My Typical Forecast

[JayTee]

This has been my daily forecast since early January. Eventually, I may give up.

[Thefatkitty]

Sorry to hear that JT, but if it helps, that's been me too and since January as well. I've had maybe 3 clear nights since then.

My days have been better weather-wise; thus the Solar with me. Your Meade 102 would probably do well with some Baader solar film...

Hope it improves for you and don't give it up!

All the best,

[Lady Fraktor]

Most days are perfect, most nights cloudy.
I am getting so bored I have even signed in at CN and SGL...

[sdbodin]

Feel the pain, my conditions are the same. My notebook has 29 Mar and 3 May as the only two peeks at the sky this spring.

Taking up bowling,
Steve

[bobharmony]

Ouch, JT! That just stinks. It will get better (or you'll have to move back to Hawaii).

Bob

[Unitron48]

Ouch is right! That really sucks!! Wishing you clear skies soonest!!

Dave

[SkyHiker]

Now you have an excuse to travel to star parties in drier places, and camp there for a few days. So it's not all bad.

[turboscrew]

Relax. Even two years is not that long to wait for the first good session. For me it's been mostly problems with the gear, though...

[Juno16]

No matter how bad that I think that I have it, somebody has it worse. A lot worse in your case.

Is this typical? Or, is it just a rough patch of poor skies? Hopefully, the latter.

Henk has a good point. However, in my case, as I get older, I just get less likely to go anywhere else. If it doesn't happen in the backyard, it doesn't happen.

Another hobby might be the thing here. Of course, you probably have already come up with a few more.

Or, if you haven't started using Pixinsight and thought about moving to it someday, this would be a great time to stay in the hobby and spend some of your idle time learning. For me, I will never master PI, but the software is amazing and I am sure that you have tons of old data to play with.

Either way, sorry to hear that JT. Hopefully, you will get a break soon!

[helicon]

Sorry to hear JT. And since I have moved to western Washington I have enjoyed mostly the same conditions. My local club has scheduled a few star parties on short notice when conditions seem to have been improving but has cancelled the event the same day three times. I did however get an excellent view of M101 when there was a clear night. I recall you had warned me when I was contemplating a move to the San Juans that the conditions would probably not be so hot. As a consolation local folks here say this late spring has been worse for weather than anytime in recent and not-so-recent memory.

[pakarinen]

Yeah, days aren't bad, but most nights have been garbage. The majority of club-hosted member nights and public outreach nights have been cancelled.
I did get a very quick look at Jupiter and Mars with my 50mm this morning before it clouded up. And now, well after sunrise, it's mostly clear. :sigh:

[turboscrew]

Btw, I think s*itty nights this spring (year) seem to have been quite common problem on both sides of the pond.

[SkyHiker]

Here's a link to the 6 day Oregon Star party coming up in July, less than 400 miles away in dark skies.

[turboscrew]

And if you, @JayTee, think the weather is somehow against you, check this picture from our weather forecast today.

[JayTee]

The OSP (Oregon star party) is quite a spectacle under impeccably dark skies. Imagine a State Fair for telescopes on a mountain top with hundreds of attendees. I hope it doesn't get canceled this year.

[helicon]

May actually have a clear night this late evening as of midnight. Will be down at the marina with the dob if it materializes!