Never seen such cloudy nights for astronomy

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denox
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Never seen such cloudy nights for astronomy

Unread post by denox »

I have been following how many cloudy nights we have had in Christchurch since last week before Xmas 2020.

How do I know this?, well had trouble with my telescope mount so had to be sent in for repair, got it back week before Xmas 2020.

Since then can count on less than both my hands the clear nights has had since last week in December 2020.

Never in all my life have I seen so.much cloudy in Christchurch at night. It's rediculous and into astronomy it's so frustrating all this gear and so many cloudy nights.

The problem is as the world warms, more evaporation means clouds are far more frequent and lots more rain and snow.
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Re: Never seen such cloudy nights for astronomy

Unread post by Bradley »

Oh well you'll have a good run from tomorrow onwards with that high pressure system moving in...
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Re: Never seen such cloudy nights for astronomy

Unread post by Chris Raine »

Could be a cloudy high incoming
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Nev
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Re: Never seen such cloudy nights for astronomy

Unread post by Nev »

This has been an exceptionally cloudy month for Chch in terms of daytime sunshine hours. However, sunshine for the last 4 months have all been above normal (averaging about 119%), while Jan was near normal.
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TonyT
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Re: Never seen such cloudy nights for astronomy

Unread post by TonyT »

La Nina.
denox
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Am into astronomy and never seen so many cloudy days

Unread post by denox »

I am into astronomy and since 1 week before Xmas 2020, have never in all my life in Christchurch seen so many cloudy nights, would be lucky to have seen 30 clear nights since last year. I know this as my telescope mount had to go back for battery replacement. Was funny, before the battery issue, lots of clear nights

It's been extremely bad for cloudy nights, and now wonder if this is now a permanent trend?
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TonyT
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Re: Am into astronomy and never seen so many cloudy days

Unread post by TonyT »

not permanent but may be a factor again this summer
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Re: Am into astronomy and never seen so many cloudy days

Unread post by Awhituobs »

might be related to La Nina?
denox
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Re: Am into astronomy and never seen so many cloudy days

Unread post by denox »

Yeah, lots or NE winds. Still all the same must be the worst on record. Trouble is as you get more heat, get more evaporation, more cloud, means more rain and cloud everywhere. But no never seen it ever as bad. Got to make use of any clear nights as they are few and far between now. Trouble is the sky won't wait. It's planets up and don't sit there waiting for you. I photographic them, Through my telescope, 9.25" in diameter
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Re: Never seen such cloudy nights for astronomy

Unread post by Nev »

Mode Note: Rather than have 2 duplicate threads about exactly the same thing, I've merged this thread with the other recent thread.

As previously mentioned, the only months so far this year that sunshine has been below its 1981-2010 average at Chch Aero were Jan (negligible) and June. Note that Chch's sunshine last month was a whopping 138% above normal. Nearby NIWA sunshine recorders at Bromley, Lincoln and Rangiora also show similar figures.

Christchurch Aero 2021 Sunshine Hours
Jan .. 230.4 ... 97%
Feb .. 235.4 .. 121%
Mar .. 213.1 .. 111%
Apr .. 208.0 .. 127%
May .. 172.9 .. 124%
Jun ... 87.1 ... 74%
Jul .. 175.5 .. 138%


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Re: Never seen such cloudy nights for astronomy

Unread post by Awhituobs »

problem is, sunshine hours does not measure how cloudy it is at night
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Re: Never seen such cloudy nights for astronomy

Unread post by Nev »

Awhituobs wrote: Sun 08/08/2021 10:31 problem is, sunshine hours does not measure how cloudy it is at night
Agree, but it should still be indicative of the overall trend. Admittedly, it's possible that Chch may have had more overnight inversion layers than normal, but probably not enough to make that much difference to the overall trend?
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