ScottNC Observatory
Clear Sky Chart
History

This sumarizes the distribution of each different forecast outcome for the ScottNC Observatory clear sky chart from 2005-11-06 to 2024-03-18.

This page is a summary of past forecasts. Even though it's based only on forecasts, some people use these pages as clue to a site's climate. But climate data based on actual observation should be preferred (if you can find it!).

Cloud, Transparency and Seeing forecasts are summarized individually. But because good observing conditions require a combination of minimum cloud cover, transparency and seeing, the individual forecast summaries can be difficult to interpret. The observing conditions section counts the combinations of conditions needed for common types of astronomical observation.

Observing Conditions

The following tables count the occurrence of the combinations of forecast and darkness conditions needed for different observations. Conditions are rated by by what percentage of the hours the observation would likely be attempted are usable.

Observation Type	Minimum conditions for hour to be usable				Out of hours
	Clear of Clouds	Transparency	Seeing	Sky Brightness
Planetary:	50%	(no limit)	Average	(no limit)	Nighttime Hours
Deep Sky:	70%	Average	(no limit)	5.9	Nighttime Hours
CCD Imaging:	70%	Below Average	Poor	(no limit)	Nighttime Hours

Percentages are of nighttime hours per month, or per year, when a particular observing conditions was met. Deep Sky percentages never exceed 50% because the moon is up half the time. Deep sky percentages are much lower for charts at high latitudes because of fewer dark hours in the summer.

Overall

By Month

Individual Forecasts

The length of each colored bar in the "occurrence of each Forecast" column is proportional to the number of times the chart forecast that color. The percentages are of the total number of hours per month, or per year, with a particular forecast. The colors as the same as those used in clear sky charts.

Note: Transparency probabilities are only counted for those hours that have 30% or less cloud cover. Seeing probabilities are only counted for those hours that have 80% or less cloud cover. If that's too tricky, try Observing Conditions instead.

Overall

		Occurrence of each Forecast	Data Points
Cloud Cover	Day	14% 5% 2 5% 5% 3 5% 5% 6% 8% 44%	79082
	Night	15% 5% 2 5% 5% 3 4 5% 5% 7% 44%	80720
Transparency	Day	38% 7% 12% 21% 18% 4	78804
	Night	38% 7% 11% 20% 19% 5%	80517
Seeing	Day	17% 7% 21% 25% 19% 11%	14382
	Night	16% 6% 23% 33% 20% 2	24572

By Month

Percentage Cloud Cover SE (2006-)
Color Meanings: Overcast 90% covered 80% covered 70% covered 60% covered 50% covered 40% covered 30% covered 20% covered 10% covered Clear
Month	Days in Month		Occurrence of each Forecast	Data Points
January	1st to 10th	Day	19% 4 2 3 3 1 3 3 4 6% 52%	2836
	11th to 20th	Day	15% 6% 2 5% 4 2 4 4 4 5% 51%	2840
	21st to end	Day	24% 6% 2 5% 4 2 3 3 4 4 42%	3124
February	1st to 10th	Day	15% 4 3 5% 5% 3 5% 4 5% 8% 44%	1710
	11th to 20th	Day	19% 7% 2 4 4 2 3 4 4 6% 45%	1766
	21st to end	Day	20% 6% 3 6% 4 3 5% 4 5% 6% 39%	1635
March	1st to 10th	Day	16% 5% 2 3 3 2 4 3 6% 7% 49%	2090
	11th to 20th	Day	16% 6% 3 4 5% 3 5% 4 5% 7% 42%	2058
	21st to end	Day	17% 7% 3 5% 5% 3 4 4 4 6% 42%	2178
April	1st to 10th	Day	11% 3 1 3 3 3 4 4 5% 8% 54%	2011
	11th to 20th	Day	14% 5% 2 4 3 3 4 5% 5% 7% 49%	2134
	21st to end	Day	13% 5% 2 4 5% 3 4 5% 5% 7% 46%	2281
May	1st to 10th	Day	11% 5% 2 5% 4 3 5% 5% 7% 9% 41%	2340
	11th to 20th	Day	14% 5% 3 5% 6% 4 5% 5% 7% 9% 38%	2301
	21st to end	Day	13% 5% 2 5% 5% 4 4 6% 7% 9% 41%	2531
June	1st to 10th	Day	10% 5% 2 6% 5% 4 5% 5% 7% 11% 41%	2340
	11th to 20th	Day	9% 5% 2 5% 5% 3 6% 7% 8% 10% 39%	2340
	21st to end	Day	5% 5% 2 6% 6% 3 6% 7% 7% 11% 40%	2340
July	1st to 10th	Day	8% 5% 3 6% 7% 4 6% 6% 7% 11% 36%	2340
	11th to 20th	Day	7% 5% 3 6% 7% 5% 7% 7% 9% 12% 33%	2340
	21st to end	Day	7% 5% 3 7% 7% 5% 7% 7% 7% 11% 35%	2547
August	1st to 10th	Day	10% 5% 2 6% 6% 4 6% 7% 9% 12% 32%	2327
	11th to 20th	Day	9% 6% 3 7% 7% 5% 7% 8% 8% 10% 30%	2303
	21st to end	Day	9% 5% 2 5% 5% 4 5% 6% 7% 11% 40%	2404
September	1st to 10th	Day	11% 4 2 4 6% 3 4 5% 6% 9% 46%	2069
	11th to 20th	Day	12% 6% 2 4 4 3 5% 5% 7% 8% 43%	1980
	21st to end	Day	18% 7% 3 6% 4 3 6% 5% 4 6% 38%	1980
October	1st to 10th	Day	13% 5% 3 5% 3 2 3 4 4 5% 54%	1840
	11th to 20th	Day	13% 5% 2 4 4 2 3 4 4 5% 54%	1800
	21st to end	Day	14% 5% 2 4 4 2 3 3 4 5% 55%	1980
November	1st to 10th	Day	12% 6% 2 4 4 2 4 2 3 5% 57%	1857
	11th to 20th	Day	13% 5% 2 3 3 2 3 3 5% 7% 54%	1763
	21st to end	Day	15% 5% 2 4 4 2 3 3 5% 6% 51%	1710
December	1st to 10th	Day	19% 7% 2 4 5% 4 4 4 5% 5% 41%	1710
	11th to 20th	Day	16% 5% 2 3 3 1 3 3 4 7% 53%	2153
	21st to end	Day	19% 6% 2 5% 3 3 4 4 5% 7% 41%	3124
January	1st to 10th	Night	16% 6% 2 4 4 3 4 4 4 6% 49%	4109
	11th to 20th	Night	15% 6% 3 4 4 2 3 4 4 5% 50%	4120
	21st to end	Night	24% 7% 2 4 4 2 3 3 4 5% 43%	4532
February	1st to 10th	Night	15% 6% 2 5% 5% 3 4 5% 5% 7% 44%	2470
	11th to 20th	Night	20% 6% 3 5% 3 2 4 3 4 5% 46%	2296
	21st to end	Night	17% 7% 3 5% 4 3 3 4 5% 6% 43%	1818
March	1st to 10th	Night	14% 5% 2 5% 4 3 4 4 4 6% 50%	2090
	11th to 20th	Night	16% 5% 3 5% 5% 3 5% 5% 4 7% 43%	2068
	21st to end	Night	17% 6% 2 5% 5% 3 4 5% 5% 6% 42%	2178
April	1st to 10th	Night	14% 5% 2 4 4 3 4 4 5% 8% 48%	1949
	11th to 20th	Night	14% 5% 2 4 5% 2 4 4 4 8% 48%	1775
	21st to end	Night	15% 5% 2 5% 3 3 4 4 4 7% 48%	1692
May	1st to 10th	Night	10% 5% 3 5% 6% 3 5% 5% 6% 8% 45%	1620
	11th to 20th	Night	14% 6% 3 6% 6% 3 4 6% 7% 8% 37%	1592
	21st to end	Night	13% 6% 2 5% 5% 3 5% 5% 8% 9% 39%	1744
June	1st to 10th	Night	9% 4 3 6% 6% 4 5% 7% 9% 11% 37%	1620
	11th to 20th	Night	10% 5% 2 5% 5% 3 5% 5% 8% 11% 41%	1620
	21st to end	Night	8% 4 2 5% 6% 4 6% 7% 8% 10% 40%	1620
July	1st to 10th	Night	8% 7% 3 6% 6% 4 6% 7% 7% 10% 35%	1620
	11th to 20th	Night	6% 5% 3 5% 7% 4 6% 8% 9% 11% 37%	1620
	21st to end	Night	8% 4 2 5% 7% 5% 6% 7% 9% 13% 36%	1771
August	1st to 10th	Night	13% 6% 3 6% 7% 4 7% 7% 6% 10% 32%	1611
	11th to 20th	Night	11% 6% 4 5% 7% 4 6% 7% 9% 10% 32%	1598
	21st to end	Night	8% 5% 3 6% 6% 4 4 7% 8% 11% 38%	1934
September	1st to 10th	Night	9% 6% 3 4 5% 4 5% 6% 5% 8% 45%	1887
	11th to 20th	Night	13% 6% 3 6% 6% 4 5% 5% 5% 7% 40%	1980
	21st to end	Night	17% 8% 2 5% 4 3 4 5% 6% 7% 38%	1980
October	1st to 10th	Night	14% 6% 2 4 4 2 4 4 4 6% 49%	2119
	11th to 20th	Night	14% 5% 2 4 4 3 3 3 4 5% 53%	2160
	21st to end	Night	15% 4 2 4 3 2 3 2 3 5% 56%	2376
November	1st to 10th	Night	16% 5% 2 4 3 2 3 3 3 5% 55%	2221
	11th to 20th	Night	13% 5% 2 4 4 3 4 3 4 5% 53%	2416
	21st to end	Night	15% 4 2 3 4 2 3 4 5% 7% 51%	2470
December	1st to 10th	Night	19% 7% 3 5% 5% 2 4 4 4 6% 42%	2470
	11th to 20th	Night	17% 6% 2 4 4 2 4 3 4 5% 50%	3042
	21st to end	Night	21% 4 2 4 4 3 4 4 6% 7% 41%	4532

Transparency (when cloud cover <= 30%)
Color Meanings: Too cloudy to forecast Poor Below Average Average Above average Transparent
Month	Days in Month		Occurrence of each Forecast	Data Points
January	1st to 10th	Day	35% 3 6% 28% 21% 7%	2837
	11th to 20th	Day	37% 4 5% 18% 31% 5%	2840
	21st to end	Day	46% 3 6% 18% 22% 5%	3124
February	1st to 10th	Day	40% 5% 11% 21% 19% 5%	1710
	11th to 20th	Day	41% 4 8% 22% 19% 6%	1775
	21st to end	Day	45% 5% 11% 15% 18% 7%	1635
March	1st to 10th	Day	35% 4 8% 23% 23% 6%	2090
	11th to 20th	Day	40% 7% 10% 18% 17% 7%	2058
	21st to end	Day	45% 5% 9% 21% 16% 4	2178
April	1st to 10th	Day	29% 5% 11% 24% 25% 7%	2011
	11th to 20th	Day	35% 6% 10% 21% 20% 9%	2134
	21st to end	Day	37% 7% 11% 24% 17% 4	2281
May	1st to 10th	Day	37% 8% 17% 19% 15% 4	2340
	11th to 20th	Day	41% 10% 15% 21% 11% 3	2305
	21st to end	Day	37% 10% 15% 25% 11% 1	2531
June	1st to 10th	Day	35% 9% 15% 26% 13% 1	2340
	11th to 20th	Day	35% 11% 18% 20% 14% 2	2340
	21st to end	Day	34% 12% 17% 22% 14% 1	2340
July	1st to 10th	Day	39% 14% 15% 16% 13% 3	2275
	11th to 20th	Day	38% 13% 20% 18% 10% 1	2271
	21st to end	Day	39% 11% 18% 20% 10% 1	2405
August	1st to 10th	Day	40% 12% 17% 22% 9%	2314
	11th to 20th	Day	43% 14% 15% 18% 9% 1	2303
	21st to end	Day	36% 10% 19% 21% 11% 3	2404
September	1st to 10th	Day	34% 8% 14% 22% 17% 4	2069
	11th to 20th	Day	35% 9% 13% 19% 20% 3	1980
	21st to end	Day	46% 6% 8% 19% 17% 3	1980
October	1st to 10th	Day	33% 5% 10% 23% 25% 4	1840
	11th to 20th	Day	32% 5% 8% 27% 22% 7%	1800
	21st to end	Day	33% 4 7% 25% 23% 9%	1980
November	1st to 10th	Day	32% 4 7% 21% 27% 8%	1857
	11th to 20th	Day	31% 4 8% 23% 27% 7%	1763
	21st to end	Day	35% 4 9% 22% 25% 5%	1710
December	1st to 10th	Day	44% 6% 7% 20% 19% 4	1710
	11th to 20th	Day	32% 3 9% 23% 25% 9%	2150
	21st to end	Day	41% 5% 10% 24% 18% 2	3124
January	1st to 10th	Night	37% 4 7% 21% 25% 6%	4109
	11th to 20th	Night	37% 4 8% 18% 27% 6%	4120
	21st to end	Night	45% 4 6% 19% 20% 7%	4532
February	1st to 10th	Night	40% 5% 10% 21% 20% 4	2470
	11th to 20th	Night	42% 4 8% 18% 20% 7%	2298
	21st to end	Night	43% 5% 9% 18% 20% 6%	1818
March	1st to 10th	Night	36% 5% 8% 20% 24% 8%	2090
	11th to 20th	Night	41% 6% 9% 20% 18% 6%	2068
	21st to end	Night	43% 7% 9% 20% 18% 4	2178
April	1st to 10th	Night	35% 5% 11% 20% 23% 5%	1949
	11th to 20th	Night	35% 5% 9% 21% 21% 9%	1775
	21st to end	Night	37% 6% 11% 24% 19% 4	1692
May	1st to 10th	Night	36% 7% 14% 24% 16% 2	1620
	11th to 20th	Night	42% 10% 13% 19% 14% 2	1593
	21st to end	Night	38% 11% 15% 23% 12% 1	1745
June	1st to 10th	Night	37% 10% 16% 22% 14% 2	1620
	11th to 20th	Night	35% 10% 17% 22% 14% 2	1620
	21st to end	Night	35% 10% 19% 18% 13% 4	1620
July	1st to 10th	Night	38% 14% 15% 19% 11% 3	1575
	11th to 20th	Night	35% 13% 20% 20% 9% 3	1566
	21st to end	Night	35% 13% 21% 22% 9% 1	1672
August	1st to 10th	Night	44% 12% 16% 18% 9% 1	1600
	11th to 20th	Night	42% 13% 16% 18% 10% 1	1598
	21st to end	Night	36% 12% 19% 21% 9% 2	1934
September	1st to 10th	Night	35% 8% 15% 21% 15% 6%	1887
	11th to 20th	Night	41% 9% 11% 17% 20% 2	1980
	21st to end	Night	44% 8% 11% 17% 16% 3	1980
October	1st to 10th	Night	36% 5% 9% 23% 22% 4	2119
	11th to 20th	Night	33% 5% 8% 26% 22% 7%	2160
	21st to end	Night	32% 4 6% 21% 26% 11%	2376
November	1st to 10th	Night	34% 4 7% 20% 25% 10%	2221
	11th to 20th	Night	34% 3 7% 19% 26% 10%	2416
	21st to end	Night	33% 4 7% 24% 26% 6%	2470
December	1st to 10th	Night	44% 5% 8% 20% 19% 5%	2470
	11th to 20th	Night	38% 4 7% 19% 23% 9%	3044
	21st to end	Night	40% 5% 10% 22% 20% 2	4532

Seeing (when cloud cover <= 80%)
Color Meanings: Too cloudy to forecast Bad 1/5 Poor 2/5 Average 3/5 Good 4/5 Excellent 5/5
Month	Days in Month		Occurrence of each Forecast	Data Points
January	1st to 10th	Day	25% 15% 31% 21% 7%	270
	11th to 20th	Day	27% 15% 33% 17% 8%	270
	21st to end	Day	24% 13% 40% 18% 5%	297
February	1st to 10th	Day	20% 15% 34% 22% 9%	270
	11th to 20th	Day	34% 14% 35% 12% 5%	270
	21st to end	Day	27% 16% 34% 19% 5%	290
March	1st to 10th	Day	21% 12% 30% 25% 10% 1	460
	11th to 20th	Day	19% 13% 38% 23% 6% 1	449
	21st to end	Day	23% 11% 30% 27% 8% 1	462
April	1st to 10th	Day	17% 14% 29% 25% 13% 3	420
	11th to 20th	Day	17% 12% 24% 25% 18% 4	412
	21st to end	Day	16% 9% 26% 25% 19% 4	420
May	1st to 10th	Day	16% 11% 27% 26% 14% 5%	423
	11th to 20th	Day	16% 3 19% 28% 21% 13%	447
	21st to end	Day	18% 2 12% 22% 28% 17%	485
June	1st to 10th	Day	12% 3 15% 28% 25% 17%	450
	11th to 20th	Day	12% 4 16% 22% 22% 23%	450
	21st to end	Day	10% 2 11% 30% 30% 17%	450
July	1st to 10th	Day	10% 2 7% 24% 33% 24%	445
	11th to 20th	Day	6% 10% 23% 30% 30%	444
	21st to end	Day	7% 1 9% 26% 32% 25%	488
August	1st to 10th	Day	13% 1 12% 22% 30% 21%	446
	11th to 20th	Day	12% 2 9% 26% 26% 26%	439
	21st to end	Day	11% 2 8% 23% 32% 23%	495
September	1st to 10th	Day	13% 2 8% 23% 30% 25%	450
	11th to 20th	Day	17% 2 10% 21% 30% 21%	450
	21st to end	Day	23% 4 17% 27% 21% 8%	450
October	1st to 10th	Day	18% 4 17% 27% 21% 13%	450
	11th to 20th	Day	15% 4 22% 30% 22% 7%	450
	21st to end	Day	17% 6% 21% 33% 18% 5%	495
November	1st to 10th	Day	20% 5% 24% 30% 16% 4	455
	11th to 20th	Day	17% 11% 32% 23% 14% 3	323
	21st to end	Day	14% 12% 32% 24% 14% 5%	270
December	1st to 10th	Day	26% 7% 33% 25% 8% 1	270
	11th to 20th	Day	20% 11% 26% 29% 13% 1	270
	21st to end	Day	25% 13% 27% 24% 8% 2	297
January	1st to 10th	Night	19% 9% 35% 30% 6%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	20% 11% 34% 31% 5%	760
	21st to end	Night	19% 8% 39% 32% 3	836
February	1st to 10th	Night	19% 9% 34% 35% 4	760
	11th to 20th	Night	23% 15% 34% 27% 2	743
	21st to end	Night	19% 12% 37% 30% 2	628
March	1st to 10th	Night	17% 11% 31% 35% 6%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	19% 10% 33% 29% 8% 1	752
	21st to end	Night	19% 9% 31% 35% 7%	792
April	1st to 10th	Night	17% 11% 31% 31% 10%	720
	11th to 20th	Night	15% 9% 30% 32% 14%	711
	21st to end	Night	18% 6% 29% 34% 13%	612
May	1st to 10th	Night	11% 7% 28% 37% 17% 1	540
	11th to 20th	Night	17% 3 22% 31% 25% 2	531
	21st to end	Night	15% 2 9% 36% 34% 4	584
June	1st to 10th	Night	11% 1 12% 39% 33% 4	540
	11th to 20th	Night	11% 2 13% 30% 37% 7%	540
	21st to end	Night	9% 1 11% 31% 44% 3	540
July	1st to 10th	Night	10% 2 9% 30% 43% 6%	525
	11th to 20th	Night	7% 6% 30% 48% 8%	522
	21st to end	Night	8% 1 8% 33% 44% 7%	591
August	1st to 10th	Night	15% 1 8% 27% 41% 8%	537
	11th to 20th	Night	12% 1 10% 31% 40% 7%	534
	21st to end	Night	10% 1 8% 28% 44% 8%	746
September	1st to 10th	Night	11% 2 8% 32% 40% 8%	720
	11th to 20th	Night	15% 2 11% 30% 36% 6%	720
	21st to end	Night	22% 3 16% 29% 28% 2	720
October	1st to 10th	Night	16% 5% 18% 28% 28% 5%	720
	11th to 20th	Night	16% 5% 22% 37% 18% 2	720
	21st to end	Night	17% 5% 22% 38% 16% 2	792
November	1st to 10th	Night	18% 5% 21% 39% 17% 2	740
	11th to 20th	Night	16% 7% 26% 38% 12%	760
	21st to end	Night	16% 5% 28% 36% 14%	760
December	1st to 10th	Night	22% 7% 31% 33% 8%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	20% 4 31% 36% 8%	760
	21st to end	Night	26% 5% 27% 34% 8%	836

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