Amargosa Observatory
Clear Sky Chart
History

This sumarizes the distribution of each different forecast outcome for the Amargosa Observatory clear sky chart from 2005-11-06 to 2025-07-06.

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	2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 5% 77%	124079
	Night	2 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 6% 74%	123644
Transparency	Day	6% 39% 3 8% 16% 27%	123832
	Night	7% 38% 3 10% 17% 24%	123478
Seeing	Day	3 7% 21% 33% 26% 9%	16130
	Night	3 4 20% 41% 28% 3	25873

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	2 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 5% 7% 71%	3639
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 3 2 3 3 2 4 7% 74%	3800
	21st to end	Day	5% 3 1 4 3 3 4 3 5% 8% 59%	4811
February	1st to 10th	Day	4 2 1 3 2 2 3 3 5% 7% 67%	2000
	11th to 20th	Day	3 2 1 2 3 3 4 3 4 8% 68%	1950
	21st to end	Day	4 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 4 6% 68%	1650
March	1st to 10th	Day	3 4 1 3 3 3 3 3 5% 7% 65%	4518
	11th to 20th	Day	4 3 1 3 2 3 3 3 5% 7% 65%	4818
	21st to end	Day	2 2 1 3 2 3 3 3 6% 8% 66%	5702
April	1st to 10th	Day	1 2 1 3 3 3 4 3 5% 7% 70%	2400
	11th to 20th	Day	1 2 1 2 2 2 2 3 4 6% 75%	2369
	21st to end	Day	1 2 2 2 2 3 2 5% 5% 75%	2470
May	1st to 10th	Day	2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 5% 76%	5880
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 5% 83%	5841
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 1 2 2 2 5% 84%	6423
June	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 2 1 1 2 3 3 6% 80%	2622
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 3 4 86%	2800
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 3 88%	2800
July	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 88%	4491
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 5% 79%	4337
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 81%	4454
August	1st to 10th	Day	2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 4 83%	3969
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 2 3 90%	3724
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 1 1 2 2 91%	4180
September	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 3 4 81%	2261
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 2 3 88%	2090
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 87%	2090
October	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 87%	3490
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 5% 84%	3414
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 1 1 2 2 4 5% 82%	3111
November	1st to 10th	Day	1 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 5% 7% 76%	1764
	11th to 20th	Day	1 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 3 6% 79%	1800
	21st to end	Day	3 2 1 3 2 2 2 2 5% 6% 73%	1800
December	1st to 10th	Day	2 2 1 2 2 2 3 4 6% 6% 71%	2950
	11th to 20th	Day	3 3 1 3 3 3 3 4 6% 9% 62%	3409
	21st to end	Day	3 3 1 4 3 4 5% 4 6% 8% 60%	4252
January	1st to 10th	Night	2 3 1 3 2 3 2 2 3 5% 72%	6306
	11th to 20th	Night	1 2 1 2 2 3 3 2 3 6% 76%	6147
	21st to end	Night	6% 4 1 3 2 3 3 3 5% 8% 62%	6177
February	1st to 10th	Night	4 4 1 4 3 3 2 3 4 6% 66%	2400
	11th to 20th	Night	3 3 1 3 3 3 4 3 5% 7% 67%	2338
	21st to end	Night	4 3 2 3 2 3 3 2 4 7% 67%	1980
March	1st to 10th	Night	2 4 1 4 3 3 4 3 5% 7% 65%	5376
	11th to 20th	Night	4 3 1 3 3 4 4 4 6% 7% 61%	5181
	21st to end	Night	2 4 2 3 3 3 3 3 5% 7% 66%	5257
April	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 1 2 2 3 3 3 5% 6% 72%	2000
	11th to 20th	Night	2 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 7% 74%	1979
	21st to end	Night	1 1 2 2 2 2 3 4 7% 74%	1930
May	1st to 10th	Night	2 3 1 3 2 2 2 2 3 4 76%	4100
	11th to 20th	Night	2 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 5% 81%	4074
	21st to end	Night	2 1 2 2 2 2 4 84%	4474
June	1st to 10th	Night	1 2 2 3 2 2 3 5% 81%	1771
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 2 1 1 2 1 3 3 84%	1600
	21st to end	Night	1 1 2 1 1 1 2 3 3 86%	1600
July	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 90%	2580
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 5% 80%	2622
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 6% 74%	3109
August	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 1 3 2 2 2 2 3 4 81%	2969
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 4 89%	3126
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 90%	3498
September	1st to 10th	Night	2 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 4 3 80%	1918
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 4 85%	2090
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 2 1 3 4 87%	2090
October	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 86%	3490
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 5% 84%	3520
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 3 2 3 4 80%	4446
November	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 3 6% 79%	2535
	11th to 20th	Night	1 2 1 2 2 2 3 3 5% 5% 76%	2600
	21st to end	Night	2 2 1 3 2 2 2 3 4 6% 73%	2600
December	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 1 2 2 3 3 3 5% 6% 72%	4240
	11th to 20th	Night	3 3 1 3 2 3 3 3 5% 11% 64%	4811
	21st to end	Night	2 3 2 4 3 4 5% 5% 7% 10% 56%	6710

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	8% 26% 6% 25% 23% 11%	3639
	11th to 20th	Day	9% 28% 9% 15% 16% 23%	3800
	21st to end	Day	17% 29% 6% 16% 17% 15%	4811
February	1st to 10th	Day	7% 62% 5% 8% 11% 7%	2000
	11th to 20th	Day	7% 60% 3 8% 14% 9%	1960
	21st to end	Day	6% 61% 1 8% 13% 11%	1650
March	1st to 10th	Day	13% 29% 3 16% 21% 17%	4518
	11th to 20th	Day	13% 29% 5% 20% 20% 13%	4818
	21st to end	Day	9% 30% 6% 14% 25% 15%	5702
April	1st to 10th	Day	6% 61% 3 6% 12% 12%	2400
	11th to 20th	Day	4 61% 2 4 14% 15%	2372
	21st to end	Day	6% 61% 2 5% 16% 10%	2470
May	1st to 10th	Day	11% 28% 3 10% 21% 27%	5880
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 28% 2 5% 22% 39%	5844
	21st to end	Day	4 27% 2 5% 19% 44%	6424
June	1st to 10th	Day	2 61% 1 3 9% 24%	2622
	11th to 20th	Day	1 60% 3 7% 29%	2800
	21st to end	Day	2 59% 1 5% 33%	2800
July	1st to 10th	Day	2 34% 1 2 4 57%	4422
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 35% 2 3 6% 49%	4262
	21st to end	Day	3 34% 1 5% 13% 44%	4314
August	1st to 10th	Day	7% 35% 1 3 18% 35%	3955
	11th to 20th	Day	2 35% 1 5% 56%	3760
	21st to end	Day	1 35% 1 2 7% 54%	4179
September	1st to 10th	Day	4 59% 1 2 7% 27%	2261
	11th to 20th	Day	1 59% 1 2 12% 25%	2090
	21st to end	Day	3 58% 1 4 12% 22%	2090
October	1st to 10th	Day	2 35% 1 2 11% 49%	3490
	11th to 20th	Day	4 35% 1 3 22% 34%	3414
	21st to end	Day	5% 36% 1 6% 28% 23%	3111
November	1st to 10th	Day	1 55% 1 6% 20% 17%	1764
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 56% 3 6% 17% 14%	1800
	21st to end	Day	7% 56% 4 9% 16% 8%	1800
December	1st to 10th	Day	7% 36% 4 11% 22% 21%	2950
	11th to 20th	Day	9% 32% 9% 18% 24% 7%	3408
	21st to end	Day	15% 29% 9% 24% 19% 5%	4252
January	1st to 10th	Night	10% 26% 4 24% 26% 9%	6306
	11th to 20th	Night	9% 26% 7% 19% 20% 18%	6147
	21st to end	Night	15% 29% 6% 14% 16% 19%	6177
February	1st to 10th	Night	7% 62% 5% 7% 11% 7%	2400
	11th to 20th	Night	7% 60% 3 7% 13% 10%	2339
	21st to end	Night	6% 61% 2 6% 14% 11%	1980
March	1st to 10th	Night	13% 30% 4 14% 21% 18%	5376
	11th to 20th	Night	13% 31% 6% 19% 21% 10%	5181
	21st to end	Night	10% 30% 4 15% 26% 14%	5257
April	1st to 10th	Night	6% 61% 2 6% 14% 10%	2000
	11th to 20th	Night	4 62% 2 4 13% 15%	1979
	21st to end	Night	4 60% 3 6% 15% 12%	1930
May	1st to 10th	Night	12% 29% 3 8% 23% 27%	4097
	11th to 20th	Night	6% 27% 2 6% 24% 36%	4075
	21st to end	Night	4 27% 2 3 17% 47%	4474
June	1st to 10th	Night	3 60% 1 3 8% 26%	1771
	11th to 20th	Night	2 60% 1 2 6% 29%	1600
	21st to end	Night	3 59% 1 2 5% 32%	1600
July	1st to 10th	Night	3 33% 2 3 59%	2540
	11th to 20th	Night	5% 34% 2 3 7% 49%	2574
	21st to end	Night	7% 34% 2 5% 9% 44%	3011
August	1st to 10th	Night	7% 36% 1 4 13% 39%	2960
	11th to 20th	Night	2 35% 1 1 5% 56%	3156
	21st to end	Night	2 35% 1 1 7% 54%	3498
September	1st to 10th	Night	3 59% 1 2 7% 28%	1918
	11th to 20th	Night	1 58% 1 4 12% 24%	2090
	21st to end	Night	2 59% 1 3 11% 24%	2090
October	1st to 10th	Night	2 35% 1 3 4 55%	3490
	11th to 20th	Night	3 35% 1 3 14% 44%	3520
	21st to end	Night	8% 35% 2 5% 23% 28%	4446
November	1st to 10th	Night	2 54% 1 5% 20% 18%	2535
	11th to 20th	Night	5% 56% 2 5% 13% 18%	2600
	21st to end	Night	8% 56% 3 8% 16% 9%	2600
December	1st to 10th	Night	7% 35% 3 11% 25% 19%	4240
	11th to 20th	Night	8% 33% 7% 18% 27% 7%	4811
	21st to end	Night	15% 30% 10% 24% 17% 4	6710

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	8% 7% 27% 35% 20% 5%	200
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 8% 23% 37% 23% 5%	235
	21st to end	Day	6% 8% 21% 33% 25% 7%	462
February	1st to 10th	Day	7% 13% 25% 32% 19% 4	500
	11th to 20th	Day	7% 12% 25% 33% 18% 4	495
	21st to end	Day	6% 12% 30% 32% 17% 3	414
March	1st to 10th	Day	5% 17% 28% 30% 18% 2	500
	11th to 20th	Day	7% 13% 32% 27% 19% 2	500
	21st to end	Day	5% 17% 29% 32% 14% 3	550
April	1st to 10th	Day	4 14% 25% 32% 18% 7%	500
	11th to 20th	Day	3 17% 28% 33% 16% 4	492
	21st to end	Day	4 12% 25% 33% 18% 7%	500
May	1st to 10th	Day	3 10% 29% 31% 21% 6%	503
	11th to 20th	Day	3 9% 27% 31% 23% 7%	528
	21st to end	Day	1 8% 19% 36% 27% 9%	573
June	1st to 10th	Day	1 5% 21% 32% 29% 12%	530
	11th to 20th	Day	1 5% 23% 33% 28% 11%	530
	21st to end	Day	3 21% 32% 31% 14%	530
July	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 13% 39% 31% 14%	507
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 10% 34% 36% 18%	484
	21st to end	Day	2 1 7% 35% 39% 16%	531
August	1st to 10th	Day	2 3 17% 34% 31% 13%	487
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 12% 34% 34% 16%	477
	21st to end	Day	1 2 14% 34% 33% 16%	539
September	1st to 10th	Day	1 3 15% 29% 38% 14%	490
	11th to 20th	Day	6% 20% 34% 32% 7%	490
	21st to end	Day	1 5% 17% 35% 34% 8%	490
October	1st to 10th	Day	2 6% 17% 34% 28% 12%	490
	11th to 20th	Day	3 5% 19% 31% 35% 7%	490
	21st to end	Day	3 6% 18% 28% 31% 15%	340
November	1st to 10th	Day	2 6% 19% 34% 30% 10%	300
	11th to 20th	Day	3 5% 19% 39% 23% 11%	300
	21st to end	Day	5% 5% 22% 30% 31% 7%	300
December	1st to 10th	Day	2 4 22% 42% 24% 5%	300
	11th to 20th	Day	3 6% 20% 37% 26% 7%	300
	21st to end	Day	9% 10% 22% 34% 19% 5%	273
January	1st to 10th	Night	6% 5% 25% 37% 24% 4	800
	11th to 20th	Night	3 4 25% 45% 19% 4	800
	21st to end	Night	7% 4 25% 42% 19% 3	880
February	1st to 10th	Night	6% 7% 28% 38% 19% 3	800
	11th to 20th	Night	4 8% 26% 42% 19% 2	784
	21st to end	Night	7% 7% 30% 39% 16% 2	660
March	1st to 10th	Night	3 10% 27% 43% 14% 3	800
	11th to 20th	Night	4 7% 26% 38% 22% 4	800
	21st to end	Night	4 10% 30% 37% 18% 2	880
April	1st to 10th	Night	3 8% 26% 40% 21% 2	800
	11th to 20th	Night	3 7% 33% 36% 21% 1	791
	21st to end	Night	3 6% 25% 41% 22% 3	730
May	1st to 10th	Night	3 5% 27% 43% 20% 1	600
	11th to 20th	Night	2 6% 21% 38% 31% 1	591
	21st to end	Night	2 5% 20% 42% 28% 2	650
June	1st to 10th	Night	1 4 15% 43% 35% 2	571
	11th to 20th	Night	2 2 18% 48% 29% 3	400
	21st to end	Night	2 1 13% 45% 38% 3	400
July	1st to 10th	Night	1 5% 49% 40% 5%	380
	11th to 20th	Night	2 5% 45% 45% 3	411
	21st to end	Night	1 5% 44% 46% 3	624
August	1st to 10th	Night	2 1 8% 50% 37% 2	637
	11th to 20th	Night	1 6% 40% 50% 3	752
	21st to end	Night	2 7% 37% 49% 5%	836
September	1st to 10th	Night	2 1 8% 34% 49% 6%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 12% 43% 37% 5%	760
	21st to end	Night	1 2 14% 39% 39% 6%	760
October	1st to 10th	Night	2 3 16% 44% 31% 3	760
	11th to 20th	Night	3 2 16% 42% 30% 7%	760
	21st to end	Night	1 5% 18% 37% 33% 6%	836
November	1st to 10th	Night	1 4 19% 41% 30% 6%	780
	11th to 20th	Night	2 3 19% 45% 27% 4	800
	21st to end	Night	4 3 23% 39% 28% 3	800
December	1st to 10th	Night	4 4 22% 41% 25% 4	800
	11th to 20th	Night	8% 5% 23% 41% 21% 3	800
	21st to end	Night	5% 7% 25% 41% 19% 3	880

Page generated at 2025-07-02 22:30:15. Version ac07

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