Can you suggest a reliable website to use to help determine the weather for trips to Observatory Park? It's a bit of a drive for us and we'd like to travel when there's a higher chance of visibility.
I appreciate your help!
Can you suggest a reliable website to use to help determine the weather for trips to Observatory Park? It's a bit of a drive for us and we'd like to travel when there's a higher chance of visibility.
I appreciate your help!
Ah, the eternal dilemma of stargazers: “Should I stay, or should I go?”
All of us would love to be able to predict future cloud conditions. Regrettably, there’s no certain method for foretelling out how cloudy the sky will be in advance of a visit to Observatory Park.
What’s more, it’s human nature to hope that we can “shop around” from different weather forecasts until we find one that tells us what we want to hear. (It’s an all-too-common sight to find two astronomers standing in the rain while one keeps insisting THEIR smartphone predicts clear skies.)
With that said, here are some of the best resources for checking on cloud conditions before a visit to Observatory Park:
Of course, all the resources listed above are inferior to the most-reliable gauge of current cloud conditions: looking out a window. If you live anywhere within an hour’s drive of Observatory Park, you are likely experiencing the same cloud conditions as Observatory Park. (In general, if it’s cloudy in Mentor or Mayfield or Mantua, it will likely be cloudy in Montville, too.)
The unpredictable nature of clouds is part of the reason why we typically schedule six night-sky viewing programs per month; it improves our odds of catching a night with good weather.
Thanks for your email, and here’s to good-weather luck in the future!
-Naturalist Chris Mentrek
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