Quote:
Originally Posted by OzEclipse
Hi Phil,
Thanks for these even though I have been reading them with some dismay. You paint a dismal picture for the coast.
Could you tell us the source & location of the coastal weather observations?
I am now in Port Douglas. At most ~1 Octa of cloud this morning on the west mountain ridge horizon up to 10-15 degrees. From 15 degrees above the west horizon to the east horizon clear except for one wispy 50% transparent cloud approx 2x8 degrees in size. Locals working at my site have told me that PD has been clear at eclipse time for several days though I'd put less reliability on these anecdotal observations. Who is feeding you these coastal observations and importantly where are the observations being made. I agree with statements about fast moving cloud but there are some areas that seem to have local cloud problems due to their proximity to the ranges.
Also keep in mind that thin cloud covering the coastline at eclipse time won't necessarily interfere with observations, at least not of the sun.
joe  |
hi joe
my main source is usually the high res visible satellite image at 7am, complemented by cyclones webcams at cairns, mareeba and mt carbine. if i get a chance before going to work i also look at the cairns airport METAR (observations) in the morning.
this morning was complicated by the fact that the site i get the high res visible image from (which houghy linked to) had a big gap in their usual sequence and did not provide an image till much later in the morning. so it was more difficult to say off the alternative images, but there appeared to be a band of low cloud hanging over the coast (7am attached). the webcam in cairns supported that (and the airport observation was BKN - broken cloud cover at a relatively low height.. about 2500 feet as i recall).
i did think at the time looking at the image that the east may have been clear from many locations along the coast, but leant in favour of what i could see on the webcam and the airport observations. looking again at the satellite image that was probably too conservative and much of the coast probably did ok.. but it's actually hard to reconcile the webcam and observations from cairns with this 7am image.
most mornings there has been more cloud off the coast than there was this morning.. so i'm not sure i agree with the anecdotal observations of the last few days. non-astronomers are often not very good at describing cloud situations?
my definition of success is quite tight too.. what a photographer would want for a clear view of the corona etc. a visual observer would be happy with quite a bit less.
hope that helps..
Phil