Checking the Weather

There's a storm again in the Philippines and stargazers are stuck indoors once more.

Now, astronomers are not meteorologists, but it pays to know the weather conditions of your area. Determining the weather in your observing site can help you plan ahead on your stargazing activities so you won't end up aiming your scopes at clouds, or spending fuel on a trip to a dark site.

Here are some sites you can use to check the weather condition:

[Note: Weather forecasting cannot produce a weather prediction that is 100%, it isn't possible.] 

WeatherSpark

 WeatherSpark is a new type of weather website, with interactive weather graphs that allow you to pan and zoom through the entire history of any weather station on earth. You can get multiple forecasts for the current location, overlaid on records and averages to put it all in context. WeatherSpark is currently making use of 4,000 weather stations.

I personally prefer this site because it is updated and fairly accurate.

Typhoon2000

Typhoon2000 is a website that provides tropical cyclone information over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) and Northwest Pacific Basin. The website is updated every 6 hours during times of tropical cyclones.

 

And of course we have

PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration)

Withering in the Weather

The Ironies of Weather Foul-ups in Stargazing at the Start of the Year


Last Monday, 9 Feb. 2009, there was a penumbral lunar eclipse, which occured from 8:30 - 12 in the morning. Unfortunately, here in Dumaguete City, the weather provided a very minimal view of the moon.

Dumaguete, as you may have heard in the news, experienced flash flood on Saturday (Feb 7). The following night however provided a clear view of the almost full moon. Hoping for good weather, me and my friends waited for the night and then... we were dismayed by the cloudy skies. Ironically, the following night (Feb 10), the moon was clear as a gem in the night.

Another irony was during the annular solar eclipse. I was suppose to have a class at the time of the eclipse, but we just happened to be dismissed early. I was glad since I thought I would not get to see it. Unfortunately all the dark rain clouds covered up the sun.

The weather always plays as a sinister factor when it comes to stargazing. And ironic as it is, in the past weeks, clear skies seem to happen when I don't do any observing. I hope the rest of the astronomical events and viewing schedules for the IYA won't be obscurred by foul weather.

Clear Skies to All! (Please!)