I am not normally one for moaning but.....

[Moonshane]

this weather is really starting to get me down. Today has been yet another day of taking the scope out in improving sunny conditions and then bring it back in again after it goes cloudy at dusk.

Not much we can do other than hope the predicted improvement for next week actually happens but it's truly frustrating.

[garethmob]

with weather reports moonshane i find making my own better than using any companys (wind direction, rain, and windspeed and cloud) sat 24 the metoffices "invent" or beta section is really good i am hoping the weather next week can be good so i can try out the megrez i bought! the few times i had my PST ready to go out the sun always went in so solars not always on the cards either

[Moonshane]

I must confess I do the same Gaz, the best forecast is the one I make by looking through my window.

[garethmob]

i bought a neat little "gadget" from nauticalia (theres a shop in portsmouth historic docks) and its 90% accurate as long as u know the barometer, wind.

Desktop Weather Forecaster UK Nauticalia for Nautical Gifts and Boating Equipment UK

[Moonshane]

cheers Gaz

might try one.

[garethmob]

its totally manual, its just dials, and circles you might find makeing one of your own cheaper..... its proper old fashoned logic build for the sea really

[JamesF]

I feel your pain. It is exceptionally frustrating. You'd have thought one clear night a week might not be too much to ask, even if it turned out to be a night that wasn't suitable for staying up into the small hours, but here it seems to have been something of a struggle to get one clear night a month since, well, May, really.

It struck me a while back that meteorologists don't seem to see the weather the same way other people do. I'd been thinking that the weather had been unusually wet over some period of time and read a piece that claimed the rainfall was pretty much average over that period. From my point of view however we'd only had to opportunity to have a barbeque twice in three months because of the rain whereas in the past we'd expect to do so at least once a fortnight. It would be interesting to see weather statistics relating to the way people perceive it (which probably actually are tried more closely to the issue of whether they can behave in the way they want or expect to) rather than just the cold numbers. If we stick with the rainfall, for example, people might have totally different perceptions of the weather if the same amount of rain fell in heavy bursts once a week compared with prolonged light drizzle over much longer periods of time.

James

[johninderby]

Frustrating indeed.

I've been wanting to test some new mods to see if it all works as I hope it will and to make some final adjustments on the set-up for a couple of weeks now.

John

[MjrTom]

Yeah it has been awful for quite a while now...

Many a time as you say the weather has looked promising in the afternoon only for the cloud to roll in as twilight approaches.

At least with my grab and go scope I have it setup on the alt/az mount in the corner of the dining room so that if it improves for a short while I can dash out for a bit.

Sometimes it's been that drizzly that I have thought better to leave the scope outside cooling in fear of not noticing the rain has started.

A few times recently when I have awoken at night which has been fairly recently due to an old neck injury I always take a quick peek in the garden and if looking good drag the scope out for usually a bit of jumpier watching or if particularly good seeing conditions a bit of DSO observing as well.

Saw my first transit of Io and the GRS with the Nagler zoom and it really was a sight to behold!

[Nathan_Pembs]

I've recently taken to quick observations between clouds, just using my 9x50 finder

Get a good view of M45 and some open clusters etc, better than nowt lol

[ScubaMike]

Sometimes it's been that drizzly that I have thought better to leave the scope outside cooling in fear of not noticing the rain has started.

I have a large 3m garden parasol (waterproof) which I position over my setup, just in case there is a little drizzle.

[Zakalwe]

I feel your pain.......The last time I used my kit was in May! Weather, work, bring ill (kidney stones- ouch), constant cloud cover....everything seems to be against me.

[MjrTom]

Good idea Mike

[Shibby]

This can't be true, can it!?!?

[garethmob]

Met check has an astronomy section under the hobbies tab I usually find its pretty good.... When the site works

Sent from my Now working iPhone using Tapatalk

[philhas]

Now I know why people bother with obsy's, makes it easy to dash outside, slide the roof back and away you go. Mark I do exactly the same as you, leave a grab n go setup as that's the only way to see anything with this kind of on/offweather.

[Nexus 6]

Don't start me on the recent weather shane!

How ironic, this weeks forecast gives what looks like an Indian summer, I see shibby has some data on it, I hope its correct and we all get some time out under the stars.

[Nexus 6]

For this area the Beeb give it as....BBC Weather | DN18

[spaceboy]

I didn't realize until I'd posted http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-planetary/156330-jupiter-so-far.html that it had been almost a month between observing. I think I have gotten that used to sticking my head out the window to see cloud that the time had flow by. Needless to say the time is again standing still now I have a new scope I want to get out under the stars.

[MjrTom]

Well in St Helens the sun is currenty cracking the flags

I wonder what the odds are of the clouds rolling in this evening...?

[SniffTheGlove]

Saturday night looked quite good with good breaks in cloud cover heading towards me according to Sat24, I got the Obsy opened at 8:30pm and all prepped and had a clear sky. I then went inside (to allow all to cool) to watch Dr Who recoreded from earlier on in the evening only to hear the sound of heavy rain outside, so I had to rush out and close up. Luckily my scope cover was still on so only a few things got wet.

[Pingster]

Gish the weather can sure be unpredictable. But mind you as winter is rolling in i am gettig many more nights than during summer, and the lenght o the session allows me not to rush.

Keep your chin up, a lot of the uk after monday will be clear for almost a week according to the predictions..........

[JonnyP]

It struck me a while back that meteorologists don't seem to see the weather the same way other people do. I'd been thinking that the weather had been unusually wet over some period of time and read a piece that claimed the rainfall was pretty much average over that period. From my point of view however we'd only had to opportunity to have a barbeque twice in three months because of the rain whereas in the past we'd expect to do so at least once a fortnight.

James

I had a similar conversation with a few fellow mountain bikers last week.

One was arguing that we'd had a great summer. I pointed out that he's been abroad for a long period of it, and that always changes your perception of the season.

The summer we had here in Swansea seems to have had little rain, but lots of cloud, which kept daytime temperatures down. I haven't spent much time in shorts this year, which is a good indicator. The best weather we had was from about end-April until June, but none of it was particularly warm.

Of course, to a meteorologist, rainfall is has been roughly average despite lots of cloud cover, and average temps are normal because although daytime temps have been low-ish, night temps are slightly above normal. (Perhaps - I'm making some of this up!) So we've had a normal summer.

Those of us who spend time outside (in any capacity) will probably feel that this summer and autumn have been rubbish.

And as for forecasting, I find that learning the basics of a synoptic map gives a good idea of what's going to happen. Better than listening to the clueless weather presenters on TV anyway. (It has occurred to me that TV forecasting has become worse since they stopped showing synoptic maps. )

If you live near a coast, www.magicseaweed.com is normally fairly accurate. Aimed at surfers, but strangely surfers seem more able to predict the weather than people who are paid to do it.

[Astro Imp]

It's been like a proper summer's day, sunny and warm with just a slight cloud. That's all changing now as we head towards evening, cloud coming in thick and fast. Still I suppose it could all change again - got to stay optimistic.

Good luck to you all.

[Astronut1982]

The forecast up here in Edinburgh for Sat was supposed to be clear all night.

So, in preparation I spent an age making sure there was as little drift on the polar alignment of my new HEQ5 pro as possible & waited for sunset. I got myself all wrapped up & headed out to observe. As soon as I went out it started to cloud over, I couldn't believe it! I was out from 10.30pm until 3.00am & got about 45 mins observing done which is pathetic.

The last year I've missed so many big astronomical events, I'd begun to think I was cursed. Hearing about the troubles you're all having has made me happy [relatively speaking of course!], knowing thats it's not just me!

The forecast is partly cloudy tonight but I'm hoping its not too bad as I've just worked out how to control my scope with my laptop using stellarium so I'm desperate to play with my new toy!

I'm not holding my breath though........

Jeff