Cloud Cover Forecast for Stargazing
Check the next 48 hourly intervals for total, low, middle and high cloud. Compare overlapping layers without adding their percentages together.
A city search is sent to Open-Meteo’s geocoder. Cloud requests use the confirmed coordinates. No location permission is requested and no search is saved by this tool.
How to read the cloud forecast
1. Enter a city and verify the resolved country. 2. Read the table in the destination’s time zone, not your computer’s. 3. Look for a sustained interval rather than one attractive hour. 4. Use the night planner to exclude daylight and twilight and to account for its Moon-phase proxy. This tool intentionally shows cloud fields, not a second stargazing score.
Cloud layers are not additive
Total cloud is a model’s combined cover. Low, middle and high layers can overlap over the same ground, so 40% low plus 30% high does not mean 70% total. Low or thick middle cloud may block the target; thin high cloud can leave bright stars visible while scattering Moon and city light. These are model grid values, not a live all-sky camera.
Two conflicting-signal examples
Illustrative cases—not current forecasts: 10% total cloud with 10% high cloud may still give poor contrast around a bright Moon. Conversely, high surface visibility with 95% total cloud does not open a useful sky. A short clearing between cloudy hours is less robust for a long drive than a sustained interval; recheck near departure.
What this cloud tool does not include
It does not calculate target rise, Moon altitude or moonset, telescope seeing, real-time smoke, local obstructions, road safety or legal night access. A clear afternoon is not a dark observing window. Visibility is a near-surface horizontal measurement, not astronomical transparency; humidity alone is not a condensation forecast.
Before leaving
Confirm the location, date and time zone. Compare the last few model updates, astronomical darkness, your target’s horizon, Moon interference, operator closures, permitted parking and a safe return plan. Missing values remain unknown; the tool does not fill them with a reassuring zero.