Sign in to save your rigs, location, and personalized observing forecasts. Sign in or create an account →
Night Forecast

Weather
Observing Conditions.

Hour-by-hour night-window forecast built for observing, imaging, and planning around clouds, rain risk, visibility, dew spread, wind, humidity, and your active rig.

Fair conditions
Observing Outlook

Fair conditions expected

Night-window score reflects clouds, rain risk, visibility, dew risk, wind, and humidity. Clouds 70%, rain risk 25%, wind 7 mph.

55/100 Fair Best: 8 PM
Choose Forecast Date
Su M T W Th F Sa
31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Forecast Location Chicago Area 41.878100, -87.629800 41.87810, -87.62980
Overall 55 Fair
Clouds 70% Mostly cloudy
Rain Risk 25% Max overnight
Visibility 8.7 mi Limited
Wind 7 mph Gusts 14 mph
Observatory Intelligence

No default rig selected

Add your telescope, focal length, and mount to unlock equipment-specific weather guidance.

Ephemeris can interpret wind, cloud layers, humidity, and dew risk differently for widefield, mid-focal, and long-focal-length setups.

Best Use Tonight General observing guidance
Avoid Tonight Rig-specific guidance unavailable
Improves After 8 PM
•
Visual Observing

General sky conditions are available now.

What makes an observing forecast different? →
•
Deep Sky Imaging

Add a default rig for tailored guidance.

Why does rig data matter for imaging? →
•
Planetary / Lunar

Add focal length and mount details for better recommendations.

Why does focal length change weather sensitivity? →
Set a default rig →
Forecast Confidence

Low Confidence

Conditions appear changeable enough that the observing window may shift.

1 forecast source active
  • Primary source: Open-Meteo atmospheric forecast
  • Confidence improves as additional forecast models are added
  • Cloud cover changes sharply during the night
  • High humidity may cause local conditions to underperform the forecast
Hour-by-Hour

Observing Window

2026-06-05 7 PM → next morning 6 AM
Time Score Outlook Clouds Low Mid High Rain Visibility Dew Spread Wind Humidity
6/5 - 7 PM 58 Fair 100% 100% 0% 91% 20% 10.9 mi 5.9°F ? 7 mph 82%
6/5 - 8 PM 73 Good 4% 4% 0% 0% 14% 9.6 mi 4.1°F ? 5 mph 87%
6/5 - 9 PM 64 Fair 11% 11% 0% 0% 25% 8.8 mi 3.1°F ? 6 mph 90%
6/5 - 10 PM 52 Fair 95% 95% 0% 51% 20% 8.9 mi 3.4°F ? 7 mph 89%
6/5 - 11 PM 60 Fair 92% 34% 0% 92% 20% 9.2 mi 3.7°F ? 10 mph 88%
6/6 - 12 AM 54 Fair 100% 4% 100% 100% 20% 9 mi 3.7°F ? 11 mph 88%
6/6 - 1 AM 34 Poor 100% 100% 97% 100% 18% 8.6 mi 3.1°F ? 9 mph 90%
6/6 - 2 AM 28 Poor 99% 94% 99% 92% 24% 7.8 mi 2.1°F ? 10 mph 93%
6/6 - 3 AM 50 Fair 100% 100% 0% 0% 19% 7.6 mi 1.8°F ? 6 mph 94%
6/6 - 4 AM 63 Fair 34% 34% 0% 0% 11% 8 mi 2.8°F ? 4 mph 91%
6/6 - 5 AM 72 Good 0% 0% 0% 0% 19% 8.1 mi 2.8°F ? 4 mph 91%
6/6 - 6 AM 47 Fair 100% 100% 29% 34% 14% 7.8 mi 1.8°F ? 3 mph 94%
Cloud Timeline

Cloud Cover by Hour

Each hour shows total cloud cover plus the split between low, mid, and high cloud layers.

Low Mid High
7 PM
100% Total
Low
100%
Mid
0%
High
91%
8 PM
4% Total
Low
4%
Mid
0%
High
0%
9 PM
11% Total
Low
11%
Mid
0%
High
0%
10 PM
95% Total
Low
95%
Mid
0%
High
51%
11 PM
92% Total
Low
34%
Mid
0%
High
92%
12 AM
100% Total
Low
4%
Mid
100%
High
100%
1 AM
100% Total
Low
100%
Mid
97%
High
100%
2 AM
99% Total
Low
94%
Mid
99%
High
92%
3 AM
100% Total
Low
100%
Mid
0%
High
0%
4 AM
34% Total
Low
34%
Mid
0%
High
0%
5 AM
0% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
0%
6 AM
100% Total
Low
100%
Mid
29%
High
34%
Why this score?

Limiting Factors

Humidity 90% Major limiter
Dew Spread 3.2°F Major limiter
Low Clouds 56% High impact
Visibility 8.7 mi High impact
High Clouds 47% Moderate impact
Source Comparison

Forecast Sources

MVP starts with Open-Meteo; additional sources will improve confidence scoring.
Source Clouds Rain Humidity Wind Status
Open-Meteo 70% 25% 90% 7 mph Primary