Sonoran Sky Observatory
Clear Sky Chart
History

This sumarizes the distribution of each different forecast outcome for the Sonoran Sky Observatory clear sky chart from 2005-11-06 to 2026-03-03.

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 3 2 2 3 3 4 6% 72%	140296
	Night	3 2 1 3 2 3 3 3 4 6% 70%	138454
Transparency	Day	15% 2 4 11% 25% 44%	135202
	Night	16% 2 4 11% 25% 42%	134547
Seeing	Day	4 4 15% 29% 31% 17%	16727
	Night	4 2 14% 44% 32% 4	26962

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	5% 4 2 4 3 3 3 3 4 7% 62%	5318
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 3 4 80%	5340
	21st to end	Day	5% 4 2 5% 4 3 4 3 6% 7% 57%	5844
February	1st to 10th	Day	3 3 1 3 3 2 3 3 4 6% 67%	1998
	11th to 20th	Day	6% 4 2 4 3 3 3 3 4 5% 63%	2050
	21st to end	Day	5% 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 4 7% 68%	1772
March	1st to 10th	Day	3 3 1 3 2 2 3 2 4 4 72%	4977
	11th to 20th	Day	3 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 4 5% 68%	5000
	21st to end	Day	3 4 1 4 2 3 3 3 4 5% 69%	5486
April	1st to 10th	Day	2 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 4 7% 76%	2200
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 81%	2278
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 2 1 2 2 3 4 84%	2520
May	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 86%	5880
	11th to 20th	Day	2 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 3 3 83%	5841
	21st to end	Day	1 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 3 84%	6423
June	1st to 10th	Day	2 2 1 1 1 2 2 3 5% 81%	2600
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 88%	2600
	21st to end	Day	2 2 1 3 2 2 3 3 4 5% 75%	2600
July	1st to 10th	Day	2 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 5% 75%	5879
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 1 4 3 4 4 4 7% 8% 61%	5880
	21st to end	Day	3 3 1 4 4 4 5% 5% 7% 10% 55%	6401
August	1st to 10th	Day	3 2 1 3 2 3 3 3 6% 10% 64%	5779
	11th to 20th	Day	1 2 1 3 4 4 5% 4 6% 9% 62%	5798
	21st to end	Day	2 2 1 3 3 3 3 4 5% 8% 67%	5811
September	1st to 10th	Day	5% 4 1 4 3 4 3 3 4 5% 65%	2200
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 5% 78%	2200
	21st to end	Day	2 2 1 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 76%	2200
October	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 4 82%	3536
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 88%	3250
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 2 1 2 2 3 4 83%	3548
November	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 4 6% 79%	2059
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 4 5% 74%	1990
	21st to end	Day	4 4 1 3 2 2 3 3 6% 6% 65%	1890
December	1st to 10th	Day	3 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 3 4 78%	3040
	11th to 20th	Day	3 3 2 4 3 2 2 3 6% 7% 64%	3499
	21st to end	Day	5% 3 1 4 3 2 3 3 5% 7% 66%	4609
January	1st to 10th	Night	5% 4 2 4 3 3 3 3 4 6% 63%	7605
	11th to 20th	Night	2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 85%	7650
	21st to end	Night	7% 5% 2 5% 3 4 4 3 4 6% 57%	8370
February	1st to 10th	Night	5% 3 1 3 3 2 3 2 4 5% 67%	2619
	11th to 20th	Night	6% 4 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 6% 63%	2458
	21st to end	Night	5% 3 1 5% 2 3 3 3 4 5% 66%	2033
March	1st to 10th	Night	4 3 1 3 2 2 3 2 4 6% 70%	4962
	11th to 20th	Night	5% 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 4 6% 67%	5000
	21st to end	Night	2 3 1 3 2 3 3 2 4 7% 70%	5489
April	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 1 2 2 2 3 3 5% 5% 73%	2200
	11th to 20th	Night	1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 80%	2067
	21st to end	Night	2 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 4 85%	1875
May	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 2 1 1 1 1 3 4 84%	4100
	11th to 20th	Night	3 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 3 4 81%	4074
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 2 1 2 4 87%	4474
June	1st to 10th	Night	2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 5% 78%	1800
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 88%	1800
	21st to end	Night	2 3 1 3 3 2 2 3 4 4 74%	1800
July	1st to 10th	Night	2 3 1 4 3 3 4 3 4 5% 69%	4100
	11th to 20th	Night	1 2 1 4 4 5% 5% 5% 9% 12% 54%	4100
	21st to end	Night	2 2 1 5% 4 5% 5% 5% 9% 12% 50%	4472
August	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 1 4 3 4 6% 5% 8% 11% 54%	4033
	11th to 20th	Night	2 2 1 4 3 4 5% 5% 7% 11% 58%	4051
	21st to end	Night	2 2 1 4 4 4 5% 4 6% 9% 60%	5173
September	1st to 10th	Night	4 3 1 5% 3 4 4 4 6% 7% 59%	2200
	11th to 20th	Night	2 2 1 3 2 2 2 2 4 5% 75%	2200
	21st to end	Night	2 1 1 3 2 2 3 2 3 5% 77%	2200
October	1st to 10th	Night	2 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 5% 75%	3660
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 87%	3898
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 85%	4252
November	1st to 10th	Night	3 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 6% 76%	2460
	11th to 20th	Night	2 1 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 5% 76%	2627
	21st to end	Night	5% 4 1 3 3 3 3 3 4 7% 64%	2730
December	1st to 10th	Night	3 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 5% 78%	4370
	11th to 20th	Night	4 4 2 4 2 3 3 3 4 5% 67%	4941
	21st to end	Night	4 3 1 4 3 3 3 3 5% 5% 65%	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	23% 3 4 12% 33% 26%	5321
	11th to 20th	Day	11% 1 2 8% 29% 49%	5340
	21st to end	Day	26% 2 6% 10% 26% 30%	5844
February	1st to 10th	Day	18% 3 3 11% 24% 41%	1998
	11th to 20th	Day	25% 2 3 15% 27% 29%	2060
	21st to end	Day	19% 2 1 11% 29% 37%	1772
March	1st to 10th	Day	17% 2 2 8% 35% 37%	4977
	11th to 20th	Day	18% 3 3 13% 33% 30%	5000
	21st to end	Day	18% 2 2 8% 33% 37%	5486
April	1st to 10th	Day	10% 2 2 6% 32% 49%	2200
	11th to 20th	Day	11% 1 1 5% 22% 60%	2281
	21st to end	Day	8% 1 2 5% 22% 62%	2520
May	1st to 10th	Day	7% 1 1 5% 20% 66%	5880
	11th to 20th	Day	9% 1 2 3 19% 66%	5844
	21st to end	Day	9% 1 1 2 11% 77%	6424
June	1st to 10th	Day	9% 1 1 3 18% 68%	2600
	11th to 20th	Day	6% 1 1 10% 82%	2600
	21st to end	Day	13% 3 3 7% 12% 62%	2600
July	1st to 10th	Day	13% 2 5% 8% 21% 51%	5816
	11th to 20th	Day	19% 5% 7% 24% 29% 16%	5811
	21st to end	Day	22% 5% 10% 21% 15% 28%	6217
August	1st to 10th	Day	20% 5% 15% 24% 20% 16%	4208
	11th to 20th	Day	20% 5% 8% 18% 29% 20%	4197
	21st to end	Day	17% 4 9% 15% 22% 33%	4186
September	1st to 10th	Day	23% 4 5% 15% 22% 32%	2200
	11th to 20th	Day	11% 2 2 8% 30% 47%	2200
	21st to end	Day	14% 3 3 9% 22% 50%	2200
October	1st to 10th	Day	9% 1 2 7% 15% 65%	3536
	11th to 20th	Day	6% 1 2 4 25% 63%	3250
	21st to end	Day	7% 1 2 5% 21% 64%	3548
November	1st to 10th	Day	9% 2 1 11% 30% 47%	2059
	11th to 20th	Day	15% 2 2 10% 27% 44%	1990
	21st to end	Day	20% 2 3 11% 28% 36%	1890
December	1st to 10th	Day	12% 2 2 10% 38% 36%	3040
	11th to 20th	Day	19% 2 3 12% 28% 36%	3498
	21st to end	Day	18% 3 4 21% 34% 20%	4609
January	1st to 10th	Night	22% 2 5% 11% 35% 25%	7605
	11th to 20th	Night	8% 1 2 9% 28% 53%	7650
	21st to end	Night	28% 3 5% 10% 26% 28%	8370
February	1st to 10th	Night	20% 2 3 11% 22% 41%	2619
	11th to 20th	Night	23% 3 3 14% 29% 28%	2459
	21st to end	Night	21% 3 3 10% 27% 37%	2033
March	1st to 10th	Night	17% 2 2 9% 32% 38%	4962
	11th to 20th	Night	18% 4 2 12% 36% 28%	5000
	21st to end	Night	15% 2 3 9% 36% 35%	5489
April	1st to 10th	Night	14% 2 2 8% 27% 47%	2200
	11th to 20th	Night	12% 1 2 5% 23% 57%	2067
	21st to end	Night	7% 2 1 6% 22% 62%	1875
May	1st to 10th	Night	7% 1 2 6% 24% 60%	4097
	11th to 20th	Night	9% 1 2 4 20% 65%	4075
	21st to end	Night	5% 1 1 2 10% 81%	4474
June	1st to 10th	Night	11% 2 1 3 17% 66%	1800
	11th to 20th	Night	5% 2 1 2 11% 80%	1800
	21st to end	Night	14% 3 3 5% 11% 64%	1800
July	1st to 10th	Night	17% 3 5% 6% 20% 50%	4055
	11th to 20th	Night	19% 4 10% 23% 28% 16%	4046
	21st to end	Night	22% 5% 10% 23% 14% 26%	4344
August	1st to 10th	Night	26% 7% 15% 21% 14% 17%	2928
	11th to 20th	Night	21% 4 8% 21% 25% 20%	2928
	21st to end	Night	19% 4 8% 14% 18% 36%	3722
September	1st to 10th	Night	22% 4 7% 17% 19% 30%	2200
	11th to 20th	Night	13% 3 3 9% 26% 47%	2200
	21st to end	Night	11% 3 3 9% 25% 50%	2200
October	1st to 10th	Night	11% 2 3 9% 13% 62%	3660
	11th to 20th	Night	6% 1 1 7% 20% 65%	3898
	21st to end	Night	7% 1 2 5% 18% 67%	4252
November	1st to 10th	Night	12% 1 1 10% 27% 49%	2460
	11th to 20th	Night	14% 1 3 9% 27% 46%	2627
	21st to end	Night	22% 2 2 12% 27% 35%	2730
December	1st to 10th	Night	11% 2 2 13% 35% 37%	4370
	11th to 20th	Night	22% 2 3 10% 24% 40%	4941
	21st to end	Night	20% 3 3 18% 31% 24%	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	7% 2 19% 36% 27% 8%	330
	11th to 20th	Day	7% 2 11% 36% 33% 10%	330
	21st to end	Day	4 4 14% 40% 28% 9%	363
February	1st to 10th	Day	4 5% 21% 33% 28% 9%	438
	11th to 20th	Day	9% 10% 25% 32% 22% 3	535
	21st to end	Day	8% 8% 25% 37% 18% 4	446
March	1st to 10th	Day	6% 13% 24% 33% 21% 4	509
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 8% 27% 30% 21% 9%	500
	21st to end	Day	5% 11% 23% 37% 20% 5%	550
April	1st to 10th	Day	3 8% 25% 29% 22% 13%	500
	11th to 20th	Day	3 8% 29% 33% 21% 7%	492
	21st to end	Day	2 8% 24% 28% 26% 12%	500
May	1st to 10th	Day	2 8% 24% 30% 25% 11%	503
	11th to 20th	Day	2 5% 23% 34% 25% 13%	528
	21st to end	Day	1 6% 21% 30% 28% 14%	573
June	1st to 10th	Day	3 3 14% 35% 31% 14%	530
	11th to 20th	Day	1 2 15% 33% 30% 18%	530
	21st to end	Day	2 1 11% 29% 40% 18%	530
July	1st to 10th	Day	1 2 5% 26% 41% 25%	526
	11th to 20th	Day	4 1 3 19% 38% 34%	524
	21st to end	Day	6% 1 3 16% 39% 36%	575
August	1st to 10th	Day	3 2 2 18% 40% 34%	527
	11th to 20th	Day	2 1 2 18% 40% 36%	517
	21st to end	Day	1 1 4 15% 40% 39%	583
September	1st to 10th	Day	5% 2 9% 27% 38% 20%	530
	11th to 20th	Day	3 2 10% 29% 37% 20%	530
	21st to end	Day	3 2 14% 27% 34% 20%	530
October	1st to 10th	Day	2 2 15% 31% 33% 17%	492
	11th to 20th	Day	4 2 9% 30% 35% 20%	330
	21st to end	Day	2 2 9% 28% 36% 23%	363
November	1st to 10th	Day	2 3 11% 35% 32% 17%	330
	11th to 20th	Day	3 4 9% 32% 38% 14%	330
	21st to end	Day	5% 3 16% 35% 34% 8%	330
December	1st to 10th	Day	7% 2 10% 36% 35% 11%	330
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 1 13% 36% 35% 10%	330
	21st to end	Day	9% 5% 18% 33% 25% 10%	363
January	1st to 10th	Night	6% 2 13% 51% 26% 2	840
	11th to 20th	Night	4 2 12% 50% 28% 3	840
	21st to end	Night	10% 2 17% 47% 20% 3	924
February	1st to 10th	Night	6% 3 15% 49% 23% 5%	840
	11th to 20th	Night	8% 3 21% 48% 19% 1	824
	21st to end	Night	6% 5% 23% 49% 16% 2	692
March	1st to 10th	Night	5% 3 24% 50% 17% 1	808
	11th to 20th	Night	6% 3 20% 41% 25% 5%	800
	21st to end	Night	4 4 19% 47% 24% 2	880
April	1st to 10th	Night	3 3 22% 47% 22% 3	800
	11th to 20th	Night	3 3 27% 47% 19% 1	683
	21st to end	Night	3 3 25% 48% 19% 3	600
May	1st to 10th	Night	3 4 21% 52% 20% 1	600
	11th to 20th	Night	2 3 20% 52% 22% 1	591
	21st to end	Night	2 2 21% 49% 24% 1	650
June	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 13% 59% 24% 1	600
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 14% 57% 27% 1	600
	21st to end	Night	3 2 10% 43% 40% 2	600
July	1st to 10th	Night	3 1 8% 37% 48% 4	585
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 5% 32% 53% 8%	582
	21st to end	Night	2 2 3 28% 56% 9%	657
August	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 28% 59% 9%	597
	11th to 20th	Night	3 2 2 31% 56% 7%	594
	21st to end	Night	3 1 3 22% 61% 10%	791
September	1st to 10th	Night	4 1 7% 31% 52% 5%	800
	11th to 20th	Night	2 1 8% 38% 46% 5%	800
	21st to end	Night	2 1 11% 41% 40% 6%	800
October	1st to 10th	Night	3 1 12% 45% 36% 4	800
	11th to 20th	Night	3 2 10% 47% 36% 3	800
	21st to end	Night	2 2 12% 42% 35% 7%	880
November	1st to 10th	Night	3 2 10% 48% 33% 4	820
	11th to 20th	Night	3 1 14% 46% 34% 3	840
	21st to end	Night	6% 3 16% 46% 27% 3	840
December	1st to 10th	Night	6% 2 13% 49% 29% 3	840
	11th to 20th	Night	7% 4 11% 48% 28% 3	840
	21st to end	Night	7% 2 16% 47% 24% 4	924

Page generated at 2026-02-27 23:40:20. Version ac07

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