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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 0%, wind 7 mph.

63/100 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 63 Fair
Clouds 52% Partly cloudy
Rain Risk 0% Max overnight
Visibility 15.0 mi Good
Wind 7 mph Gusts 20 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 10 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

Add a default rig for tailored guidance.

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

2026-10-07 7 PM → next morning 6 AM
Time Score Outlook Clouds Low Mid High Rain Visibility Dew Spread Wind Humidity Temp
10/7 - 7 PM 50 Fair 72% 0% 0% 71% 0% 15.0 mi 18.5°F 4 mph 52% 70°F
10/7 - 8 PM 25 Poor 100% 0% 0% 100% 0% 15.0 mi 17.8°F 4 mph 53% 69°F
10/7 - 9 PM 25 Poor 100% 0% 0% 100% 0% 15.0 mi 18.3°F 6 mph 52% 68°F
10/7 - 10 PM 93 Excellent 11% 0% 0% 5% 0% 15.0 mi 18.2°F 6 mph 52% 67°F
10/7 - 11 PM 93 Excellent 13% 0% 0% 9% 0% 15.0 mi 18.2°F 7 mph 52% 66°F
10/8 - 12 AM 93 Excellent 11% 0% 0% 9% 0% 15.0 mi 17.5°F 8 mph 53% 65°F
10/8 - 1 AM 93 Excellent 16% 0% 0% 15% 0% 15.0 mi 19.0°F 7 mph 50% 64°F
10/8 - 2 AM 91 Excellent 14% 0% 0% 10% 0% 15.0 mi 21.7°F 9 mph 45% 64°F
10/8 - 3 AM 91 Excellent 14% 0% 0% 10% 0% 15.0 mi 22.2°F 9 mph 44% 62°F
10/8 - 4 AM 50 Fair 74% 0% 0% 73% 0% 15.0 mi 23.9°F 7 mph 41% 61°F
10/8 - 5 AM 25 Poor 100% 0% 0% 100% 0% 15.0 mi 24.5°F 8 mph 40% 61°F
10/8 - 6 AM 25 Poor 100% 0% 0% 100% 0% 15.0 mi 24.4°F 7 mph 40% 60°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
72% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
71%
8 PM
100% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
100%
9 PM
100% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
100%
10 PM
11% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
5%
11 PM
13% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
9%
12 AM
11% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
9%
1 AM
16% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
15%
2 AM
14% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
10%
3 AM
14% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
10%
4 AM
74% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
73%
5 AM
100% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
100%
6 AM
100% Total
Low
0%
Mid
0%
High
100%
Why this score?

Limiting Factors

High Clouds 50% Moderate impact
Visibility 15 mi Moderate impact
Wind 7 mph Low impact
Humidity 48% Low impact
Precipitation 0% max 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% 0% 48% 7 mph Primary forecast
Tomorrow.io -- -- -- -- Secondary forecast active
National Weather Service -- -- -- -- Active alert cap: 20