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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 52%, rain risk 2%, wind 8 mph.

59/100 Fair Best: 12 AM – 3 AM
Choose Forecast Date
Su M T W Th F Sa
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Forecast Location Chicago Area 41.878100, -87.629800 41.87810, -87.62980
Overall 59 Fair
Clouds 52% Partly cloudy
Rain Risk 2% Max overnight
Visibility 14.3 mi Fair
Wind 8 mph Gusts 19 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 7 PM
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Visual Observing

General sky conditions are available now.

What makes an observing forecast different? →
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Deep Sky Imaging

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

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Why does focal length change weather sensitivity? →
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Forecast Confidence

Moderate Confidence

The forecast is usable, but cloud timing or moisture may change the practical observing window.

3 forecast source active
  • Forecast sources active: 2
  • Alert sources active: 1
  • Forecast models disagree during multiple observing hours
  • Cloud cover changes sharply during the night
Hour-by-Hour

Observing Window

2026-10-06 7 PM → next morning 6 AM
Time Score Outlook Clouds Low Mid High Rain Visibility Dew Spread Wind Humidity Temp
10/6 - 7 PM 94 Excellent 4% 0% 0% 4% 2% 16.8 mi 11.3°F 8 mph 66% 58°F
10/6 - 8 PM 25 Poor 100% 0% 0% 100% 2% 17.3 mi 11.6°F 9 mph 65% 57°F
10/6 - 9 PM 25 Poor 98% 0% 0% 98% 2% 17.3 mi 11.6°F 9 mph 65% 56°F
10/6 - 10 PM 25 Poor 96% 0% 0% 96% 2% 17.1 mi 11.5°F 9 mph 65% 55°F
10/6 - 11 PM 25 Poor 100% 0% 0% 100% 1% 16.0 mi 10.3°F 8 mph 68% 54°F
10/7 - 12 AM 88 Excellent 0% 0% 0% 0% 1% 14.3 mi 8.8°F 8 mph 72% 53°F
10/7 - 1 AM 88 Excellent 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 14.5 mi 9.1°F 8 mph 71% 52°F
10/7 - 2 AM 88 Excellent 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 13.0 mi 7.7°F 8 mph 75% 52°F
10/7 - 3 AM 50 Fair 81% 0% 0% 81% 0% 12.2 mi 7.0°F 8 mph 77% 51°F
10/7 - 4 AM 75 Good 37% 0% 0% 37% 0% 10.7 mi 5.3°F 8 mph 82% 51°F
10/7 - 5 AM 65 Good 55% 1% 0% 54% 0% 10.4 mi 7.0°F 8 mph 80% 54°F
10/7 - 6 AM 65 Good 52% 2% 0% 50% 0% 11.4 mi 9.0°F 8 mph 74% 56°F
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
4% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
4%
8 PM
100% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
100%
9 PM
98% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
98%
10 PM
96% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
96%
11 PM
100% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
100%
12 AM
0% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
0%
1 AM
0% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
0%
2 AM
0% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
0%
3 AM
81% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
81%
4 AM
37% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
37%
5 AM
55% Total
Low
1%
Mid
0%
High
54%
6 AM
52% Total
Low
2%
Mid
0%
High
50%
Why this score?

Limiting Factors

Humidity 72% High impact
High Clouds 52% High impact
Dew Spread 9.2°F Moderate impact
Visibility 14.3 mi Moderate impact
Wind 8 mph Low impact
Source Comparison

Forecast Sources

MVP starts with Open-Meteo; additional sources will improve confidence scoring.
Source Clouds Rain Humidity Wind Status
Open-Meteo 52% 2% 72% 8 mph Primary forecast
Tomorrow.io -- -- -- -- Secondary forecast active
National Weather Service -- -- -- -- Active alert cap: 20