 6% 8% 66%	4136
September	1st to 10th	Day	4 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 5% 7% 65%	2090
	11th to 20th	Day	3 1 1 2 2 2 2 4 5% 77%	2090
	21st to end	Day	2 1 1 3 2 2 3 2 3 5% 76%	2090
October	1st to 10th	Day	2 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 3 4 81%	3378
	11th to 20th	Day	3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 85%	3150
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 1 1 2 1 4 5% 81%	3438
November	1st to 10th	Day	3 2 1 2 2 3 2 2 5% 6% 73%	1959
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 1 3 3 2 2 3 3 4 74%	1885
	21st to end	Day	6% 3 1 4 3 2 3 3 4 6% 64%	1800
December	1st to 10th	Day	5% 2 1 3 2 2 2 2 3 4 76%	2950
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 4 2 5% 3 3 2 4 7% 8% 58%	3409
	21st to end	Day	8% 4 1 4 3 3 3 2 4 6% 61%	4510
January	1st to 10th	Night	5% 4 1 4 3 3 4 3 5% 6% 63%	5867
	11th to 20th	Night	4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 78%	5880
	21st to end	Night	12% 5% 2 4 3 3 4 3 4 6% 56%	6468
February	1st to 10th	Night	7% 3 1 4 2 2 3 3 5% 5% 64%	2545
	11th to 20th	Night	8% 5% 1 4 3 3 3 3 4 6% 59%	2338
	21st to end	Night	9% 4 2 4 3 3 3 3 4 6% 60%	1930
March	1st to 10th	Night	7% 3 1 3 2 2 2 3 4 6% 66%	4940
	11th to 20th	Night	10% 3 1 3 2 3 3 3 4 5% 62%	5000
	21st to end	Night	5% 3 1 3 2 2 3 3 6% 7% 65%	5489
April	1st to 10th	Night	3 3 1 2 3 3 4 2 4 7% 68%	2200
	11th to 20th	Night	3 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 3 4 76%	1939
	21st to end	Night	2 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 5% 79%	1784
May	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 4 86%	2860
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 4 4 81%	2834
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 90%	3110
June	1st to 10th	Night	2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 6% 76%	1710
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 2 1 3 4 87%	1710
	21st to end	Night	2 2 1 3 3 2 2 3 4 5% 73%	1710
July	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 1 3 3 2 3 2 5% 6% 70%	2860
	11th to 20th	Night	1 2 1 4 4 5% 6% 5% 8% 12% 52%	2860
	21st to end	Night	2 3 1 5% 4 5% 7% 7% 13% 16% 37%	3109
August	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 2 5% 5% 6% 6% 7% 11% 13% 41%	2847
	11th to 20th	Night	1 3 1 4 4 4 5% 5% 8% 9% 56%	2811
	21st to end	Night	2 3 1 5% 3 3 4 5% 5% 8% 60%	3528
September	1st to 10th	Night	4 3 1 4 3 3 4 4 6% 7% 61%	2090
	11th to 20th	Night	2 2 1 3 2 3 2 3 3 4 74%	2090
	21st to end	Night	2 1 1 3 2 3 4 2 4 5% 72%	2090
October	1st to 10th	Night	2 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 4 5% 79%	3596
	11th to 20th	Night	2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 86%	3778
	21st to end	Night	3 2 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 79%	4120
November	1st to 10th	Night	4 2 1 3 2 2 2 3 4 6% 72%	2340
	11th to 20th	Night	2 2 1 3 2 2 2 2 3 5% 75%	2510
	21st to end	Night	7% 3 1 3 3 2 3 3 4 6% 66%	2600
December	1st to 10th	Night	5% 2 1 2 2 2 2 3 4 6% 72%	4240
	11th to 20th	Night	6% 4 2 5% 3 3 2 3 4 5% 63%	4811
	21st to end	Night	8% 3 1 3 3 3 4 3 3 4 64%	6468

Transparency (when cloud cover <= 30%)
Color Meanings: Too cloudy to forecast Poor Below Average Average Above average Transparent
Month	Days in Month		Occurrence of each Forecast	Data Points
January	1st to 10th	Day	23% 1 2 11% 39% 24%	4099
	11th to 20th	Day	18% 1 1 12% 28% 40%	4100
	21st to end	Day	27% 2 4 11% 27% 29%	4510
February	1st to 10th	Day	23% 2 3 15% 23% 35%	1850
	11th to 20th	Day	28% 2 3 13% 28% 27%	1960
	21st to end	Day	26% 2 1 14% 26% 32%	1698
March	1st to 10th	Day	22% 2 1 11% 37% 28%	4954
	11th to 20th	Day	26% 2 2 18% 27% 26%	5000
	21st to end	Day	26% 1 1 12% 34% 26%	5486
April	1st to 10th	Day	15% 2 1 8% 35% 39%	2200
	11th to 20th	Day	13% 2 1 7% 26% 52%	2198
	21st to end	Day	10% 1 1 8% 26% 53%	2391
May	1st to 10th	Day	7% 1 1 7% 19% 66%	4110
	11th to 20th	Day	9% 2 1 5% 22% 61%	4074
	21st to end	Day	6% 1 3 13% 77%	4477
June	1st to 10th	Day	10% 1 3 21% 63%	2470
	11th to 20th	Day	7% 1 1 11% 80%	2470
	21st to end	Day	14% 2 2 7% 17% 59%	2470
July	1st to 10th	Day	14% 2 3 7% 14% 60%	4046
	11th to 20th	Day	17% 4 9% 28% 28% 15%	4041
	21st to end	Day	21% 4 13% 33% 20% 9%	4314
August	1st to 10th	Day	20% 4 13% 29% 17% 17%	4078
	11th to 20th	Day	17% 3 7% 23% 29% 20%	4067
	21st to end	Day	16% 3 9% 17% 25% 30%	4135
September	1st to 10th	Day	20% 2 5% 15% 25% 33%	2090
	11th to 20th	Day	11% 2 2 9% 31% 46%	2090
	21st to end	Day	14% 1 2 8% 23% 52%	2090
October	1st to 10th	Day	10% 1 2 8% 16% 64%	3378
	11th to 20th	Day	8% 1 1 5% 28% 56%	3150
	21st to end	Day	8% 1 1 6% 25% 59%	3438
November	1st to 10th	Day	13% 2 11% 35% 38%	1959
	11th to 20th	Day	15% 2 1 11% 25% 46%	1885
	21st to end	Day	24% 1 2 13% 24% 36%	1800
December	1st to 10th	Day	15% 1 1 13% 39% 30%	2950
	11th to 20th	Day	23% 1 4 13% 29% 31%	3408
	21st to end	Day	25% 1 3 20% 34% 17%	4510
January	1st to 10th	Night	23% 1 2 9% 41% 24%	5867
	11th to 20th	Night	14% 1 1 12% 35% 37%	5880
	21st to end	Night	31% 2 3 9% 28% 27%	6468
February	1st to 10th	Night	23% 1 3 12% 24% 37%	2545
	11th to 20th	Night	27% 2 2 16% 26% 27%	2339
	21st to end	Night	26% 2 1 10% 26% 35%	1930
March	1st to 10th	Night	20% 2 1 12% 36% 29%	4940
	11th to 20th	Night	25% 2 2 13% 31% 26%	5000
	21st to end	Night	19% 1 1 11% 39% 28%	5489
April	1st to 10th	Night	17% 2 1 8% 30% 42%	2200
	11th to 20th	Night	13% 2 6% 25% 53%	1939
	21st to end	Night	10% 1 1 6% 25% 57%	1784
May	1st to 10th	Night	6% 1 1 6% 25% 62%	2860
	11th to 20th	Night	9% 1 1 5% 20% 64%	2835
	21st to end	Night	5% 1 3 12% 80%	3110
June	1st to 10th	Night	12% 1 3 19% 65%	1710
	11th to 20th	Night	5% 1 3 12% 79%	1710
	21st to end	Night	15% 2 3 6% 12% 62%	1710
July	1st to 10th	Night	17% 2 3 8% 14% 56%	2815
	11th to 20th	Night	21% 5% 9% 23% 28% 15%	2806
	21st to end	Night	28% 5% 13% 30% 15% 9%	3011
August	1st to 10th	Night	27% 6% 16% 24% 11% 17%	2838
	11th to 20th	Night	20% 4 9% 21% 23% 22%	2838
	21st to end	Night	21% 4 7% 14% 20% 35%	3528
September	1st to 10th	Night	22% 3 6% 19% 21% 30%	2090
	11th to 20th	Night	16% 2 2 9% 25% 47%	2090
	21st to end	Night	16% 3 1 7% 23% 50%	2090
October	1st to 10th	Night	10% 1 2 8% 15% 64%	3596
	11th to 20th	Night	6% 1 1 8% 20% 64%	3778
	21st to end	Night	11% 1 1 6% 18% 63%	4120
November	1st to 10th	Night	15% 1 1 9% 30% 44%	2340
	11th to 20th	Night	15% 1 1 10% 25% 47%	2510
	21st to end	Night	22% 1 2 11% 28% 36%	2600
December	1st to 10th	Night	15% 2 2 15% 32% 35%	4240
	11th to 20th	Night	25% 1 2 10% 25% 36%	4811
	21st to end	Night	25% 1 2 18% 32% 22%	6468

Seeing (when cloud cover <= 80%)
Color Meanings: Too cloudy to forecast Bad 1/5 Poor 2/5 Average 3/5 Good 4/5 Excellent 5/5
Month	Days in Month		Occurrence of each Forecast	Data Points
January	1st to 10th	Day	12% 4 16% 39% 24% 6%	300
	11th to 20th	Day	12% 2 14% 40% 25% 6%	300
	21st to end	Day	6% 5% 20% 42% 20% 7%	330
February	1st to 10th	Day	8% 5% 21% 36% 25% 6%	350
	11th to 20th	Day	10% 6% 24% 38% 20% 2	495
	21st to end	Day	9% 8% 27% 39% 16% 1	414
March	1st to 10th	Day	6% 10% 25% 38% 18% 2	500
	11th to 20th	Day	8% 6% 23% 33% 25% 4	500
	21st to end	Day	6% 9% 24% 38% 19% 4	550
April	1st to 10th	Day	5% 5% 23% 34% 22% 10%	500
	11th to 20th	Day	3 8% 26% 36% 22% 6%	453
	21st to end	Day	2 8% 26% 32% 23% 10%	460
May	1st to 10th	Day	2 6% 23% 33% 25% 10%	463
	11th to 20th	Day	2 3 20% 39% 26% 10%	488
	21st to end	Day	1 5% 18% 38% 30% 8%	529
June	1st to 10th	Day	2 2 13% 31% 37% 14%	490
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 15% 34% 34% 13%	490
	21st to end	Day	2 2 8% 34% 41% 13%	490
July	1st to 10th	Day	2 4 30% 41% 22%	486
	11th to 20th	Day	4 1 3 21% 40% 31%	484
	21st to end	Day	4 1 2 18% 42% 33%	531
August	1st to 10th	Day	3 1 2 20% 43% 31%	487
	11th to 20th	Day	3 2 1 20% 43% 31%	477
	21st to end	Day	1 1 3 18% 44% 33%	539
September	1st to 10th	Day	5% 1 5% 25% 43% 20%	490
	11th to 20th	Day	4 1 9% 26% 44% 17%	490
	21st to end	Day	3 3 11% 33% 33% 17%	490
October	1st to 10th	Day	3 2 15% 31% 34% 15%	430
	11th to 20th	Day	4 1 15% 28% 38% 14%	300
	21st to end	Day	2 2 13% 35% 34% 14%	330
November	1st to 10th	Day	5% 3 14% 36% 34% 8%	300
	11th to 20th	Day	3 2 12% 39% 35% 8%	300
	21st to end	Day	6% 2 19% 38% 29% 6%	300
December	1st to 10th	Day	9% 2 13% 38% 30% 7%	300
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 3 16% 44% 26% 6%	300
	21st to end	Day	15% 4 20% 32% 24% 5%	330
January	1st to 10th	Night	8% 2 16% 48% 23% 3	800
	11th to 20th	Night	8% 2 18% 45% 25% 3	800
	21st to end	Night	11% 4 19% 45% 19% 3	880
February	1st to 10th	Night	8% 3 18% 45% 24% 2	800
	11th to 20th	Night	9% 2 20% 49% 19% 1	784
	21st to end	Night	10% 3 20% 49% 18% 2	660
March	1st to 10th	Night	7% 3 24% 49% 16% 2	800
	11th to 20th	Night	8% 3 17% 40% 26% 6%	800
	21st to end	Night	5% 4 17% 45% 28% 2	880
April	1st to 10th	Night	4 2 16% 52% 24% 2	800
	11th to 20th	Night	3 2 22% 50% 22% 1	622
	21st to end	Night	3 2 16% 52% 24% 4	570
May	1st to 10th	Night	2 3 14% 50% 28% 3	570
	11th to 20th	Night	1 2 12% 53% 28% 4	561
	21st to end	Night	3 1 11% 52% 30% 3	617
June	1st to 10th	Night	2 1 6% 48% 41% 2	570
	11th to 20th	Night	1 7% 53% 37% 2	570
	21st to end	Night	2 1 5% 36% 51% 4	570
July	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 4 34% 53% 6%	555
	11th to 20th	Night	3 1 2 20% 66% 8%	552
	21st to end	Night	4 1 3 15% 65% 12%	624
August	1st to 10th	Night	2 1 2 18% 67% 11%	567
	11th to 20th	Night	3 1 3 20% 64% 9%	564
	21st to end	Night	3 1 2 23% 62% 9%	694
September	1st to 10th	Night	5% 1 4 29% 52% 9%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	2 1 7% 40% 44% 6%	760
	21st to end	Night	2 2 8% 42% 39% 6%	760
October	1st to 10th	Night	3 1 10% 46% 36% 3	760
	11th to 20th	Night	3 2 9% 49% 34% 3	760
	21st to end	Night	2 2 13% 42% 34% 7%	836
November	1st to 10th	Night	4 1 12% 48% 30% 5%	780
	11th to 20th	Night	3 1 15% 48% 30% 3	800
	21st to end	Night	6% 2 17% 45% 26% 4	800
December	1st to 10th	Night	8% 3 14% 45% 28% 2	800
	11th to 20th	Night	11% 3 13% 46% 26% 2	800
	21st to end	Night	10% 1 16% 48% 22% 3	880

Page generated at 2025-04-08 06:17:30. Version ac07

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