Pahrump Valley Observatory
Clear Sky Chart
History

This sumarizes the distribution of each different forecast outcome for the Pahrump Valley Observatory clear sky chart from 2005-11-06 to 2024-11-01.

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	3 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 5% 75%	101533
	Night	3 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 5% 73%	97660
Transparency	Day	6% 47% 3 7% 14% 23%	101291
	Night	7% 47% 3 8% 14% 21%	97492
Seeing	Day	5% 11% 25% 33% 20% 7%	15399
	Night	4 6% 19% 36% 29% 7%	25192

By Month

Percentage Cloud Cover SW (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	4 3 1 3 2 2 3 3 5% 7% 66%	2858
	11th to 20th	Day	4 3 2 4 3 3 3 3 5% 8% 63%	2860
	21st to end	Day	8% 5% 2 5% 3 3 4 4 5% 7% 56%	3312
February	1st to 10th	Day	8% 3 1 3 2 2 2 2 4 6% 66%	1900
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 3 2 1 3 4 3 4 7% 67%	1850
	21st to end	Day	6% 4 1 3 3 4 3 4 4 6% 63%	1570
March	1st to 10th	Day	6% 2 1 4 2 2 3 4 5% 7% 63%	3138
	11th to 20th	Day	4 3 1 3 3 2 3 3 5% 7% 66%	3414
	21st to end	Day	6% 2 1 3 2 3 4 4 6% 9% 60%	3903
April	1st to 10th	Day	2 3 1 3 2 3 3 3 5% 6% 70%	2280
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 1 2 2 1 3 2 4 6% 75%	2249
	21st to end	Day	2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 5% 77%	2370
May	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 3 5% 80%	4110
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 5% 82%	4071
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 4 84%	4477
June	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 3 5% 81%	2470
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 87%	2533
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 4 85%	2660
July	1st to 10th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 86%	4420
	11th to 20th	Day	2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 5% 76%	4120
	21st to end	Day	2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 78%	4454
August	1st to 10th	Day	2 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 5% 79%	4014
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 2 4 87%	3724
	21st to end	Day	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 88%	4180
September	1st to 10th	Day	3 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 78%	2232
	11th to 20th	Day	1 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 86%	2090
	21st to end	Day	1 1 2 1 1 1 2 3 4 85%	2090
October	1st to 10th	Day	2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 78%	2090
	11th to 20th	Day	2 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 3 3 82%	2075
	21st to end	Day	2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 5% 82%	1900
November	1st to 10th	Day	2 3 1 1 2 2 2 2 4 6% 77%	1674
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 3 5% 78%	1710
	21st to end	Day	4 2 1 3 2 2 2 3 4 6% 72%	1710
December	1st to 10th	Day	4 2 1 3 3 2 4 3 5% 6% 67%	1710
	11th to 20th	Day	7% 4 1 4 3 3 4 3 6% 10% 54%	2169
	21st to end	Day	4 3 2 4 3 3 5% 5% 8% 9% 53%	3146
January	1st to 10th	Night	4 4 2 4 3 3 3 3 4 5% 66%	4097
	11th to 20th	Night	3 2 1 4 3 3 3 3 5% 8% 65%	4110
	21st to end	Night	11% 4 1 3 3 2 2 3 5% 7% 58%	4357
February	1st to 10th	Night	6% 5% 1 3 3 2 2 3 4 5% 64%	2280
	11th to 20th	Night	4 4 1 3 3 3 3 2 4 6% 67%	2218
	21st to end	Night	5% 4 1 3 3 2 3 2 5% 6% 66%	1884
March	1st to 10th	Night	6% 3 1 3 2 2 3 3 6% 7% 63%	3736
	11th to 20th	Night	4 3 1 3 3 3 4 3 5% 8% 62%	3565
	21st to end	Night	6% 3 1 3 3 3 3 3 5% 6% 66%	3746
April	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 1 3 3 2 3 2 3 6% 73%	1900
	11th to 20th	Night	2 2 1 2 1 2 3 3 5% 5% 74%	1879
	21st to end	Night	2 1 1 1 2 2 2 4 6% 79%	1808
May	1st to 10th	Night	3 1 2 1 1 2 2 3 5% 81%	2860
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 85%	2834
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 4 85%	3110
June	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 5% 83%	1710
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 85%	1637
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 88%	1520
July	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 90%	2540
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 5% 79%	2828
	21st to end	Night	1 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 5% 6% 74%	3109
August	1st to 10th	Night	1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 79%	2910
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 3 4 86%	3126
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 89%	3498
September	1st to 10th	Night	1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 78%	1947
	11th to 20th	Night	1 2 1 2 2 2 3 3 86%	2090
	21st to end	Night	1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 88%	2090
October	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 2 2 2 2 1 3 5% 79%	2090
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 83%	2104
	21st to end	Night	1 1 2 2 1 2 2 4 4 81%	2694
November	1st to 10th	Night	2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 3 5% 78%	2411
	11th to 20th	Night	2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 6% 77%	2470
	21st to end	Night	3 3 1 3 2 2 3 2 4 5% 72%	2470
December	1st to 10th	Night	5% 4 1 4 3 3 3 3 4 6% 66%	2470
	11th to 20th	Night	8% 3 1 5% 3 4 3 3 5% 9% 56%	3041
	21st to end	Night	6% 3 1 5% 5% 5% 5% 4 6% 7% 52%	4521

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	10% 39% 5% 20% 21% 6%	2859
	11th to 20th	Day	15% 40% 10% 20% 10% 5%	2860
	21st to end	Day	19% 41% 5% 19% 13% 3	3312
February	1st to 10th	Day	9% 65% 3 6% 12% 5%	1900
	11th to 20th	Day	7% 63% 2 5% 14% 9%	1860
	21st to end	Day	7% 64% 2 7% 12% 8%	1570
March	1st to 10th	Day	12% 40% 3 18% 13% 13%	3138
	11th to 20th	Day	11% 41% 5% 14% 18% 10%	3414
	21st to end	Day	11% 41% 8% 13% 20% 7%	3903
April	1st to 10th	Day	6% 65% 3 7% 10% 10%	2280
	11th to 20th	Day	4 65% 2 4 14% 12%	2252
	21st to end	Day	5% 64% 3 5% 14% 10%	2370
May	1st to 10th	Day	5% 39% 3 7% 21% 25%	4110
	11th to 20th	Day	3 38% 3 4 24% 29%	4074
	21st to end	Day	4 38% 2 5% 21% 31%	4477
June	1st to 10th	Day	2 64% 1 1 10% 22%	2470
	11th to 20th	Day	1 64% 1 2 7% 26%	2533
	21st to end	Day	2 62% 1 1 6% 28%	2660
July	1st to 10th	Day	2 34% 1 2 4 57%	4351
	11th to 20th	Day	6% 34% 3 3 7% 46%	4050
	21st to end	Day	4 34% 1 5% 13% 44%	4314
August	1st to 10th	Day	7% 36% 2 4 22% 29%	4000
	11th to 20th	Day	2 35% 1 2 8% 52%	3760
	21st to end	Day	2 35% 1 1 9% 52%	4179
September	1st to 10th	Day	4 59% 2 2 10% 24%	2232
	11th to 20th	Day	2 59% 1 2 14% 23%	2090
	21st to end	Day	3 59% 1 4 12% 21%	2090
October	1st to 10th	Day	3 58% 1 3 10% 24%	2090
	11th to 20th	Day	4 58% 2 3 12% 21%	2075
	21st to end	Day	4 57% 1 4 17% 17%	1900
November	1st to 10th	Day	1 58% 1 4 18% 18%	1674
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 59% 2 5% 13% 16%	1710
	21st to end	Day	7% 59% 3 8% 15% 9%	1710
December	1st to 10th	Day	8% 60% 4 9% 11% 8%	1710
	11th to 20th	Day	12% 49% 9% 8% 15% 7%	2168
	21st to end	Day	16% 40% 7% 17% 13% 7%	3146
January	1st to 10th	Night	14% 37% 4 13% 26% 6%	4097
	11th to 20th	Night	13% 38% 9% 26% 11% 3	4110
	21st to end	Night	18% 40% 5% 17% 16% 4	4357
February	1st to 10th	Night	9% 65% 4 4 11% 7%	2280
	11th to 20th	Night	8% 63% 2 5% 12% 11%	2219
	21st to end	Night	6% 65% 3 7% 13% 7%	1884
March	1st to 10th	Night	11% 42% 5% 13% 17% 12%	3736
	11th to 20th	Night	11% 42% 6% 18% 13% 10%	3565
	21st to end	Night	11% 40% 5% 12% 24% 10%	3746
April	1st to 10th	Night	6% 64% 2 7% 11% 9%	1900
	11th to 20th	Night	4 65% 2 5% 14% 10%	1879
	21st to end	Night	3 64% 2 7% 13% 11%	1808
May	1st to 10th	Night	6% 39% 3 5% 19% 29%	2860
	11th to 20th	Night	3 38% 3 4 19% 34%	2835
	21st to end	Night	3 38% 2 4 19% 34%	3110
June	1st to 10th	Night	1 63% 1 1 8% 25%	1710
	11th to 20th	Night	1 64% 1 1 7% 25%	1637
	21st to end	Night	2 62% 1 2 5% 29%	1520
July	1st to 10th	Night	2 34% 1 2 4 58%	2500
	11th to 20th	Night	5% 34% 2 3 11% 45%	2775
	21st to end	Night	5% 34% 1 6% 11% 42%	3011
August	1st to 10th	Night	8% 35% 2 4 18% 33%	2901
	11th to 20th	Night	3 35% 1 2 9% 49%	3156
	21st to end	Night	2 35% 1 1 8% 53%	3498
September	1st to 10th	Night	3 59% 2 3 8% 25%	1947
	11th to 20th	Night	2 59% 1 3 11% 24%	2090
	21st to end	Night	3 59% 1 3 11% 23%	2090
October	1st to 10th	Night	3 58% 1 3 9% 24%	2090
	11th to 20th	Night	4 59% 1 3 10% 23%	2104
	21st to end	Night	4 57% 2 5% 13% 19%	2694
November	1st to 10th	Night	1 57% 1 4 17% 20%	2411
	11th to 20th	Night	5% 59% 3 4 12% 17%	2470
	21st to end	Night	8% 59% 2 7% 13% 12%	2470
December	1st to 10th	Night	9% 60% 3 8% 13% 8%	2470
	11th to 20th	Night	11% 50% 6% 7% 16% 10%	3041
	21st to end	Night	20% 39% 8% 13% 15% 5%	4521

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	12% 13% 24% 32% 16% 3	270
	11th to 20th	Day	11% 8% 23% 33% 21% 4	270
	21st to end	Day	10% 12% 20% 29% 23% 6%	398
February	1st to 10th	Day	10% 17% 25% 28% 15% 5%	460
	11th to 20th	Day	9% 17% 29% 25% 16% 4	455
	21st to end	Day	10% 20% 27% 31% 10% 2	382
March	1st to 10th	Day	12% 21% 29% 22% 14% 2	460
	11th to 20th	Day	9% 16% 37% 24% 12% 3	460
	21st to end	Day	8% 21% 36% 24% 10% 1	506
April	1st to 10th	Day	6% 18% 29% 30% 14% 3	460
	11th to 20th	Day	6% 25% 34% 22% 10% 3	452
	21st to end	Day	4 20% 33% 24% 15% 4	460
May	1st to 10th	Day	5% 13% 37% 29% 12% 4	463
	11th to 20th	Day	3 13% 31% 31% 18% 5%	488
	21st to end	Day	2 13% 28% 36% 15% 6%	529
June	1st to 10th	Day	3 9% 27% 36% 18% 7%	490
	11th to 20th	Day	2 9% 27% 33% 21% 8%	490
	21st to end	Day	1 8% 25% 38% 19% 9%	490
July	1st to 10th	Day	1 3 23% 41% 22% 10%	486
	11th to 20th	Day	2 1 14% 44% 27% 12%	484
	21st to end	Day	2 3 12% 48% 23% 13%	531
August	1st to 10th	Day	2 5% 20% 41% 22% 11%	487
	11th to 20th	Day	2 2 18% 40% 25% 12%	477
	21st to end	Day	2 3 20% 40% 25% 10%	539
September	1st to 10th	Day	2 6% 16% 37% 27% 11%	490
	11th to 20th	Day	1 9% 24% 38% 22% 6%	490
	21st to end	Day	2 9% 22% 33% 28% 6%	490
October	1st to 10th	Day	2 9% 26% 28% 23% 12%	490
	11th to 20th	Day	2 8% 23% 29% 32% 6%	475
	21st to end	Day	3 8% 20% 29% 26% 14%	330
November	1st to 10th	Day	4 15% 20% 23% 31% 7%	270
	11th to 20th	Day	4 8% 15% 38% 24% 11%	270
	21st to end	Day	5% 6% 20% 30% 29% 10%	270
December	1st to 10th	Day	5% 6% 22% 43% 19% 6%	270
	11th to 20th	Day	5% 10% 22% 32% 25% 6%	270
	21st to end	Day	10% 15% 23% 33% 16% 3	297
January	1st to 10th	Night	8% 8% 20% 32% 24% 9%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	5% 5% 19% 39% 25% 7%	760
	21st to end	Night	9% 5% 24% 34% 21% 7%	836
February	1st to 10th	Night	9% 7% 24% 32% 24% 5%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	6% 9% 25% 37% 19% 5%	744
	21st to end	Night	8% 10% 30% 32% 17% 4	628
March	1st to 10th	Night	5% 11% 29% 35% 16% 5%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	6% 8% 26% 30% 23% 7%	760
	21st to end	Night	5% 13% 25% 37% 16% 3	836
April	1st to 10th	Night	3 10% 26% 35% 22% 4	760
	11th to 20th	Night	3 12% 29% 33% 18% 5%	751
	21st to end	Night	2 7% 27% 38% 20% 6%	668
May	1st to 10th	Night	4 6% 27% 40% 20% 3	570
	11th to 20th	Night	2 8% 19% 35% 31% 4	561
	21st to end	Night	2 9% 20% 38% 27% 4	617
June	1st to 10th	Night	1 5% 20% 38% 32% 4	570
	11th to 20th	Night	1 5% 22% 36% 32% 4	497
	21st to end	Night	1 1 15% 39% 37% 6%	380
July	1st to 10th	Night	1 1 8% 40% 44% 6%	370
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 7% 42% 43% 5%	534
	21st to end	Night	3 1 6% 36% 50% 4	624
August	1st to 10th	Night	2 1 11% 43% 40% 3	604
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 6% 36% 48% 8%	752
	21st to end	Night	2 1 10% 32% 43% 12%	836
September	1st to 10th	Night	1 2 9% 31% 44% 12%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	1 1 14% 38% 39% 8%	760
	21st to end	Night	1 3 15% 34% 35% 13%	760
October	1st to 10th	Night	3 3 20% 38% 29% 8%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	2 4 16% 37% 30% 12%	760
	21st to end	Night	2 7% 18% 31% 31% 11%	836
November	1st to 10th	Night	2 6% 17% 33% 32% 10%	742
	11th to 20th	Night	2 3 17% 40% 30% 8%	760
	21st to end	Night	4 5% 21% 34% 30% 7%	760
December	1st to 10th	Night	6% 6% 18% 39% 25% 7%	760
	11th to 20th	Night	8% 5% 22% 36% 22% 6%	760
	21st to end	Night	7% 12% 20% 36% 21% 4	836

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