Weather / cloud cover apps

[FenlandPaul]

Can anyone recommend any reasonably reliable cloud cover apps? This evening I tried a combination of Scope Nights (which I love the idea of - just not this evening's result), the BBC weather service and Accuweather. I get only a few opportunities to observe due to other commitments so being able to plan ahead a few days is always helpful.

Was hoping to take advantage of a "promised" 2 hour window at dusk tonight only to be thwarted! In case people find that different data sources work better in different areas, I'm in Cambridgeshire, UK.

Thanks

Paul (disappointed at having got the scope out only to pack down again...)

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[ronin]

Must be local to you as I have been looking at Cygnus, Lyra, Aquila and Hercules here and literally not a cloud anywhere in sight less then a minute ago. Just chilly.

[Floater]

In an act of open and unconditional largesse, FLO created the Clear Outside (clearoutside.com) site to provide a weather forecast site for astronomers which, given the unknowns, is as good as it gets.

It provides details of cloud cover at three levels and a wealth of other information pertaining to astronomical observation.

I use Scope Nights, BBC and any other weather forecast sites I can find (hoping for a good forecast, of course ) but Clear Outside is my 'must have' site.

Try it.

p.s. Some folks swear by sat24.com.

[sgazer]

In an act of open and unconditional largesse, FLO created the Clear Outside (clearoutside.com) site to provide a weather forecast site for astronomers which, given the unknowns, is as good as it gets.

It provides details of cloud cover at three levels and a wealth of other information pertaining to astronomical observation.

Thank you (and FLO) so much for this, it even works in Oz!

[ronin]

With the conditions where I am just South of Paul and what I had and what Paul had I cannot see any forecast site being a great deal of use.

Paul had cloud and packed in, I had one of the clearest skies in a long time. They are still clear this morning and I suspect were clear all night. It was clear here from 9:00 onwards, likely clear before that as well just didn't look.

The "problem" being that forecast sites do not specify down to a small area, suspect Paul is 10 miles or less away. Weather forecasts are for East Anglia, not March, Over Little Port or what is in effect a small town.

[Gazabone]

Just looked at FLO's Clear Outside, looks really good :-D

[FenlandPaul]

With the conditions where I am just South of Paul and what I had and what Paul had I cannot see any forecast site being a great deal of use.

Paul had cloud and packed in, I had one of the clearest skies in a long time. They are still clear this morning and I suspect were clear all night. It was clear here from 9:00 onwards, likely clear before that as well just didn't look.

The "problem" being that forecast sites do not specify down to a small area, suspect Paul is 10 miles or less away. Weather forecasts are for East Anglia, not March, Over Little Port or what is in effect a small town.

I looked out briefly at about 11.30 and it was still overcast, but clear as crystal this morning. As it happens I'm in Over so if you're near March or Littleport then that can only be a dozen miles as the crow flies.

This does all rather make the case for a quick and easy setup if opportunity windows are limited. I'm still using a rather clumsy (but solid) Beacon Hill mk2 mount, which I have to assemble and disassemble each time I go out. It can put me off a bit if I see a break in the cloud as it's a real faff. I've been eyeing up dobsonians recently and once I've finished some building work we're doing (or, more specifically, ensured we haven't overrun on cost) I might make the plunge.

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[FenlandPaul]

In an act of open and unconditional largesse, FLO created the Clear Outside (clearoutside.com) site to provide a weather forecast site for astronomers which, given the unknowns, is as good as it gets.

Added to favourites. Thanks for the tip - looks like a good site and thanks to FLO. Does FLO have a "cloud-free" add-on package they can throw in with new scopes too? That would be a clincher for me.

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[landsphere]

I tend to find scope nights gives a worse case scenario for me..

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[DaveS]

I think there's little point in trying to forecast our weather more than a few hours in advance, it's too chaotic even for the Met Office's supercomputers.

I've got the Netweather "storm app" on my phone, it does at least show if there's something nasty coming.

[Paul M]

You could always take a coin and sellotape a cloud symbol to one side and a star symbol to the other...