May 30, 2022

Bad News. Clouds will Obscure the Meteors for Most of Washington State

I am disappointed.   It looks like clouds will make viewing of the meteor shower tonight impossible for most residents in Washington State.

The lastest visible satellite image shows lots of clouds over the region.  But the real threats are the clouds stretching from the WA Cascade to the east.  High clouds that are moving westward over towards western WA.  There are lower clouds over NW Oregon...they will evaporate around sunset.


The infrared satellite image, which accentuates high clouds (white) show the problematic cloud field clearly.


The very latest NOAA/NWS HRRR forecast of clouds at 10 PM tonight (the time of max meteors) shows 100% clouds (blue colors) over much of Washington, but low cloud cover over parts of western Oregon.   

Northwest Oregon is where you need to go if you are a serious meteor watcher.  And the further south you go, the earlier the sunset...another advantage!


The latest forecast of the NOAA/NWS National Blend of Models provides a similar story (see below).


Sorry to be the source of bad news..... I love astronomy and almost went that way for my career--so I am particularly unhappy to miss a potentially major meteor storm.

5 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear Cliff. What happened to the ridge that was due to form this week on Tues/Wed? It seems like the HRRR is going for clouds with showers with even eastern WA being affected before a stronger more organized system this coming weekend. The glacier worms are the only ones rejoicing at this point.

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  2. Check the updated Total Cloud Cover for 10pm tonight. Sure looks like a window is predicted to open on the Eastside. The prediction has changed a lot in the last 4 hours.

    https://rapidrefresh.noaa.gov/hrrr/HRRR/displayMapUpdated.cgi?keys=hrrr_ncep_jet:&runtime=2022053022&plot_type=cloudcover_SEA-POR_total&fcst=006&time_inc=60&num_times=49&model=hrrr&ptitle=Forecast%20Graphics&maxFcstLen=48&fcstStrLen=-1&domain=SEA-POR&adtfn=1

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  3. Battle Ground, WA. Half the sky is clear- to the west. I can see stars, planes, satellites... Sat outside for 15 min, not one meteor.
    Gotta get up in the morning so I can't spend more time on this- one more reason DST is stupid.
    I hope someone got to see a show!

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  4. The sky conditions forecast for a few days ahead can be found at:

    https://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/

    Their forecast for Bellevue was too cloudy.

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  5. We had clear (enough) skies at Snoqualmie Point Park. Watched from dark until 10:20pm. Not a single meteor.

    ReplyDelete

Please make sure your comments are civil. Name calling and personal attacks are not appropriate.

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