Gopherville Observatory
Clear Sky Chart
History

This sumarizes the distribution of each different forecast outcome for the Gopherville Observatory clear sky chart from 2005-11-06 to 2026-07-31.

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	1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 5% 79%	147149
	Night	1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 5% 78%	143530
Transparency	Day	10% 2 3 10% 26% 49%	142169
	Night	11% 2 3 10% 24% 50%	139505
Seeing	Day	3 4 16% 32% 33% 12%	17775
	Night	2 3 16% 43% 32% 3	28019

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 4 2 4 3 3 3 3 4 5% 67%	5318
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 3 4 82%	5340
	21st to end	Day	3 2 1 3 3 3 4 4 5% 7% 64%	6294
February	1st to 10th	Day	3 3 1 2 2 2 2 3 5% 5% 72%	2100
	11th to 20th	Day	3 2 1 3 2 3 3 2 4 7% 68%	2050
	21st to end	Day	2 2 1 3 2 2 3 3 5% 5% 72%	1730
March	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 4 7% 75%	4740
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 1 3 2 3 3 3 4 6% 70%	5110
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 5% 79%	5607
April	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 6% 77%	2361
	11th to 20th	Day	1 2 2 1 1 2 2 3 4 81%	2489
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 4 86%	2625
May	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 87%	7626
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 87%	7596
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 91%	8370
June	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 4 85%	2730
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 91%	2730
	21st to end	Day	1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 84%	2730
July	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 86%	6009
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 4 6% 76%	6010
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 6% 77%	6532
August	1st to 10th	Day	1 2 1 3 2 3 3 3 5% 7% 72%	5619
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 2 3 5% 83%	5364
	21st to end	Day	3 2 1 3 2 2 3 2 4 6% 71%	5984
September	1st to 10th	Day	3 2 1 3 2 2 3 2 4 6% 71%	2230
	11th to 20th	Day	2 1 2 1 1 2 1 3 3 85%	2200
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 3 84%	2200
October	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 86%	3600
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 90%	3494
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 2 2 3 5% 83%	3548
November	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 5% 81%	1885
	11th to 20th	Day	1 2 1 3 2 2 3 2 4 5% 76%	1890
	21st to end	Day	3 3 1 3 2 2 3 3 5% 6% 69%	1890
December	1st to 10th	Day	2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 5% 79%	3040
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 4 2 4 4 4 6% 8% 66%	3499
	21st to end	Day	4 3 1 3 2 3 4 4 7% 9% 62%	4609
January	1st to 10th	Night	2 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 5% 6% 68%	7605
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 4 84%	7650
	21st to end	Night	4 4 2 5% 3 3 4 3 5% 7% 61%	7940
February	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 1 3 3 3 3 2 4 6% 71%	2520
	11th to 20th	Night	4 4 1 3 2 3 4 3 5% 5% 66%	2458
	21st to end	Night	2 3 1 4 2 3 4 3 4 5% 69%	2076
March	1st to 10th	Night	2 1 1 2 1 2 3 2 4 7% 75%	5373
	11th to 20th	Night	3 3 1 3 3 2 3 3 3 5% 71%	5110
	21st to end	Night	2 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 6% 75%	5610
April	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 4 6% 78%	2254
	11th to 20th	Night	1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 3 83%	2079
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 5% 86%	1992
May	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 85%	5321
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 4 89%	5296
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 90%	5837
June	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 4 85%	1890
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 2 3 90%	1890
	21st to end	Night	2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 4 83%	1890
July	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 4 87%	4190
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 2 2 2 3 7% 81%	4190
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 7% 81%	4562
August	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 2 1 2 2 4 7% 79%	4183
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 4 85%	4506
	21st to end	Night	2 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 3 6% 77%	5015
September	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 5% 77%	2170
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 86%	2200
	21st to end	Night	1 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 3 85%	2200
October	1st to 10th	Night	2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 86%	3600
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 90%	3659
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 2 1 3 5% 85%	4252
November	1st to 10th	Night	1 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 5% 81%	2630
	11th to 20th	Night	1 2 1 2 2 3 3 2 4 5% 75%	2730
	21st to end	Night	3 3 1 3 3 3 2 3 4 7% 69%	2730
December	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 79%	4370
	11th to 20th	Night	2 3 1 4 2 2 3 3 4 7% 68%	4941
	21st to end	Night	3 2 1 3 2 3 2 3 4 6% 71%	6611

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	19% 3 6% 10% 26% 36%	5321
	11th to 20th	Day	9% 2 2 11% 25% 51%	5340
	21st to end	Day	19% 4 4 10% 28% 34%	6294
February	1st to 10th	Day	15% 2 4 12% 25% 42%	2100
	11th to 20th	Day	18% 2 4 15% 28% 33%	2060
	21st to end	Day	15% 3 5% 13% 26% 39%	1730
March	1st to 10th	Day	10% 1 2 11% 34% 42%	4740
	11th to 20th	Day	14% 3 4 16% 34% 29%	5110
	21st to end	Day	10% 2 2 14% 37% 35%	5607
April	1st to 10th	Day	10% 1 3 10% 29% 46%	2361
	11th to 20th	Day	8% 2 2 7% 23% 58%	2492
	21st to end	Day	5% 1 2 6% 29% 57%	2625
May	1st to 10th	Day	6% 1 2 7% 26% 58%	7626
	11th to 20th	Day	6% 1 1 4 19% 68%	7599
	21st to end	Day	5% 1 1 2 23% 69%	8371
June	1st to 10th	Day	6% 1 2 4 21% 65%	2730
	11th to 20th	Day	4 1 1 2 12% 80%	2730
	21st to end	Day	9% 2 2 5% 13% 70%	2730
July	1st to 10th	Day	6% 1 2 6% 16% 68%	5946
	11th to 20th	Day	10% 3 4 16% 35% 33%	5941
	21st to end	Day	10% 3 4 16% 20% 46%	6348
August	1st to 10th	Day	17% 3 7% 23% 27% 22%	4093
	11th to 20th	Day	8% 3 4 13% 39% 33%	3880
	21st to end	Day	9% 2 4 11% 24% 51%	4311
September	1st to 10th	Day	15% 4 5% 13% 24% 40%	2230
	11th to 20th	Day	7% 1 3 6% 23% 59%	2200
	21st to end	Day	8% 2 3 8% 21% 59%	2200
October	1st to 10th	Day	6% 2 2 6% 17% 67%	3600
	11th to 20th	Day	3 1 1 10% 22% 63%	3494
	21st to end	Day	7% 1 2 6% 17% 67%	3548
November	1st to 10th	Day	9% 2 2 9% 27% 51%	1885
	11th to 20th	Day	12% 2 3 12% 21% 51%	1890
	21st to end	Day	16% 3 3 13% 26% 40%	1890
December	1st to 10th	Day	11% 1 3 9% 30% 46%	3040
	11th to 20th	Day	16% 3 4 16% 30% 31%	3498
	21st to end	Day	17% 4 6% 23% 33% 16%	4609
January	1st to 10th	Night	17% 2 7% 12% 25% 36%	7605
	11th to 20th	Night	7% 2 2 10% 21% 57%	7650
	21st to end	Night	23% 3 4 10% 22% 39%	7940
February	1st to 10th	Night	15% 2 3 12% 23% 45%	2520
	11th to 20th	Night	20% 3 3 12% 25% 36%	2459
	21st to end	Night	18% 2 4 9% 23% 43%	2076
March	1st to 10th	Night	11% 2 3 11% 32% 40%	5373
	11th to 20th	Night	15% 3 3 16% 29% 34%	5110
	21st to end	Night	11% 2 3 12% 35% 36%	5610
April	1st to 10th	Night	10% 2 3 9% 29% 47%	2254
	11th to 20th	Night	9% 1 2 7% 25% 56%	2079
	21st to end	Night	5% 1 2 8% 26% 57%	1992
May	1st to 10th	Night	6% 1 2 6% 20% 63%	5319
	11th to 20th	Night	3 1 1 4 19% 71%	5297
	21st to end	Night	4 1 4 19% 71%	5838
June	1st to 10th	Night	7% 1 2 4 19% 68%	1890
	11th to 20th	Night	3 1 3 12% 81%	1890
	21st to end	Night	9% 1 2 3 10% 75%	1890
July	1st to 10th	Night	4 1 2 4 16% 73%	4145
	11th to 20th	Night	6% 2 3 11% 39% 40%	4136
	21st to end	Night	6% 2 3 15% 25% 48%	4434
August	1st to 10th	Night	10% 2 5% 25% 31% 27%	3041
	11th to 20th	Night	8% 2 5% 12% 27% 46%	3256
	21st to end	Night	7% 2 3 8% 27% 53%	3608
September	1st to 10th	Night	12% 2 5% 13% 26% 41%	2170
	11th to 20th	Night	7% 1 1 6% 23% 61%	2200
	21st to end	Night	7% 2 3 8% 21% 60%	2200
October	1st to 10th	Night	7% 1 2 6% 16% 69%	3600
	11th to 20th	Night	5% 1 1 10% 21% 62%	3659
	21st to end	Night	5% 1 2 4 14% 74%	4252
November	1st to 10th	Night	9% 2 3 9% 23% 55%	2630
	11th to 20th	Night	13% 2 3 10% 21% 52%	2730
	21st to end	Night	17% 2 3 11% 25% 42%	2730
December	1st to 10th	Night	12% 2 2 8% 19% 57%	4370
	11th to 20th	Night	17% 2 4 11% 25% 41%	4941
	21st to end	Night	16% 3 4 17% 38% 23%	6611

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	6% 8% 24% 40% 21% 2	330
	11th to 20th	Day	6% 7% 22% 38% 27% 1	330
	21st to end	Day	4 7% 25% 38% 21% 5%	518
February	1st to 10th	Day	5% 8% 22% 33% 25% 7%	540
	11th to 20th	Day	7% 9% 28% 35% 20% 2	535
	21st to end	Day	5% 10% 24% 38% 19% 4	446
March	1st to 10th	Day	4 10% 26% 34% 21% 4	540
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 6% 21% 28% 28% 11%	540
	21st to end	Day	4 10% 28% 31% 21% 7%	594
April	1st to 10th	Day	2 7% 20% 30% 28% 13%	540
	11th to 20th	Day	2 8% 27% 29% 25% 8%	532
	21st to end	Day	2 8% 19% 33% 27% 12%	540
May	1st to 10th	Day	2 3 20% 33% 30% 11%	543
	11th to 20th	Day	1 4 20% 33% 34% 9%	568
	21st to end	Day	1 6% 16% 32% 36% 8%	617
June	1st to 10th	Day	2 2 12% 34% 38% 12%	570
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 13% 34% 37% 15%	570
	21st to end	Day	1 1 6% 35% 41% 16%	570
July	1st to 10th	Day	1 6% 32% 41% 20%	566
	11th to 20th	Day	1 4 35% 43% 17%	564
	21st to end	Day	2 1 4 29% 44% 20%	616
August	1st to 10th	Day	2 3 30% 45% 20%	527
	11th to 20th	Day	2 1 3 24% 47% 24%	517
	21st to end	Day	3 1 5% 26% 41% 25%	583
September	1st to 10th	Day	5% 1 9% 29% 39% 17%	530
	11th to 20th	Day	2 1 8% 26% 41% 21%	530
	21st to end	Day	2 1 11% 26% 41% 19%	530
October	1st to 10th	Day	2 1 11% 29% 42% 14%	530
	11th to 20th	Day	2 1 16% 31% 38% 11%	483
	21st to end	Day	1 4 13% 27% 39% 16%	363
November	1st to 10th	Day	2 7% 15% 32% 35% 10%	330
	11th to 20th	Day	2 5% 19% 39% 27% 8%	330
	21st to end	Day	6% 5% 24% 37% 22% 7%	330
December	1st to 10th	Day	4 3 21% 41% 28% 3	330
	11th to 20th	Day	1 3 22% 45% 27% 3	330
	21st to end	Day	7% 3 26% 42% 19% 3	363
January	1st to 10th	Night	3 2 20% 49% 23% 2	840
	11th to 20th	Night	3 3 18% 48% 27% 2	840
	21st to end	Night	6% 3 23% 45% 21% 2	924
February	1st to 10th	Night	2 4 19% 46% 24% 4	840
	11th to 20th	Night	4 5% 25% 46% 18% 2	824
	21st to end	Night	2 5% 26% 48% 16% 2	692
March	1st to 10th	Night	3 5% 27% 45% 18% 2	840
	11th to 20th	Night	4 5% 20% 39% 27% 5%	840
	21st to end	Night	2 7% 24% 42% 23% 3	924
April	1st to 10th	Night	3 5% 22% 44% 23% 2	840
	11th to 20th	Night	2 5% 26% 41% 24% 3	831
	21st to end	Night	1 6% 23% 41% 26% 2	732
May	1st to 10th	Night	1 5% 24% 42% 25% 2	630
	11th to 20th	Night	1 4 22% 42% 29% 2	621
	21st to end	Night	1 4 19% 49% 24% 2	683
June	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 17% 50% 29% 1	630
	11th to 20th	Night	1 13% 49% 34% 2	630
	21st to end	Night	1 1 8% 47% 40% 2	630
July	1st to 10th	Night	8% 47% 41% 4	615
	11th to 20th	Night	2 7% 41% 48% 3	612
	21st to end	Night	1 5% 38% 52% 3	687
August	1st to 10th	Night	1 5% 36% 54% 4	658
	11th to 20th	Night	2 3 32% 56% 7%	792
	21st to end	Night	3 4 34% 50% 8%	880
September	1st to 10th	Night	3 1 8% 33% 49% 6%	800
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 6% 36% 49% 7%	800
	21st to end	Night	1 11% 41% 42% 5%	800
October	1st to 10th	Night	3 3 14% 39% 39% 3	800
	11th to 20th	Night	2 1 13% 42% 38% 4	800
	21st to end	Night	1 3 13% 40% 36% 7%	880
November	1st to 10th	Night	1 2 15% 42% 35% 5%	820
	11th to 20th	Night	2 2 13% 45% 32% 7%	840
	21st to end	Night	5% 2 18% 45% 27% 4	840
December	1st to 10th	Night	4 2 17% 50% 26% 1	840
	11th to 20th	Night	4 2 16% 52% 24% 2	840
	21st to end	Night	5% 2 21% 49% 21% 3	924

Page generated at 2026-07-28 00:25:25. Version ac07

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