Smoky Mountain Stargaze
Clear Sky Chart
History

This sumarizes the distribution of each different forecast outcome for the Smoky Mountain Stargaze clear sky chart from 2005-11-06 to 2024-05-10.

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	15% 7% 3 6% 5% 3 5% 5% 5% 7% 38%	83866
	Night	16% 8% 3 5% 5% 3 4 4 5% 7% 40%	85575
Transparency	Day	46% 5% 10% 18% 16% 5%	83589
	Night	44% 5% 11% 19% 16% 4	85371
Seeing	Day	21% 11% 23% 22% 15% 8%	14244
	Night	19% 8% 20% 30% 20% 4	24383

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	18% 9% 3 4 3 2 3 3 5% 7% 41%	2836
	11th to 20th	Day	17% 9% 5% 6% 4 3 3 3 3 5% 41%	2840
	21st to end	Day	24% 11% 2 3 3 1 3 3 4 5% 41%	3124
February	1st to 10th	Day	18% 8% 3 5% 5% 3 5% 4 5% 6% 39%	1852
	11th to 20th	Day	20% 8% 3 6% 5% 2 4 3 4 6% 38%	1848
	21st to end	Day	21% 8% 3 6% 5% 2 4 3 4 7% 36%	1570
March	1st to 10th	Day	25% 7% 2 4 4 2 3 3 3 6% 39%	3296
	11th to 20th	Day	15% 6% 2 5% 4 2 4 4 4 5% 50%	3480
	21st to end	Day	18% 7% 3 5% 5% 3 5% 4 5% 6% 39%	3815
April	1st to 10th	Day	12% 8% 2 5% 5% 3 5% 5% 6% 7% 41%	2090
	11th to 20th	Day	16% 7% 2 6% 5% 3 4 5% 5% 7% 41%	2291
	21st to end	Day	15% 6% 3 5% 5% 3 4 5% 5% 7% 42%	2470
May	1st to 10th	Day	14% 7% 3 6% 6% 3 5% 5% 6% 7% 39%	2457
	11th to 20th	Day	16% 7% 3 7% 7% 5% 5% 6% 5% 7% 33%	2301
	21st to end	Day	12% 7% 3 7% 6% 4 7% 6% 6% 9% 33%	2531
June	1st to 10th	Day	13% 7% 4 6% 7% 5% 6% 7% 7% 8% 31%	2340
	11th to 20th	Day	7% 6% 3 6% 8% 5% 7% 6% 6% 10% 34%	2340
	21st to end	Day	9% 5% 3 7% 7% 5% 8% 6% 8% 10% 32%	2340
July	1st to 10th	Day	10% 7% 3 8% 8% 6% 8% 8% 7% 10% 24%	2340
	11th to 20th	Day	13% 7% 4 7% 8% 5% 7% 7% 8% 10% 24%	2340
	21st to end	Day	11% 7% 3 7% 8% 5% 7% 9% 7% 10% 26%	2547
August	1st to 10th	Day	12% 7% 3 8% 8% 4 8% 8% 7% 10% 26%	2327
	11th to 20th	Day	13% 7% 4 8% 9% 4 7% 6% 6% 9% 29%	2303
	21st to end	Day	14% 8% 3 6% 8% 5% 7% 6% 6% 9% 28%	2351
September	1st to 10th	Day	11% 8% 4 6% 7% 4 6% 6% 6% 6% 36%	1980
	11th to 20th	Day	16% 7% 3 6% 6% 3 5% 5% 5% 9% 34%	1980
	21st to end	Day	14% 6% 3 6% 5% 4 5% 4 5% 8% 40%	1980
October	1st to 10th	Day	12% 6% 2 5% 4 3 5% 4 5% 7% 48%	1980
	11th to 20th	Day	13% 6% 2 4 4 2 5% 3 4 6% 52%	1812
	21st to end	Day	15% 6% 2 4 4 2 3 4 3 6% 53%	1980
November	1st to 10th	Day	10% 6% 2 3 3 2 3 4 5% 5% 57%	1718
	11th to 20th	Day	14% 5% 2 4 4 1 4 4 4 7% 52%	1710
	21st to end	Day	15% 7% 3 5% 4 3 3 4 4 6% 46%	1710
December	1st to 10th	Day	22% 9% 3 5% 4 2 4 5% 6% 6% 35%	1710
	11th to 20th	Day	16% 8% 3 5% 4 3 3 4 5% 6% 43%	2153
	21st to end	Day	19% 10% 4 5% 5% 3 4 4 4 5% 36%	3124
January	1st to 10th	Night	18% 13% 2 4 4 3 3 4 3 5% 41%	4109
	11th to 20th	Night	22% 8% 3 4 4 2 4 3 4 5% 41%	4120
	21st to end	Night	26% 12% 3 5% 3 2 3 3 3 4 36%	4532
February	1st to 10th	Night	15% 8% 4 6% 5% 3 5% 4 5% 6% 41%	2323
	11th to 20th	Night	21% 7% 3 6% 5% 3 4 4 4 5% 37%	2218
	21st to end	Night	23% 8% 4 5% 4 3 4 5% 4 6% 33%	1884
March	1st to 10th	Night	24% 14% 3 5% 4 3 5% 5% 4 5% 28%	3555
	11th to 20th	Night	12% 6% 2 4 4 3 5% 4 5% 8% 47%	3480
	21st to end	Night	18% 6% 2 6% 5% 3 5% 4 5% 6% 40%	3817
April	1st to 10th	Night	14% 8% 2 4 5% 3 4 4 5% 7% 45%	2090
	11th to 20th	Night	13% 7% 2 5% 5% 3 3 4 4 7% 46%	1850
	21st to end	Night	13% 7% 2 4 5% 2 4 4 5% 8% 46%	1710
May	1st to 10th	Night	13% 6% 3 6% 6% 4 5% 5% 6% 7% 40%	1707
	11th to 20th	Night	13% 7% 3 6% 5% 3 5% 5% 6% 10% 36%	1592
	21st to end	Night	10% 5% 3 5% 7% 3 8% 6% 7% 9% 37%	1744
June	1st to 10th	Night	10% 6% 3 6% 6% 4 6% 6% 6% 10% 35%	1620
	11th to 20th	Night	6% 5% 2 5% 5% 3 5% 6% 8% 12% 44%	1620
	21st to end	Night	9% 5% 2 4 4 3 6% 7% 7% 11% 40%	1620
July	1st to 10th	Night	10% 7% 3 6% 6% 4 6% 7% 7% 11% 32%	1620
	11th to 20th	Night	10% 6% 2 6% 5% 3 6% 7% 10% 12% 32%	1620
	21st to end	Night	10% 6% 2 6% 7% 4 6% 6% 8% 11% 33%	1771
August	1st to 10th	Night	11% 7% 2 6% 6% 4 5% 6% 7% 10% 35%	1611
	11th to 20th	Night	12% 6% 3 6% 6% 4 5% 5% 6% 10% 36%	1598
	21st to end	Night	11% 7% 3 6% 6% 4 4 6% 8% 11% 35%	1982
September	1st to 10th	Night	12% 6% 2 6% 7% 4 6% 6% 7% 7% 38%	1980
	11th to 20th	Night	15% 8% 2 7% 5% 4 4 5% 6% 9% 37%	1980
	21st to end	Night	12% 7% 3 4 5% 3 5% 4 5% 8% 44%	1980
October	1st to 10th	Night	15% 6% 2 5% 3 2 3 3 4 6% 52%	1980
	11th to 20th	Night	14% 7% 2 4 4 2 4 4 5% 6% 47%	2146
	21st to end	Night	13% 7% 2 4 3 2 3 4 4 5% 53%	2376
November	1st to 10th	Night	13% 6% 2 4 3 2 3 3 4 6% 53%	2356
	11th to 20th	Night	15% 7% 3 5% 4 2 4 3 4 6% 48%	2470
	21st to end	Night	17% 7% 2 5% 4 2 4 3 5% 6% 45%	2470
December	1st to 10th	Night	21% 10% 3 5% 4 3 4 4 4 7% 35%	2470
	11th to 20th	Night	16% 9% 4 7% 4 2 3 4 4 5% 43%	3042
	21st to end	Night	21% 11% 5% 6% 5% 3 4 5% 5% 8% 28%	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	44% 3 5% 18% 24% 7%	2837
	11th to 20th	Day	48% 2 6% 13% 26% 5%	2840
	21st to end	Day	48% 2 5% 17% 23% 6%	3124
February	1st to 10th	Day	48% 4 7% 19% 17% 6%	1852
	11th to 20th	Day	49% 3 7% 17% 19% 5%	1858
	21st to end	Day	52% 2 8% 12% 19% 7%	1570
March	1st to 10th	Day	49% 2 6% 18% 16% 9%	3296
	11th to 20th	Day	38% 4 7% 18% 22% 11%	3480
	21st to end	Day	47% 4 8% 24% 13% 4	3815
April	1st to 10th	Day	41% 4 11% 22% 18% 4	2090
	11th to 20th	Day	44% 4 8% 18% 20% 5%	2291
	21st to end	Day	43% 4 11% 25% 15% 2	2470
May	1st to 10th	Day	46% 5% 12% 22% 12% 3	2457
	11th to 20th	Day	52% 7% 12% 18% 10% 1	2305
	21st to end	Day	47% 7% 13% 22% 10% 1	2531
June	1st to 10th	Day	51% 7% 16% 18% 8%	2340
	11th to 20th	Day	46% 7% 19% 16% 10% 2	2340
	21st to end	Day	46% 8% 16% 18% 9% 2	2340
July	1st to 10th	Day	53% 10% 16% 16% 5% 1	2275
	11th to 20th	Day	53% 10% 17% 11% 7% 1	2271
	21st to end	Day	49% 10% 17% 17% 6%	2405
August	1st to 10th	Day	53% 9% 15% 18% 5%	2314
	11th to 20th	Day	53% 7% 15% 16% 9% 1	2303
	21st to end	Day	53% 7% 15% 15% 8% 2	2351
September	1st to 10th	Day	48% 7% 11% 17% 14% 3	1980
	11th to 20th	Day	49% 6% 9% 18% 16% 2	1980
	21st to end	Day	43% 6% 11% 19% 16% 6%	1980
October	1st to 10th	Day	37% 4 9% 21% 24% 5%	1980
	11th to 20th	Day	35% 3 8% 23% 21% 10%	1812
	21st to end	Day	35% 3 6% 22% 24% 10%	1980
November	1st to 10th	Day	31% 4 6% 19% 29% 11%	1718
	11th to 20th	Day	34% 2 6% 22% 26% 9%	1710
	21st to end	Day	41% 3 6% 20% 24% 7%	1710
December	1st to 10th	Day	50% 4 7% 19% 15% 6%	1710
	11th to 20th	Day	43% 2 8% 15% 23% 10%	2150
	21st to end	Day	50% 3 7% 22% 16% 3	3124
January	1st to 10th	Night	48% 2 6% 15% 23% 7%	4109
	11th to 20th	Night	46% 3 6% 14% 23% 9%	4120
	21st to end	Night	55% 2 5% 13% 19% 7%	4532
February	1st to 10th	Night	45% 4 9% 19% 20% 4	2323
	11th to 20th	Night	52% 3 6% 19% 16% 5%	2219
	21st to end	Night	54% 4 8% 15% 15% 5%	1884
March	1st to 10th	Night	57% 5% 8% 12% 14% 4	3555
	11th to 20th	Night	37% 4 10% 22% 17% 10%	3480
	21st to end	Night	46% 5% 10% 22% 12% 6%	3817
April	1st to 10th	Night	41% 4 13% 22% 18% 3	2090
	11th to 20th	Night	39% 4 11% 21% 20% 4	1850
	21st to end	Night	38% 5% 14% 28% 14% 1	1710
May	1st to 10th	Night	44% 6% 14% 24% 10% 2	1707
	11th to 20th	Night	44% 7% 18% 21% 9%	1593
	21st to end	Night	40% 8% 17% 25% 8% 1	1745
June	1st to 10th	Night	41% 9% 22% 20% 7% 1	1620
	11th to 20th	Night	32% 10% 27% 22% 7% 1	1620
	21st to end	Night	35% 11% 20% 21% 10% 3	1620
July	1st to 10th	Night	45% 10% 20% 17% 7%	1575
	11th to 20th	Night	40% 14% 25% 13% 5% 3	1566
	21st to end	Night	41% 11% 22% 18% 7% 1	1672
August	1st to 10th	Night	42% 12% 21% 19% 6%	1600
	11th to 20th	Night	45% 9% 19% 16% 10%	1598
	21st to end	Night	41% 9% 21% 20% 7% 2	1982
September	1st to 10th	Night	42% 10% 15% 19% 12% 3	1980
	11th to 20th	Night	43% 9% 13% 18% 16% 1	1980
	21st to end	Night	38% 7% 12% 21% 18% 4	1980
October	1st to 10th	Night	35% 5% 10% 21% 25% 4	1980
	11th to 20th	Night	39% 4 9% 23% 20% 6%	2146
	21st to end	Night	35% 3 6% 22% 25% 8%	2376
November	1st to 10th	Night	34% 4 8% 22% 23% 9%	2356
	11th to 20th	Night	39% 3 5% 19% 24% 9%	2470
	21st to end	Night	41% 3 5% 23% 22% 5%	2470
December	1st to 10th	Night	51% 4 9% 18% 14% 5%	2470
	11th to 20th	Night	45% 3 6% 15% 25% 6%	3044
	21st to end	Night	54% 4 7% 17% 14% 3	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	34% 21% 28% 13% 3	270
	11th to 20th	Day	39% 19% 25% 14% 3	270
	21st to end	Day	30% 28% 29% 11% 2	297
February	1st to 10th	Day	32% 19% 33% 13% 3	270
	11th to 20th	Day	44% 23% 26% 7%	270
	21st to end	Day	44% 24% 25% 6% 2	225
March	1st to 10th	Day	33% 13% 30% 17% 7% 1	368
	11th to 20th	Day	28% 20% 30% 16% 5% 1	460
	21st to end	Day	26% 21% 26% 19% 7% 1	506
April	1st to 10th	Day	25% 16% 27% 22% 8% 2	460
	11th to 20th	Day	24% 20% 22% 21% 10% 3	452
	21st to end	Day	23% 13% 27% 20% 14% 4	460
May	1st to 10th	Day	19% 19% 28% 18% 11% 6%	459
	11th to 20th	Day	17% 9% 26% 25% 15% 9%	447
	21st to end	Day	17% 8% 19% 25% 16% 15%	485
June	1st to 10th	Day	16% 6% 19% 27% 21% 10%	450
	11th to 20th	Day	9% 4 20% 27% 22% 18%	450
	21st to end	Day	11% 6% 26% 25% 17% 15%	450
July	1st to 10th	Day	11% 2 17% 26% 26% 18%	445
	11th to 20th	Day	10% 3 16% 27% 24% 20%	444
	21st to end	Day	10% 2 12% 27% 29% 19%	488
August	1st to 10th	Day	17% 5% 15% 22% 21% 19%	446
	11th to 20th	Day	10% 3 17% 27% 29% 14%	439
	21st to end	Day	15% 4 11% 23% 27% 20%	495
September	1st to 10th	Day	11% 3 15% 27% 32% 13%	450
	11th to 20th	Day	15% 4 14% 26% 29% 12%	450
	21st to end	Day	15% 6% 16% 30% 25% 7%	450
October	1st to 10th	Day	16% 9% 20% 27% 20% 8%	450
	11th to 20th	Day	15% 13% 23% 26% 18% 4	450
	21st to end	Day	23% 10% 22% 29% 14% 3	495
November	1st to 10th	Day	19% 10% 28% 29% 10% 3	316
	11th to 20th	Day	21% 18% 30% 22% 8%	270
	21st to end	Day	20% 17% 33% 21% 7% 1	270
December	1st to 10th	Day	36% 16% 26% 17% 5% 1	270
	11th to 20th	Day	27% 14% 31% 22% 6% 1	270
	21st to end	Day	32% 13% 36% 12% 6% 1	297
January	1st to 10th	Night	29% 10% 29% 27% 4	760
	11th to 20th	Night	28% 13% 29% 25% 5%	760
	21st to end	Night	25% 11% 34% 27% 3	836
February	1st to 10th	Night	22% 10% 32% 33% 3	760
	11th to 20th	Night	30% 13% 33% 24% 1	743
	21st to end	Night	32% 14% 31% 20% 2	628
March	1st to 10th	Night	24% 11% 31% 28% 5%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	24% 15% 24% 28% 8% 1	760
	21st to end	Night	23% 12% 29% 27% 9%	836
April	1st to 10th	Night	21% 14% 25% 28% 11%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	21% 9% 24% 30% 14% 2	587
	21st to end	Night	17% 7% 20% 38% 17% 1	570
May	1st to 10th	Night	17% 8% 19% 36% 19% 1	569
	11th to 20th	Night	15% 5% 18% 34% 25% 3	531
	21st to end	Night	13% 3 9% 33% 35% 7%	584
June	1st to 10th	Night	12% 1 14% 34% 33% 5%	540
	11th to 20th	Night	8% 1 10% 31% 38% 11%	540
	21st to end	Night	11% 1 9% 31% 41% 7%	540
July	1st to 10th	Night	11% 2 8% 22% 48% 8%	525
	11th to 20th	Night	13% 2 5% 22% 43% 15%	522
	21st to end	Night	10% 2 4 24% 49% 12%	591
August	1st to 10th	Night	11% 2 7% 25% 45% 10%	537
	11th to 20th	Night	13% 2 6% 29% 41% 8%	534
	21st to end	Night	12% 1 8% 22% 45% 12%	602
September	1st to 10th	Night	12% 2 9% 29% 39% 8%	720
	11th to 20th	Night	16% 3 10% 28% 36% 7%	720
	21st to end	Night	16% 3 13% 33% 32% 3	720
October	1st to 10th	Night	16% 5% 17% 25% 30% 7%	720
	11th to 20th	Night	18% 7% 20% 33% 19% 3	720
	21st to end	Night	19% 9% 16% 39% 15% 3	792
November	1st to 10th	Night	16% 6% 19% 38% 18% 3	740
	11th to 20th	Night	18% 10% 23% 35% 12% 3	760
	21st to end	Night	21% 9% 22% 33% 14% 1	760
December	1st to 10th	Night	27% 10% 24% 31% 8%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	22% 9% 28% 34% 7% 1	760
	21st to end	Night	27% 10% 25% 32% 5%	836

Page generated at 2024-05-07 07:25:00. Version ac07

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