Clouds ad infinitum

[Gerald Sargent]

Has anyone any idea how much longer SE Qld is going to be a no-no for astronomy,
I do not think we have had 5 usable nights since August - Gerald.

[Jeeps]

I hate gloat, but i actually had about 30 minutes at 11.00pm on Wednesday night and about 20 minutes the week before. Both times it was cloudy and cleared up for a short while before the rain set back in. Other that that i've had nothing since early november :(

Also, last week i drove the jeep to work and it was clear when i finished work at 11pm so dare i say it i took the roof off and had a star filled drive home but it clouded over just when i got home. The jeep has been in the shed since with all this rain :(

cheers

[Kevnool]

Head out west my friend.

Cheers Kev.

[Jeeps]

How wet is it at my place? All the local birds have decided it's wet and are trying to stay dry and warm on my back deck...


cheers

[jenchris]

I've had 2 hours since 4th September where I could look through the lens - and that was destroyed by next doors outside lights and the moon being full

[pgc hunter]

Speaking of crap weather in Queensland, Mackay has had 335mm in the first 4 days of December.

[Ric]

As a complete opposite I went out for a look at the weather and it was completely clear.

Judging by the way the stars were twinkling I think the seeing conditions were probably next to zero though.

[pgc hunter]

was mostly clear in Melb last night and tonight surprisingly enough. But seeing in these unstable conditions would be trash though.

[torana68]

yeah? been raining here for i forget how long only, wouldnt go out there to look , mozzies would kill me, would sink into the backyard anyway :( dams are at 100% so thats good but can we have a week of sun?

[DiamondDust]

Two days since your post and it's still raining:cloudy: !

[casstony]

It's not crap weather everywhere. I just spent November in San Francisco where they've had unusually clear skies and warm temperatures.

I was amazed to see how green everything is when I got home. Can't really complain about the rain though (they have a water shortage in California - farmers, salmon fisherman and towns all fighting for their share).

I hope we have some lazy high pressure systems wandering through southern Australia soon - I need to try out some astro trinkets I brought back.

[BLiTZWiNG]

I've had plenty of clear skies ... though this must all be my fault because a few days ago I thought I really needed to get my scope out (having had plenty of clear sky through the last full moon)... and now its been totally overcast ever since.

And don't complain... you only have lorikeets on your handrail. I have a peacock!

[andrew2008]

Just bought a new eyepiece. How is that for optimism.

Only clear skies I've seen has been getting home from work at 11pm on a couple of nights. Waste of time setting up the 12" so I am going to purchase a grab n go setup for these times.

[supernova1965]

This is our sky tonight I am not sure where the birds are going but I think it is away:P

[GrahamL]

Most all of this year has been a right off on the north coast of nsw
A glance at the rainfall chart at work today .. It looks like a full bingo card that should of won some dollars through the year :P. likely went past 2 mtrs recently.. :sadeyes:

[mswhin63]

I remember last year many posts similar to this one, I think at least QLD "Great one day" Perfect the next" is long buried, climate change I expect we will see many days and nights of nothingness.

It is all about timing having the time available to do astronomy, One thing I want to do is make an observatory so that I can get out to the scope without having to spend ages setting up so I can get something going during even small breaks in the weather.

Problem is I rent so I can make a permanent observatory.

[pgc hunter]

Forecast for tonight: showers and thunderstorms.

Reality: Clear skies

3rd such occurance in the last 7 days amongst record rainfall, storms and flooding.

As they say, it's always when you least suspect it...

[Davros]

Sigh, my yard has been a lake for months now. Everything is dying from too much water. The scopes havent moved since middle of the year. I havent even seen my dogs for two days as they are hiding in the shed from the bloody rain. If there is a chance of rain then it always rains at Caboolture. :sadeyes::sadeyes::sadeyes:

[Jeeps]

I saw a faint cluster of stars to the south east last night through the clouds. SCORE!!!! And then it was was gone 15 seconds later... At least i can say i've seen some stars this month LOL ;)

[mswhin63]

Hey you lot, send some rain over here, fed up with changing water restrictions. Mind only send it Monday to Thursday during the day, not evening please :)

[Jeeps]

Ahh... the good ol days... 2 months ago... seems like a long time...

[pgc hunter]

Looking at Brisbane's obs, so far 4 hours of sun for the first week of December at a daily average of 0.7 hours. :eek:

[jjjnettie]

5pm.....
Blue skies at zenith
But look whats coming over again from the east.:(

Still, it stopped raining long enough to mow the front lawn and work up a good sweat.

Blue is such a soothing colour. You don't realise how much you miss it until it's not there anymore.

[casstony]

That is a lovely square of blue in contrast to PGC's square of grey above.

[Keshdogga]

Geez I understand where everyone is coming from about 2 weeks ago now I recieved the last of my entry gear and haven't had a clear night yet... not even enough time for first light :sadeyes: The wait is killing me! I can emphthise with everyone else who's going through this similar pain lol. But to my fellow SE Queenslanders our time must come soon :lol:

[Ric]

Come the first clear night, this forum is going to seem like a ghost town.

[jjjnettie]

LOL the first clear night, we're all going to be cursing because we've forgotten how to use our equipment.

[Davros]

Still not clear here, i thought i saw a star last night then its wing lights flashed :sadeyes:

[Jeeps]

I came home from work last night about 11pm and there was not a cloud in the sky, it was CLEAR and there were a BILLION stars in great seeing conditions with hardly any twinking stars. The milky way was a nice ribbon. What a surprise. So i rushed inside, chatted to my wife for half an hour then grabbed my gear and headed outside and then... no stars - it had clouded over. GRRRRRRR !!! And then it poured down half an hour later again...

can't win :)

[multiweb]

I don't wanna start something but if you live in Sydney, Saturday and Sunday are looking pretty good so far. :P

[Keshdogga]

Be Ready South East Qld Coast I have a feeling we might have a few hours of clearish sky's from about 6 - 10 just at a guess. It may just be my madness to finally get first light but tonight looks like a good possibility =]

http://www.willyweather.com.au/qld/sunshine-coast/mapleton.html this is for mapleton but shows whole aus map

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/qld/southeast-coast/sunshine-coast-mc sunshine coast 3hr interval forecasts.

http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/maroochydore_sunshine_coast sunshine coast cloud forecast (generally really off in advanced forecasts)

Tell me what you think. Could be legitimate or not?

[pgc hunter]

lol it is too. I wish we get to see such contrasts effects here in the subarctic roaring 40's :sad: