Damn It!

arrg...

3 hrs setting up...
waiting for dark skies..

and nothing but overcast!

....result: A Lonely (edit) drive home!

How do you guys find out about overcast? and clouds?


I checked BOM before i left for observing and it reported "fine, passing clouds" there was a complete blanket of overcasting clouds.
I waited about a hr to see if it would go anywhere but nope!

Any hints tips on how to make sure the night will stay clear before heading out?

Or is it all part of this increasingly frustrating hobby(..yet sometimes enjoyable)? haha


EDITED BY HOUGHY- no profanities guys and gals

[GrahamL]

How do you guys find out about overcast? and clouds?

Look outside every new moon

The national radar loop shows a pretty good / sad picture of likely weather
Though it dosn't always show up breaking clouds and local showers .

[Karls48 (Karl)]

It has been like this for last three months. Clear sky during the day and overcast at night. I have lost count how many times I had set up in beautiful clear afternoon, just to have clouds rolling in when it got dark. So you are not only one "cheezed" off with weather.

edit by houghy - no profanities or bypassing the filter

[bojan]

I found the forecast on this webpage to be very accurate...
http://7timer.y234.cn/V3/product.php...AS07&site=1344

[glenc (Glen)]

Have a look at min/max cloud here:
http://ozforecast.com.au/cgi-bin/wea...etype=forecast
and look at the cloud just off the coast near Sydney here:
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDE00902.loop.shtml
also try these maps:
http://www.snow-forecast.com/maps/st...us/3days/cloud

Some exellent sites guys, thanks heaps!

[ngcles]

Hi Lyinxz & All,

The sky in Sydney in terms of night-time cloudiness tends to go "off" in mid to late October and then starts to improve in late January or early February.

Within 50km of the coast there will be clear nights sometimes but a lot of the time it will be clear day and cloudy night.

If there is a breeze anywhere from northeast to south (sea-breeze) at or after sunset, it will frequently, if not nearly always clag up with lowish cloud. The air picks-up moisture from the ocean and when the temprature is dropping over land in the early evening, the dew point comes up and bang -- low cloud forms. As often as not, it's gone by 12mn or 1am (a few hrs after the breeze stops). Southerly change weather has a similar effect but more vigorous.

Much better is a light west breeze which is dry and low-humidity though thunderstorms will come with this sometimes. The best wind in spring/summer for within 50km of the coast at Sydney, is a lazy southwester. Ususally dry and moderate tempratures and reasonably stable air-mass.

The satellite is an imperfect guide in Summer particularly -- don't just look at the U.V pic, look at the visible-light pic which shows low-cloud more effectively. Don't just look at the sky, wet your finger and stick it up (to test the breeze).

Hope it is of some use.


Best,

Les D

[Kevnool (Kev)]

Thank the good lord for the outback.....cheers Kev

[Smirnoff]

I remember spending a week in Nelson Bay in January 2006. It seemed to always cloud up toward sunset, it was a very low cloud aswell and would usually end up being gloomy the next morning and the cloud would finally dissipate by midday.

Temperature wise however, it is much warmer and far more pleasant than Melbourne. Unlike here, you could be in a shirt 24/7 and not be cold.

[erick (Eric)]

Sadly, patience is the answer. Last night was forecast to be "a star-studded night". It was - but after 12:30am!

I've set up in what was supposed to be patchy cloud only, looked at full cloud cover waiting for it to become patchy, next minute it's raining on everything!

If it was easy and if seeing was always top class, it might get boring - you know, the "thrill of the hunt" and all that!

Thanks for that info Les, il be waiting till late jan it looks like.

Eric - true, supose it al part of the thrills ups and downs

Cheers, for the info guys!